Ohio State game, bye to our summer home, and on the road again

Spent Saturday at the rig watching Ohio State play with the Davis family.  It's almost become our end of the season tradition.

Smoked some bacon wrapped stuffed chicken thighs.  Men liked them, women not so much.  They were thick.  Was really excited about making them, was equally disappointed in them.

Friday was Connie's last chemo treatment in Ohio.  Had originally planned on leaving Timber Ridge Monday, but pushed it backed to Tuesday to give her an extra day recovery.

Did most of the seasonal things all last week, then packed Sunday.  Today (Monday) she was in great spirits and said "let's go today", so I finished everything up this morning and got ready to leave by early afternoon.  Will give her a good night sleep, then all day tomorrow to spend time with her Dad.

Always tough saying goodbye to folks, especially "The Sisters".  They've been such wonderful friends and we'll miss them.

Got into Caesar Creek around 7p.  Didn't have a reservation, so we took a "walk up" site.  No biggie AND we saved the reservation fee Reserve America charges.

The new steps and back up camera all worked great.  Also had a bonus a few weeks ago.  Camper at Timber Ridge put out a bunch of "free to good home" stuff.  Had been needing to replace my leveling blocks and he had a whole set of them.  Grabbed those babies up and tried them out today.  Perfect!

Back to TX -- the Ohio Leg

We left Timber Ridge Campground Monday to begin our journey back to Texas.  Really enjoyed our summer there.  Had lots of "Davis time" this summer and are so appreciative our their generosity over the summer.  Will miss those smiling faces.

Drove down to Columbus and stayed a night at the Cross Creek Camping Resort.  Since we were there last, they instituted a "no pet fence" policy which sucked, especially for Tangy.  We were going to go the ignorance route and put it up any way, but with just a one night, we figured we'd fight that battle on another stay.

We went to the Winking Lizard Westerville to meet with our friends Craig and Sandy, Dave and Jean and were surprised by Connie's cousin Lisa and her friend Wendy.  Had a great time, even though the Indians (a theme) lost AND I forgot to take a picture of our table.  Great catching up, they've been such good friends.

Tuesday, we headed to the hub of the universe, Wilmington, OH.  Stayed in our normal spot at Caesar Creek (saw a lot of deer!), went in to visit Connie's Dad Oz and his wife Betty.  Surprised them with a visit from Bethany and Kingsley.  Went out for pizza at Generations Pizza before retiring back to the rig and K's first overnight "camping" experience.  All went great except it rained hard around 3a and the vent window didn't automatically close when we went to bed.

Wednesday, we got moving slowly, but ended up at Frisch's for brunch with Oz and Betty, then back to the rig before Bethany and Kingsley had to take off for home.  A great time.

We headed out late Wednesday afternoon to check out an RV park for our Ohio Heartland Rally next August.  Looked like it's going to be a winner, and I hope to finish up details with the managers today.

Finally, it was off to the Little River Cafe in Oregonia.  It's owned by a Barb and Todd Holmes.  Barb and I were in homerooms together since Junior High, and Todd and I lived in each other's back yards.  Was a nice place with a live band, fireplace (which we needed!), and good food/drinks.  Met with Rich and Kim, Randy and Shelley, and even Barb made time to come out and see us.  Again, great catching up and experiencing their place.  Got home to watch the Indians lose.  😩

Today, we leave Ohio for the last time in 2017 and will make our way to Elizabethtown for an overnight, a couple of nights in Nashville before three nights along the mighty Mississippi.

Announcing our 2017 Fall Trip to Texas Route

We have most of our reservations made, so it's time to announce our trip to Texas this fall.

Are we passing through your town??  Let us know, we'll do dinner or at least get together!

Trying out a few new things (Santa Claus, Indiana!), a few things we're used to (Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River Park), and a couple of casino RV parks -- one we've been to (Ameristar in Vicksburg), one we're going to try out (Diamond Jack's in Bossier City).  Haven't been to Paducah or the Land Between the Lakes for years.

I wish we had a "go to" that was Northeast of Houston.  Going to try this place, it's about the third or fourth different place we've tried.

Couple of Days on the Road

We got on the road Monday (the 1st) about 9:30a.  Pretty uneventful ride, not much construction to deal with, little or no traffic through Cleveland and Columbus.  Got into Caesar Creek State Park around 3p.

Pretty quick set up since there's no water or sewage and we weren't going to set up the dish.  We got cleaned up and went into Wilmington (our hometown) to see Connie's Dad and his wife for dinner at Damon's.  (I'm dieting so I had a salad.  Hated smelling those ribs and that BBQ everywhere, but I found the strength.)  Had a wonderful time with Marion and Betty.

After dinner, we ran out to Kroger (diesel was $3.51/gallon) and Wal Mart before meeting my lifelong friend Rich and his wife Kim at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Great time catching up, beating Rich at trivia, and enjoying each other's company.

On the way back to the campground about 0.3 miles from the entrance I double thumped a skunk.  Here it is Wednesday morning and the truck still smells.

Overnight it rained hard.  Carmen didn't get much sleep, so we didn't either.  Waited out the morning rain and got on the road about 10:00a.  About 5 miles from our destination (Renfro Valley, KY) we see a sign that says left land closed 5 miles ahead.  Things started slowing down in about a mile to a crawl.  There was a truck with a fifth wheel still attached that had broken down in the left hand lane.  We're still crawling after we get by him.  About a mile past him, there's a sign that the RIGHT lane is closed in 1 mile.  Now, its a mess and as I look in the rear view mirror there's a storm coming.  Long story short, it took us about an hour to go that last 5 miles and just as we got in the storm lets loose.

We took the 35 mile run over to Somerset and Burnside.  We first started coming down here with Connie's parents when we were dating in the late 70's.  Its where we both fell in love with boating and camping.  From that first time till now the road in from I-75 has become marvelous.  What once was a twisty, turning, up and down two lane road is now a great ride with 3 and four lanes gently going over the landscape.

If someone would have wanted to prospect on property since the 80's, Somerset, Kentucky would have been a great choice.  We rode with amazement what used to be a two lane highway and is now a booming commerce center with 5 lanes.  Nothing (except the 'floating Arby's' and Sonny's BBQ) was like we remembered it.  It was amazing.

Dennis, Craig and Don will be sad to know that "the bus" gave way to corporate America and is now where a strip mall sits.

We crossed the bridge out of Somerset into Burnside and our hearts sank.  That poor little town has almost completely dried up.  As much as Somerset has prospered, Burnside has collapsed.  The 7 Gables hotel and restaurant where we first stayed was closed down.  The little grocery store sat vacant.  Was kind of sad.

Connie's Mom and Dad prospected on a lot in Burnside back in the early 70's.  They still own it.  My friend Craig and I once went down and cleared it off.  The whole development is still not developed.  The lot is all grown over again, and probably fewer people live in the allotment now than before.  Again, it was depressing.

General Burnside Island State Park was our boat ramp, our campground, our golf course.  So many memories.  Other than the pool shutting down, it was in great shape.  The golf course was closed during the season of 2007 and completely renovated by the spring of 2008.  It looked fantastic.  The boat ramp that launched so many memorable trips had been renovated.  That was great to see.

This morning we head to Chattanooga for a couple of days before we're on to Atlanta.

Fall Schedule Back to Texas Finalized

Have gotten pretty settled on our schedule back to Texas.  Leaving a little play at the end in case we want to wander around before settling back at Copano Bay RV Resort in Rockport.

09/01 – 09/02           Caesar Creek

09/02 - 09/03           Lake Cumberland, KY

09/03 – 09/05          Chattanooga, TN

09/05 – 09/08         Atlanta, GA

09/08 – 09/09         Columbus, GA

09/09 – 09/16         Panama City Beach, FL (Music Festival)

09/16 – 10/07         Gulf Shores, AL

10/07 – 10/08         Hattiesburg, MS

10/08 – 10/09         Vicksburg, MS

10/09 – 10/10         Shreveport, LA

10/10 – 10/14         Bullard, TX (Heartland Rally #1)

10/14 – 10/20         Montgomery, TX  (Heartland Rally #2)

10/20         Arrive in Rockport, TX (Copano Bay)

Will try to keep the blog updated on the travels south.  Hope to see some of you along the way!

Thanks for reading!

Alexander, AR to Shepherdsville, KY

I really don't like blogging about nothing.

The last few days, other than work things, I haven't done anything.

Stayed at Cherokee Lakes RV Park outside of Little Rock, which had a very peaceful setting, but had a lot of early risers with diesels.  Sites were really tight.

Moved on to one of our favorite non coastal parks in Tom Sawyer's RV Park.  There's nothing more peaceful, to me, than just watching the Mississippi roll.  Its so relaxing.  Again, I didn't do much, but I certainly enjoyed the surroundings.

On Monday, I motored to outside of Nashville in Dickson, TN at the Tanbark RV Park, another Passport America park.  Probably the dumpiest place I've stayed in awhile.  Definitely built when 8' wide, less than 30' trailers were in vogue.  There was nothing within 30 miles of the park to even leave for.  And the sites were tighter than anyplace I'd been to in a while.

Today, after the morning wakeup call of those who had to be at work early, I left for Singing Hills RV Park at Mammoth Cave, KY.  Funny how kharma works.  Since I was on the road so early, I thought about calling them and canceling.  I didn't, thought they would be in Eastern Time Zone (they weren't), and got there at 11 a.m.  Small talked a little bit, then came to the realization they didn't have me down.  No reservation.  Lady remember talking to me, I showed them my phone that I called (and that's probably the only reason I would have called), but nothing.  They had a 30 amp water/electric only site that I'd be "really tight to fit in".  Done.  See you.

Knew of a place short of Louisville that we'd stayed at before, but couldn't remember the name.  Thankfully, it was in our GPS.  Headed there (Grandma's RV Park), here for a night, then moving on to Caesar's Creek outside of our hometown of Wilmington, OH.

Wilmington and Ashtabula

We spent all day Thursday and Friday in our hometown of Wilmington (OH), actually outside of it about 7 miles in Caesar Creek State Park.

Thursday, we spent most of the day with our parents.  Mowed the yard, my first time in about 3 years.  Don't miss it.  Big moment was we went to Verizon to get my Mom a new phone.  

Thursday evening, we met with many of our friends from High School at McD's Pub.  Great to see everyone.   Amazing how you can pick right up with people you haven't seen for 30 some years.

Friday, was a miserable, dreary day.  Welcome back to Ohio.  Spent most of the day just reminiscing with our parents, though sadly, we did go to one of our friends' father's calling hours.

Saturday was a travel day.  We cooked a pre-Mother's Day brunch at the campsite, then got on the road around 11a.  Lunch at the Flying J north of Columbus, then dropped my Mom off in Cardington.  Still had about 3 hours to go after that.

Got into Kister's Marina around 5:30p, and set up didn't take too long.  Our daughter Bethany came over, as did our friend Lenny.  We then went over to Lenny's to see his Mom, brother and girlfriend.  Carmen and Sloopy got to see 'Dessa and Sierra, two litter mate 11 year old German Shepherds.  Carmen had a little too much energy for those two.

Sunday, we went over to Pickle Bill's in Grand River for a Mother's Day luncheon with Bethany's husband and his parents.  Great time.  So nice to have Lake Erie perch again, and catch up with James and his parents.  Cold, though.

Today was a back to work day, but I did take some time to do some work on the site.  We inherited an old DirecTV dish on a pole that we decided to take down and make into a hanging plant post.  

Neighbors said on Sunday that there were steps that people have left over the years that we were welcome to, so we grabbed a set.  Needs some tweaking, but we'll make it work.

Finally, there's plumbing.  I still hate plumbing.  Had a small leak from the hose so I cut into the hose and replaced the male end.  When I did, I realized we needed a new hose.  Also wanted to fix the sewage so it was more permanent for when we come back, and got all the pieces/parts from the bone yard except for a couple of elbows, but the pipe was old that no one carries it any more, so it didn't fit the elbows.  Tried to make it work, but it doesn't look that way.

The mower

Tomorrow, we'll head over to Cleveland, meet with our parents who are going to be dropping off a mower for Bethany and James new house, then Connie will have her first treatments and appointments at the Cleveland Clinic.

Day 4 & 5 on the Road to Ohio

Tuesday was a pretty ordinary drive day.  Got away from the Boston (TN) KOA around 9:30a with an outside thought of running all the way back to Ohio.

Stopped for lunch as we crossed the Tennessee/Kentucky line shortly after having a trucker honk at us.  Thinking something was wrong, we pulled into rest area about a mile up the road and saw nothing.  First time that a trucker honking hasn't meant something bad.  Whew!

That thought of making it to Ohio faded pretty quickly as we realized the time change was going to lose us an hour and neither of us wanted to get into Caesar Creek State Park after 6p.  We set our sights short of Louisville at Grandma's RV Park, which would give us a 3 hour run the next day.

Grandma's must have had some issues with dogs.  They had to have had the most "dog rule" signs per square yard of any RV park we've ever been in.  As an overnight stop, it was perfect.  Level to pull through without unhooking, gravel and full hookups.

Up and rolling fairly early (9:00a) and into Caesar's Creek by 12:30p.  Sat in the same spot we were in when we picked up the rig back in August of 2012.

Connie's Mom and Dad came out and visited while I ran up to Cardington (OH) to pick up my mom (about a 2 hour trip one way).  Connie and I had some great alone time with our parents, before meeting at the  Max & Erma's an exit up from I-71.

Construction on the main route to the Campground, so on the way back from Max & Erma's I was able to stop at a real, out of the way, private family cemetery to say hello to an old friend.

We're back in Ohio.  Long trip.  Too long for the number of days we did it in, but we're safe, we didn't break anything, and we're augured into our hometown for a couple of nights.

A Whirlwind Two Weeks.......

Wow.  We're in it.  The new rig.

Things have moved so quickly, and absolutely no time to sit and write about it.

Here's the short story:  We got the call on the 28th of August that the new rig was going to happen.  We left on the 29th for the drive to Cincinnati (Batavia, actually) Ohio and Holman Motors.  We get there and were supposed to be met by the security guard.  Nope.  Circled the place three times until we finally realized one gate wasn't locked.  Pulled in, walked the grounds -- no security guard.  Finally, we hit the emergency horn on the truck and got results.

We spent the morning of the 30th (delivery day) starting to pack while also peaking around the lot for our new rig.  At 1p, we started the walk through and around 3p we went inside to sign all the paperwork.  By 4p, we were the new owners of a Bighorn 3670.

Along with Connie's parents, and the owner's wife Mrs. Terry Holman (who we've known since High School), we began the arduous task of transferring everything we owned to the new vehicle.  That operation ended around 10:30p and we stayed a 2nd night in Holman's lot.

Friday, the 31st, we took it on our first ride to Caesar's Creek State Park, which is not too far from our hometown of Wilmington, OH.  No internet and very little cell phone signal.  It was great.  Our friends Rich and Kim came over and were having a yard sale.  Perfect!  Take this, and this, and this and see what happens.

Saturday, our friend Lenny from Ashtabula, OH drove down to spend the night.  We gave him a tour of our home town (including a Little League field named after Bob's Dad), stopped at the Wilmington OH Elks lodge and thoroughly, as always, enjoyed his company.

We decided to stay Sunday night at the State Park after a dinner with Connie's parents in Wilmington at the local Damon's.

Monday, Labor Day, we began the drive back to Sycamore RV Resort, stopping half way at the Crawfordsville (IN) KOA.  Finally, late Wednesday afternoon, we arrived back "home" in our new home.

Work had really stacked up, so we pretty much spent half the day working and half the day running out to get "little things" that didn't come with the rig, or didn't work well from our Sprinter.

Saturday was a college football day, and Sunday we spent organizing.  Yesterday (Monday) was really the first day that's felt somewhat normal.  It's been a whirlwind two weeks.