From Memphis to Tallahasse....

Sunday was getaway day for us.  We really enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park.  Electric and laundry were included, making it a great value for a month stay.  We'll miss our walks to the river and just there and watch barges go by.

Sunday, we left at our typical 10:30a and was a pretty uneventful ride to a suburb of Birmingham, AL (Bessemer) where we stayed at an Elks Lodge.  Road was surprisingly good, spare a few miles that looked like they were the last to be repaved.  When we entered B'ham, we noticed some storm damage from the April 2011 tornado that really raked some damage on this area.  Parking at the lodge was one of our first challenges with the new rig.

Monday morning, we took off with the girls to Tuscaloosa to see the home of the Crimson Tide.  Again, before reaching campus, we saw the devastation that they really haven't recovered from with that awful storm.  Very hurricane-ish the way there was just a swath of nothing where the storm touched down.

Bryant-Denny stadium was nice.  They've really done some nice work on the walk up with statues of all the coaches who have won national championships, plus brick work that includes the names of all the players on those teams.  Lots of reminders of Paul "Bear" Bryant

We took a quick run out to see the Sewell-Thomas baseball stadium and Coleman Coliseum.  Both were impressive, especially the basketball arena.  From the outside looks like a barn, but once inside they've done a great job with their facilities and looks like a wonderful place to watch a game.

After some work upon returning to Bessemer Elks Lodge, we went out to dinner with our old friend Dick Turner and his new wife Cathy at the Southern Legacy BBQ in Hoover, AL.  The food was fabulous, half price beers and appetizers through 7p.  We had some BBQ nachos that were splendid.

Catching up with our old friend was a treat.  It had probably been around 15 years since we've seen Dick.  We spent the night laughing, catching up on everyone we knew, our families, their new life in Birmingham and our business and RV'ing lifestyle.

Tuesday was an easy getaway day.  We came upon a wreck in Birmingham just after it happened, and was about a 45-50 delay getting out of town, so that up and going at 8a was wasted.  It's really one of the first long delays we've had which is pleasantly surprising.

We're in at the Tallahassee Elks, which has really secluded, wooded sites.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, which is as it should be!

Back into Chicago, Storms here again....

Thursday, we took a ride into Chicago to Navy Pier to hear the Dueling Pianos on the Pier and meet with a former student of Bob's who went to Loyola and has lived in Chicago for a few years.  Was fun catching up.

Not much drama traveling this time, just missed our first stop on the return ride, so a little bit of jogging to make the 9:40p Metra train back to Elburn.  Biggest drama was when we turned on the Garmin Nuvvi we got really bad news.  It must have gotten smacked when we put it away in the glove compartment and the result was a disaster as you can see.  Sent it in Friday to see if there's anything they can do.

Also Friday, we got our new Maxxi tires for the rig.  Hopefully will allieviate the Carlisle Tire blowout problems.  We made an appointment a the local Farm and Fleet to have them put on Monday, so we'll have a mini tear down and roll.

Friday night, Sycamore RV Resort was pretty electric with weekend campers and kids everywhere.  Probably trying to get that last run out before school starts.  Met a great couple (Scott and Leslie) in their new RV (moving in their daughter to NIU) staying here from Detroit.

Saturday, since we're moving on Monday for tires, we chalked off the first big "To Do" by finishing repairing the damage from the Iowa tire blow out.  Was a lot of work getting glue to hold, holes sealed, etc.  That Great Stuff expanding foam is good stuff but really messy.  We both threw away our work clothes at the end of the run.

Later we were going to go to the MooseFest here in town, but the Severe Thunderstorm Warnings came out around 3:00p and sure enough, around 3:30p we had sheets of rain, hard driving wind and lots of lightning and thunder.  Couple of the weekenders learned about their awnings in storms, and will be learning this week how expensive they are.

Scott and Leslie came over after dinner and 'the girls' made them feel right at home.  Night of Olympics watching after they left along with planning for the quasi move on Monday, and the weekend is pretty well over!

Our travel to Kansas

Yes, Toto, we're in Kansas.

When last we left, we were waiting out Mother Nature and delayed leaving Shady Creek RV Park by a day.  Well, we got the storms, and Oklahoma City didn't.

It was our first hail storm of note, a good 5 minute droppings of pea to nickel sized hail and it just came out of nowhere.  Was partly cloudy, then all of a sudden it sounded like a small bird flew into the side of the rig.  Then it hit.  Had a few dents added to the front of the rig and our propane heater, but nothing broken or permanently damaged.  We had had so much rain in the two days that the pool was at high tide.


We had a decent day on Thursday to travel to the Elks Lodge in Edmond, OK.  No problems getting through Oklahoma City, traffic was pretty average.

The folks at the Edmond Elks Lodge were wonderfully accommodating from the phone call letting us know they only had 50 amp connections to our arrival and subsequent 'few' in the bar, great folks.

We knew ahead of time that we turned into pumpkins at noon on Friday, because they were having a flea market that would take up all of their parking lot, so we were on the road to Wichita, a mere two hours.

I guess you should know if the place your going to is on the other side of 14 railroad tracks, things probably aren't looking up.  When we got to the Wichita Elks, which billed itself as having "electric and water".  No one there, raining, 15 amp outlets on the side of the building, but no way to get there and no signs of water.  Not where we wanted to spend 3 nights.  We make a quick call to Charlie at the Capital City KOA to see if we can come in earlier than Monday.  Like today.  Like in 2 hours.

Carmen hates riding.  It was tough telling her we had two more hours to go, and we weren't really done yet.  She got through it, though.

We saw some great looking casinos along I-35 including the Winstar which had world replicas of famous buildings as their exterior surrounding the buildings.

So here we are!  A month in Topeka, Kansas.  Got some plans, but all Fred P 'soft plans'.  Stick with us and see how they come out.

Mother Nature Still Decides....

When we were boating, the wind and waves ultimately decided whether we'd stay in a certain port or make the run to our homeport of Ashtabula or our next destination.  It's the single biggest reason we're a "landyacht" instead of being liveaboards somewhere which was the original plan 10 some years ago.

So yesterday, we see on the news where they're predicting 'super cells' for Oklahoma City, our next destination yesterday and today (when we're supposed to roll).  They get pounded last night, as we did.  0.75" of rain around 3 a.m. with pea/nickel sized hail and a dog scared of thunder is not a pleasant way to try and sleep.  Nothing like OKC, though with the hail, winds and rain that really slapped them silly.

With the forecast the same today (decent through the day but building to nasty by evening), we'll pass on leaving.  The truck is packed, we're ready, but the Edmond (OK) Elks Lodge will have to wait another day.

An eventful night

Last night was just full of events.

Around 8:30p, we heard what sounded like a crash.  It was.  A jackedup pickup truck was in front of another pickup truck and both were about to turn left into the park.  A third car from behind attempted to pass both of them just as first truck turned left.  The fact it was a jackedup pickup probably saved some lives because the car slid under the truck, and didn't hit the driver broadside.  While there were a few injuries, it could have been much, much worse.

Then around 9:00p, little Maddison comes out of Fred and Vickie's rig and says there's something wrong with the television she was watching.  Actually, the National Weather Service had jumped in to alert us of an impending Severe Thunderstorm.  It was supposed to hit us around 9:35p.

While the rain and hail they had predicted went north of us, the winds certainly got howling.  Tree limbs down, power went out, things were strewn about the campground, people went to the clubhouse.

Finally, on the walk home, Bob stepped in a hole and rolled his ankle and scraped his knee.

Again, other than some damage here and there, everything passed without much ado other than a "story".

Another day out of the snow

Had some thunderstorms roll through this morning.  Great contrast from the blue water of Neuces Bay to the dark clouds that rolled in from the west.  Texas really needs rain and this morning was barely a drop in the bucket.
Another day of golf at the Northshore Country Club.  Wind is such a challenge when it affects your shots so much.  Adds another element to the course.