Saturday, September 29, 2012

Waynesville NC To Forest City NC

Forest City, NC.

63 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = High temp. 77 deg. mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of t-storms, W. wind @ 5 to 10 mph.


After backing me and CLT straight back, Jim was able to make the swing out of the site and onto the road. I ended up going across the corner of the patio and across the grass, but at least Jim didn't have to unhook CLT. : )

It was 10:00 when we pulled out of the CG and headed back to I-40. Once on 40 we followed it Southeast to Asheville where we turned South on I-26, which took us down to Columbus, where we turned East on US 74. 74 brought us over to Forest City and to Roland and Louise's house.

We did have one little glitch. When we got to Forest City, we turned off of US 74 at the wrong exit and ended up going right through "Beautiful Downtown Forest City"!!! If we had turned off at the right exit, we would have missed the downtown area with all the stores and traffic, but it wasn't too bad and by 11:35 we were pulling into Roland's driveway. : )

Even with our wrong turn, it only took us 1 hour and 35 minutes to travel the 85 miles over here.

Roland must have seen us coming because before I was completely stopped in the driveway, he was coming out of the house to greet us. After h and h, (hugs and handshakes), Jim unhooked CLT from the back of me and with Roland's help and a large field next to the driveway, Jim got me turned around and backed right up to Big Herb's RV Port.

When Roland built this house with a RV port for Big Herb, he planned on having a place for RVing friends to park their RV when they came to visit. So, he put in both 30 amp and 50 amp outlets, a water faucet on the side of the building and a sewer connection so that the RVs tanks could be dumped.

In other words, full hook-ups!!!!

Jim and Roland and Linda and Louise have already done a lot of visiting. We went down to Frostproof, FL to see them back in February but a lot has happened to both couples since then, so there's a lot to catch up on. I'm sure that our time here will go really fast.

Jim didn't take any photos yesterday, but I'm sure he will in the next few days. If I can, (slow air card connection here), I'll post them right away.

Did you know that what is now Forest City began as a crossroads on the Shelby-Rutherfordton and Spartanburg-Lincolnton Roads? Originally, the town was incorporated as Burnt Chimney in 1877. A replica near the site of the original chimney adorns the public square today. The "chimney" was the remains of the McArthur home that marked the crossroads.





Friday, September 28, 2012

KY, TN, NC and The Creekwood Farm RV Park

Waynesville, NC

52 deg. foggy, no wind.

Forecast = Day: Mostly sunny this morning...Then becoming mostly cloudy. Patchy fog this morning. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Visibility one quarter mile or less at Times this morning. Highs around 70. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.


We left Berea, KY right at 9:30 and continued heading South on I-75. When we got into Tennessee, Jim pulled me into a Pilot Truck Stop and bought me another drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel. After my drink, we continued South on 75, down to Knoxville, where we turned East on I-640. 640 took us around the North side of the city and brought us out on I-40, heading East. Following 40 then brought us down into North Carolina and to the Creekwood Farm RV Park.

It was 1:40 when we pulled into the CG so it had taken us 4 hours and 10 minutes to travel 219 miles and stop for my drink.

The Creekwood Farm RV Park is a nice park. The 2 ladies in the office were supper nice and one of them led me to my site with a golf cart. The park is very well maintained, the gravel roads are in very good condition and it's a Passport America Park, so I'm staying here for for only $18 a night. : )

But,  ,  ,  ,  , who ever laid out this park, was not an RVer.  Almost all the sites are at a right angle to the road, the gravel parking area is very narrow, so you must drive across the grass to get into the site, and there are also utilities at some of the sites that are positioned so that you can't make the swing into the site.

Jim got me into site #80, which is a pull-through site, without unhooking CLT from the back of me, but I really don't see how I'm going to get out of this site without having to back up and jockey around a post on my side of the street and a sign on the other side. : (

It wasn't long after Jim had me hooked up to the utilities the phone rang. It was Roland and Louise, and they were wondering when we would be getting to their house. Linda talked to Louise first, and then Jim talked to Roland and went over the best way to get to their house.

Roland said that it should take us somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get to their house from here, so if we leave about 10:00, we should get there around noon, which is a good time for them.

I'm really looking forward to going to Roland and Louise's house to see Big Herb again. He's probably lonesome and down in the dumps because he's been sitting in his RV port almost all summer and hasn't been out on the road hardly at all. : ( 

We'll be staying there for 4 or 5 days, so maybe I can raise his spirits a little.

Did you know that today is "Ask a Stupid Question Day"?

Hmmmmm!!! That shouldn't be too hard!!! ; )









Thursday, September 27, 2012

Even Long Time Full-Timers Forget and IN To KY

Berea, KY.

63 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Numerous showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.


That big eraser that Jim has was put to use again Tuesday morning. The plan was to leave Indy and head for KY, but the weather was not looking good at all so Jim and Linda decided to stay another day.

So,  ,  ,  , yesterday morning we left the Lake Haven Retreat CG about 9:30 and headed back up to I-465. Heading East on 465 took us to I-74 which took us over to Cincinnati where we took I-275 around to the South of the city and picked up I-75 heading South. We then followed 75 all the way down here to Berea, KY and to the Walnut Meadows RV Park.

Now, it was just as we were turning South onto I-75 on the South side of Cincinnati that there was a big "crash" sound from somewhere inside of me!! By the sound of the noise, I just knew it couldn't be good!!!! It sounded like some cabinet or drawer had come open and all contents had come out and crashed to the floor!!!!  : O

There was no place to pull off of the road right there, so Linda got up and went back to see what had happened, while Jim drove very carefully so as not to make any sudden changes in speed or direction while she was looking.

Once Linda got up and walked back into my kitchen, it was very apparent what had happened. You see, I have a pantry that has 6 drawers that are completely full of canned goods. Most of it in cans, but some in jars. Well, it seems that neither Jim or Linda remembered to latch the drawers closed before closing the door to the pantry. As we were going around the corner to merge onto I-75, the drawers pushed against the door and forced the door open, letting all six drawers come crashing out as far as possible on their slides.

Well, needless to say, there were canned goods scattered all over the floor and some of it had fallen as much as 6 feet!!!!  : O

Luckily, there was a rest area a few miles down the road, so Jim pulled in and went back to help Linda. Luckily, none of the cans or jars had broken, but there were cans everywhere!!! One of the drawers wouldn't slide back in, but during further inspection, it was discovered that there was a can wedged behind it, and once removed, the drawer closed.

Most of the cans were placed back in the drawers and the drawers were latched shut, but things had gotten so mixed up that Jim finally put some of the cans in the sink rather than trying to fit every one of them back in place.

I don't know just how long we were at the rest area, but I think it was about 15 or 20 minutes. It doesn't appear that anything was damaged, (except a few bent and dented cans), and all the drawers seem to work properly, so everything turned out OK. : )

Whew!!!!

It was 1:30 when we pulled up to the office so it took us almost exactly 4 hours to travel the 223 miles down here and stop at the rest area.

Walunt Meadows is OK. Nothing special, but it is near to where Linda's cousin, Rick and his wife Doris live and Jim and Linda have stayed here quite a few times in the past.

After getting settled in and getting the rest of the cans put away, : )  Linda called Rick to let him know that we were here. Then about 5:50 Rick and Doris came over, took a quick tour of me, and then they all  headed over to the Cracker Barrell to meet Rick and Doris' son, Cory, and his family for dinner.

After eating and visiting for quite awhile, Rick and Doris brought Jim and Linda back here. Then, it was h and h (hugs and handshakes) before Rick and Doris headed home.

It was a short visit, but a very good one. Jim and Linda always look forward to seeing Rick and his family, and I'm sure the next time we're passing through this area, we'll stop again.

Hopefully for a longer visit next time. : )

A Point to Ponder : Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

IL To IN and Dinner With Mike And Sandy

Indianapolis, IN.

56 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Overcast with a chance of a thunderstorm and rain showers. High of 68F. Winds from the SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%

After saying a final good-bye to Louise, we left the Prairie Pines Campground about 9:40 yesterday morning. In a way, I would have liked to stay longer, but the road was calling, and once we pulled out of the CG, it sure felt good to be moving once again. 

Our first stop was the F/S gas station so that Jim could get me a drink of good old #2 diesel fuel. Then, we headed south on US 45 and followed it down to Urbana, where we turned East on I-74. 74 brought us into Indiana and to Indianapolis, where we turned south on I-465 and followed it around to the South side of the city.

Once on the South side and heading East again, we turned off on Rt. 37 and took it South for just a short distance to the Lake Haven Retreat Campground.

It was 12:20 CDT when we pulled up in front of the office, so it took us about 2 hours and 40 minutes to get my drink and travel 135 miles.

The Lake Haven CG is OK. the sites are narrow and you share utilities with the RV next to you. The park is well maintained and the gal in the office is friendly and helpful. We are here in Indianapolis to see Linda's cousin and his wife and this is the most convenient park to stay at.




The do have a pretty nice little lake.

Once Jim got me positioned on the site and hooked up the electric, he came inside and re-set all the clocks to Eastern time so that there wouldn't be any confusion as to what time it was. Then after relaxing for a little while, he took a little nap. : )

After Jim woke up, Linda called her cousin Mike. He said to come on over so Jim and Linda took CG and headed  to his house.

After visiting for awhile, they everyone decided that they were getting hungry, so Mike, Sandy, Jim and Linda took Mike's car and headed over to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner. While they were at the restaurant, Jim snapped a photo of Mike.

And Sandy.

After they finished eating, they headed back to Mike and Sandy's to visit some more.

About 8:30 everyone started getting tired, so after hugs and handshakes, CLT brought Jim and Linda back here to the CG.

Both Jim and Linda said that it was really good to see Mike and Sandy again. I'm sure we'll stop by to see them again the next time we're in the Indy area.

Today, the plan is to head down into Kentucky to see another of Linda's cousins, Rick. It's about a 4 hour drive down there normally, but the weather forecast isn't looking too good, so it may take us longer.

Did you know that Marcella Gruelle of Indianapolis created the Raggedy Ann doll in 1914?

Monday, September 24, 2012

Final Preparations For Travel and Visiting

Rantoul, IL.

36 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear. High of 70F. Breezy. Winds from the SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20%.


Being that it was quite chilly yesterday morning, Jim and Linda decided to go to the grocery store in the morning so that it would be a little warmer when Jim started doing things outside.

By the time they returned and had the groceries put away, it had warmed up some.

One of the first things he did was to clean my windshield and some of my side windows. They had gotten really yucky over the 2 months that we have been here and really needed cleaning. While he was doing that, Russ and Debby came by to dump some garbage, (the dumpster is right across the street from my site), and to say good-bye and thank Jim and Linda for talking to them and giving them information about full-timing.

After finishing the windows, Jim dumped my tanks and put all the sewer and water hoses away.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the Bears game on TV, checking all the basement compartments for unsecured items and visiting with Denny, (one of the "Illinois Bunch"), when he stopped by on his way home from taking a motorcycle trip on his big Honda Gold Wing. : )  He couldn't stay long because he was wanting to get home, but he was here for about 1/2 hour or so.

Oh, Good News!!!!  I did learn that he and Bev are planning on going down to Florida this winter, so we'll be able to meet up with them and their Winnebago Brave sometime in February. : )

After Denny left, Jim and Linda walked over to the office and talked with Louise for awhile and paid for my stay here. While they were there, Paul came in, so they were able to talk to him for a little while too.

The evening was spent watching TV and getting a few more things put away inside of me.

This morning, about all that's left to do outside is to hook CLT to the back of me and disconnect my electric cord. Linda has most of the inside stuff put away, so there's not much to do there either.

The plan is to leave here sometime between 9:30 and 10:00. I'm thirsty, so we'll need to stop for fuel someplace and then head over to Indianapolis to see Linda's cousin, Mike and his wife, Sandy.

It's been a good stay here in Rantoul. I really like this campground and am looking forward to coming back here again next summer. But, I'm also looking forward to getting back out on the road and seeing Jim and Linda's families and friends in IN, KY, NC, VA and FL. ; )

A Point to Ponder : You never see a hearse with a luggage rack.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Getting Ready and Dinner With Paul And Louise

Rantoul, IL.

42 deg, clear, W. wind @ 6 mph.

Forecast = Clear. High of 64F. Winds from the WNW at 5 to 15 mph.


Friday, Jim took CLT and headed over to Rural King. He wanted to buy a few thing there before we leave the area. He also stopped by ACE Hardware to find some kind of thermostat, but they didn't have what he wanted in stock.

In the afternoon, he installed the tow-bar back on the front of CLT and rolled up all my awnings before it started raining. Then, since it was raining, he fooled around with the computer for awhile and then took a nap. : )

Yesterday, after it warmed up a little, (It was only about 50 degrees with a 15 to 20 mph wind blowing), Jim went out and checked the air pressure in all my tires. After that, he took his bicycle's front wheel off and put the bike and the wheel into the back of CLT and secured it.

Around Lunchtime, Louise came over and told Jim that she and Paul wanted to take Jim and Linda out to dinner. She said that they had planned to have a cook-out, but being that it was quite cool and windy, they decided it would be better to go to a restaurant. 

She told Jim that she and Paul would pick them up about 6:30.

Wow!!! What a nice surprise!!!

During the afternoon, Jim added some water to my fresh water tank and went through some of my basement compartments to make sure everything was secure. Then, he cleaned and put away the awning tie down straps and anchors.

Linda is still working on her Family Tree Maker program. She keeps finding more and more people to add, and also additional information about the people she already had found. She's also been doing laundry and has been starting to get the inside of me ready to travel.

About 6:30 Paul and Louise pulled up in front of my site, picked up Jim and Linda and headed to Gifford, (which is a very small town about 6 or 8 miles East of Rantoul), and to the Longbranch Restaurant. Jerry and Lorie, (a couple who help Paul and Louise with the Campground on the weekends), followed along in their car.

Jim and Linda had been to the Longbranch with Paul and Louise a few years ago, and just like that time, the food was very good, with good service.

Of course the best part of the meal was visiting with Paul, Louise, Jerry and Lorie. : )

Louise and Paul insisted on paying for Jim and Linda's meal. What great people!! It's no wonder Jim and Linda have been coming back to this Campground for years. : )

Thank you so much, Paul and Louise!!!

After returning, Jim and Linda watched some college football on TV and then headed for bed.

Today, Jim and Linda want to make one last run to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute items. Then, later, Jim will dump my tanks, put away all my hoses and probably hook CLT up to the back of me.

Tomorrow morning, all he'll have to do is unhook the electric.

Did you know that on this date in 1962 "The Jetsons" premiered on ABC-TV? It was the first program on the network to be carried in color.




Friday, September 21, 2012

Meeting Debby and Russ

Rantoul, IL.

49 deg. clear, SE wind @ 4 mph.

Forecast = Overcast with thunderstorms and a chance of rain. High of 72F. Winds from the SSW at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the West in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50% with rainfall amounts near 0.2 in. possible.


The other day when Jim was servicing my batteries, a lady that was walking by on the street, turned up the sidewalk into my site and introduced herself as Debby. She told Jim that she and her husband Russ were camping here at this park, down in the area where I was last year. She said that they were selling their house and are now living in their Class "B" motor home. They have a new MH on order, but they won't be getting it until later in October.

The reason she had stopped by, was that they had noticed my South Dakota plates and were wondering if we were full-timers. You see, they are just getting started with this full-timing thing and were looking for someone to talk to who had some experience with mail forwarding services and transferring residency to a different state.

Jim said that he and Linda would be glad to share information and suggested that they get together and talk sometime later in the week.

Well, yesterday morning, Jim walked down to their site and asked Debby and Russ if they'd like to come over to my site to talk? 

I a little while, they came over and after getting the "tour" of the inside of me, everyone sat down and talked and talked. : )  They had some very good questions that Jim and Linda tried to answer and both Jim and Linda had some suggestions about how they should go about doing certain things to get set up for the full-timing lifestyle.

Of course as most full-timers know, there's really no right or wrong way to go about all of this, so they have some decisions to make, based on how they want/need to do things.

They're a great couple and it seems like they have the right attitude for full-timing. They've been living in their class "B" since spring, so when they get that new, much larger MH in October, they should be much more comfortable and be able to get some of their "stuff" out of storage to take with them.

They were here for a couple hours and before they left, both Jim and Linda told them to be sure and come back and ask more questions if they needed to. They also exchanged e-mail addresses so hopefully they'll be able to stay in contact.

Oh, and Debby and Russ are planning on spending much of the winter down in Florida, so maybe we can even get together with them down there!!! : ) 

I'd really like to meet their new Motorhome!!

Not much else happened around here the rest of the day. Jim took a nap in the afternoon, then he cooked a couple burgers on the grill for dinner while Linda got all the other food ready inside of me. Linda is still working on her Family Tree stuff, trying to get as much information off of the Internet as possible while she has the free wi-fi here at the park, then they both watched TV in the evening before going to bed after the news.

So, it was another great day!!! : )  I really enjoyed meeting Debby and Russ and I know that Jim and Linda did too. Hopefully we'll get to see them again real soon, and many more times down the road. ; )

A Point to Ponder : A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.









Thursday, September 20, 2012

Dinner With Mark And Zelina

Rantoul, IL.

55 deg. clear, SW wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = high temp. 75 deg. partly cloudy, W. winds @ 5 to 15 mph.

Jim and Linda did some cleaning inside of me yesterday, but other than that and quick trip to the post office to pick up their mail and to pick up a few things at Walgreen's, not much happened during the day.

Awhile back, Linda had discovered, through her ancestry research that one of her cousin's sons is living right here in Rantoul!  So, the other day, Linda called him and made arrangements to get together for dinner at Monical's Pizza.

Linda had not seen Mark since he was a boy, so when he and his wife, Zelina, walked into the restaurant, she didn't even recognize them. But, they found each other and both Jim and Linda said that they had a great visit. And in fact, plans were tentatively made to get together again if possible next year when we come back to this area.   ; )

It was after 8:00 by the time Jim and Linda returned here to the CG. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and playing around with the computers.

Today, I think Jim is going to continue getting me and CLT ready to travel. Both of us need the air pressure in our tires checked and Jim needs to clean, check and lube CLT's tow bar. Also, he'll need to go through all of my basement compartments to make sure everything is secure and won't be rattling around down there while we're traveling.

Did you know that about 3 billion pizzas are sold each year in the U.S?





Wednesday, September 19, 2012

A Very Good Day

Rantoul, IL.

39 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = High temp. 72 deg. sunny, SW wind @ 10 to 20 mph.


First of all, Jim would like to thank all of you that sent Jim birthday wishes yesterday. He enjoyed reading every one of your comments and e-mails. : )

Jim didn't do a lot yesterday. It was pretty windy and as many of you know, he doesn't much like being outside when it's windy. So, he surfed the Internet, watched some TV, sorted thorough some papers that he had accumulated on our trip out west, and took a nice long nap in the afternoon.

Mike, (Jim's Son), called from Apex, NC to wish him a Happy Birthday and to talk awhile. While they were talking, Jim told Mike that we should be getting there on or about the 3rd of October for a 2 week visit. Mike said that time period would work out great for them and that he, Gina and the kids are looking forward  to our visit. : )

About 4:30, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed down to Urbana where they went to to the Farm & Fleet store. Jim needed some new jeans and they've usually got a pretty good price on them. After purchasing a couple pairs, (they were even on sale), they headed over to an Outback Steakhouse in Champaign for dinner.

You see, a couple weeks ago, Jim was going through a drawer and found an Outback Steakhouse gift card that he and Linda had received, probably way back in December for Christmas. So, it was decided that they would use it for Jim's birthday dinner.

Neither Jim or Linda had ever been to an Outback before. Jim said that he thought that there was a little too much seasoning on his steak, but they both enjoyed the meal and the service was excellent.

After returning back here, they watched TV until the news was over and then went to bed.

Jim said that he had a very good day!! : )

A Point to Ponder : You know you're getting old when you are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of the police.  


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Getting Ready To Travel

Rantoul, IL.

52 deg. mostly cloudy, N. wind @ 10 mph.

Forecast = Overcast in the morning, then mostly cloudy. High of 68F. Breezy. Winds from the NNW at 15 to 20 mph with higher gusts.


Yesterday morning, Jim decided that it was time to start getting me ready to travel. The first thing on the agenda was to service my batteries. Over the last year, Jim has determined that they need to be serviced about every 2 to 3 months, because at that time, he still doesn't have to add excessive amounts of distilled water to the batteries, and so far, there hasn't been a big corrosion problem.

Now in my case, being that I have a residential refrigerator and most everything else inside of me is electric and operates off of a pretty big inverter, I have six 6 volt batteries to power my coach and two 12 volt batteries to start my engine and run the chassis part of me.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  servicing all those batteries in not a chore that is done very quickly.

The first thing that Jim does is to add distilled water to any of the battery cells that are low. Then he cleans any terminals that have corrosion on them, taking them apart if necessary. After that, he sprays some yellow stuff on the batteries that turns pink if it contacts any trace of acid. After leaving that stuff sit on the batteries for awhile to neutralize the acid, he hoses them off with water, checks all the connections for remaining corrosion, re-applies the yellow stuff to make sure there is no more acid on the outside of the batteries, and then hoses them off again.

After letting the batteries dry, he sprays some red stuff on the terminals to help stop new corrosion.

Oh, and while he was servicing my batteries, he was also servicing CLT's (Cute Little Truck's), battery.

By the time he was finished and had everything put away, about 2 1/2 hours had passed, so he came inside of me and relaxed for awhile.

After lunch, he went back outside, checked all my fluid levels, topped off any that were low and then came back inside and took a little nap. : )

While he was working on my batteries and all that other stuff, Linda was inside of me, doing laundry and looking up more information about ancestors for her family tree program.

We had a line of thunder storms come through the area last night. Nothing serious, but there was a cold front behind it and now on TV they're forecasting the low temperatures tonight to get down into the 30's!!! 

I'm thinking it's probably a good idea to be leaving here soon. I think that because of the very high temperatures around here all summer, there may be an early winter on the way. : (

Did you know that on this date in 1941 a little boy was born in a little house on Wood Street in the little town of Peotone, IL?

His mother and father named him James.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Visitors

Rantoul, IL.

50 deg. clear, no wind

Forecast = Clear. High of 81F. Winds from the South at 5 to 10 mph.

We have visitors!!! Yep, yesterday morning, Jim opened one of my kitchen cabinets and there was the evidence of our visitors.

As you can probably figure out, these are not welcome visitors. They came in without an invitation, they ate some of Jim's cheese popcorn, part of 2 different granola bars that Linda had in there and part of a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers. : (

All without even asking!!!!!

Well, because they were so rude and invaded my cabinets, Jim and Linda decided that they would definitely  have to go!!! So, being that they have a reputation for not leaving, Jim decided that drastic actions were in order. The first step was to go to the Ace Hardware store in town and buy some traps and then bring them back here and set them up, (with a gob of peanut butter on them), in the cabinet where our visitors were indulging themselves.

I don't know how many visitors we had, but about 7:00 last night, one of the traps snapped and sure enough,  one of our unwelcome visitors met his demise. : ) Jim reset the trap and put it back into the cabinet, but as of this morning, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any additional visitors.

I'm sure he'll leave the traps set until we leave here. That way if there are any more inside of me, or more try to come in, we'll be ready for them. ; )

Did you know that on this date in 1620 - The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England? The ship arrived at Provincetown, MA, on November 21st and then at Plymouth, MA, on December 26th. There were 102 passengers onboard.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Jim's Eye Scan, A New Chair and Cooler Weather

Rantoul, IL.

51 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast =Mostly cloudy in the morning, then clear. High of 79F. Winds less than 5 mph.


It's been real slow here at Prairie Pines. Just a few RVs coming in and then leaving right away the next morning. Normally on Fridays there would be a bunch of RVs coming in for the weekend, but yesterday only a couple came in.

I guess that's normal for this time of the year though.

Early yesterday morning, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed down to Champaign, IL. Jim's eye doctor wanted him to get a scan done of his eyes to compare to how they were doing a year ago, so yesterday was the day to get that accomplished.  The place where he had the scan done, (actually Linda's retinologist), will send the results to Jim's doctor.

Hopefully the results are the same or maybe even improved.

Being that they didn't even have to dilate Jim's eyes for the scan, when he was done, he and Linda headed over to Ashley Furniture to check out chairs to use at my desk. You see, the chair that they were using was a dining room chair that they had bought in Sioux Falls, SD when we were there last year, and it just wasn't working out. So, they decided that they'd look for something different.

Well, they found a regular "desk chair" that they liked, and, because the only one they had in stock was the floor model, Jim and Linda were able to purchase it at a reduced price!!! : )


This thing is pretty spiffy!!!! It swivels, goes up and down, and even leans back!!!! Even at the reduced price, it was kind of expensive, but as much as that chair will get used, I think it was worth it. ; )

Now, after Jim and Linda came back here and got the new chair inside of me, (not an easy task), : O  the question came up, what do they do with the old chair? It's still good and is very nice looking, so it would be a shame to just throw it away, but as you RVers know, there just isn't room inside of an RV for an extra chair!!! : (

Well, Jim went over and talked to Paul and he said that he may know someone who could use it, so Jim carried it over to the office area and put it into the storage shed for now.

Hopefully Paul or Louise will be able to find a new home for the chair.

Oh!! Thanks for reminding me, CLT..

After they went to Ashley's, Jim and Linda stopped by the Urbana Gardens Restaurant in Urbana to get something to eat. Being that it was after 10:00 by that time, they had breakfast for "brunch". : )  Both Jim and Linda said that the food and service was very good as usual.

The weather here is much cooler than it has been. A cold front came through the area Thursday night and dropped the temperature down about 15 to 20 degrees. It's supposed to stay cool for the next day or so before the temperatures start climbing up again. Then, they're forecasting another cold front coming through Monday night which is supposed to bring the overnight lows down into the lower 40's!!!!!

A Point to Ponder : If you work too hard to be clever, you won't have enough energy to be smart.

Wait!!! Don't go yet, there's more!!!  I just found out that Louise decided to use the old chair in the office!!

Good, I'm glad the chair found a home so soon. I got kind of attached to it after carrying it around with me for over a year. : ) 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Just Jabbering

Rantoul, IL.

64 deg. mostly cloudy, SE wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy in the morning, then partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 82F. Winds from the South at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the WSW in the afternoon. Chance of rain 40%.


It's been pretty breezy the last few days and the temperatures have been into the mid to upper 80's so if you didn't mind the wind, it was a pretty nice day to be out and about.

Not much happening here in Rantoul. Things are definitely winding down here in the Campground. Jim went over and talked to Louise for awhile yesterday morning before heading over to Rural King to pick up a few items. Then, after lunch he took an important letter that needed to be mailed, to the post office.

Linda has been finding some really interesting things on-line for her family tree program. She has found names and dates of some of her ancestors that she's been looking for, for years. She's trying to find as much information as possible while we're here and has the free wi-fi.

Don't know what's going to happen today. Jim didn't sleep well last night so he'll probably take a pretty long nap. They're forecasting rain for later on today, so maybe he can get a few things done outside this morning and then take his nap later.

Well, I'd better quit for now. You're probably already bored with my jabbering.

A Point to Ponder : If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.







Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Do You Remember?

Rantoul, IL

52 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear, high 84 deg. S. wind @ 10 to 15 mph.


Do you remember where you were on 9-11-2001?  I think most Americans do!!

Jim and Linda say that they were right here in this CG, down on site #7 or #9. They had just started Full-timing in June of that year and when those planes flew into the towers, they couldn't help wondering if they would be able to continue to travel at all?

There are other dates that I would imagine that many of you remember vividly. How about it, do some of you remember Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

How about when President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22 of 1963, or Neil Armstrong being the first man to set foot on the moon on July 21, 1969?

These are just a few dates that stand out. I'm sure there are others that many of you remember very clearly. Maybe when you were married or when your first child was born? When a loved one was lost?

Please take a moment to remember all those lives that were lost on this day in 2001.

The CG here in Rantoul really emptied out Sunday. By noon almost everyone that was leaving had left and now there are only a few RVs here. From here on, there will be less and less RVs stopping by and the ones that are still here will be leaving.

Jim and Linda are starting to think about what they need to get done before we leave here. Jim has one more eye doctor appointment this Friday, there's some shopping that needs to be done, and some people that Jim and Linda want to see before we leave.

Did you remember that the 9/11 attacks resulted in the death of 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers and 2,977 victims?

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Nice Weather, Latest Plans and CG Entertainment

Rantoul, IL.

55 deg. overcast, NW wind @ 9 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 72F. Winds from the WNW at 10 to 15 mph.


The weather was really nice here in Rantoul yesterday. Lots of sunshine and temperatures in the low 70's. It was a little breezy though, but not enough to bother most folks. The CG is just about full and if there would me more kids running around and playing, you'd think that this weekend was the Holiday weekend. 

After everyone leaves today, it should get really quiet here at the Prairie Pines CG. Louise doesn't have any more clubs or organizations booked for the rest of the year, and probably the only campers that will stop by will be folks traveling on I-57 or I-74.

We'll be here for a couple more weeks yet. As it looks right now, we'll be leaving here on the 24th of September to start heading East towards North Carolina and Virginia to see Jim and Linda's kids and grand-kids.

If everything go according to plan, we'll be making stops to see people in Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina before getting to Mike and Gina's in Apex, NC and to Joe and Nancy's in Virginia Beach, VA.

Of course, most of you regular readers know that all of Jim's plans are written in pencil and he has that big eraser!! ; )

So, I guess that's it for today. It'll be fun watching all the folks pack up to leave the CG. Some are quite experienced RVers and others are not, so the way they go about packing up and moving out of their sites can be quite entertaining. : )

Did you know that today is "National Grandparent's Day"?



Saturday, September 8, 2012

Grrrrrrr!!!!! and We Had Company

Rantoul, IL.

54 deg. clear, NW wind @ 9 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy in the morning, then clear. High of 70F. Breezy. Winds from the NW at 15 to 20 mph.


Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!! 

It's beyond me how some people can get pleasure out of messing up someones computer!!!! I can even understand it a little if they're trying to get some information, but to just mess up someones computer for no reason??????

As you can probably tell by now, Jim's laptop computer had a virus/malware or whatever you want to call it, and it was messing everything up!!!!! Couldn't get onto some sites, got warnings that the computer was infected and got all kinds of error messages!!! : (

As soon as this started happening, Jim shut the computer down, got onto Linda's desktop and e-mailed Greg at GeekyGuys.  If you been following this blog for awhile, you already know that Jim and Linda have used Greg's services before. In fact last year, he built Linda's desktop computer for her and fixed a few problems with this laptop. Before that, he cleaned out a really nasty virus that Jim had on this laptop.

 He's really good at what he does and his fees are not out of line at all.

To make a long story shorter, Greg has this computer cleaned up and running like a top again, and I'm back to blogging!!! : )

So, what has been happening since I last posted on Labor Day?   Well, actually quite a bit!!

We've had more rain and some storms go through this area, There's been a couple local shopping trips made, but most important, is that we had company!!! : ) 

Here's a photo of their rig which was in a site a little up the street from me. Do any of you recognize it? Well, I won't keep you in suspense too long.

It belongs to Mike and Terri Young who have a blog called Forever Young.  

On Monday, (I think it was), Mike called and said that they would be coming through this area and was wondering if Jim and Linda would be around. He said that he knew it was short notice, but they would be here on Tuesday!!!.

Well, they didn't make it here on Tuesday because of a little problem, (I'll let Mike tell you about it on his blog), but they did make it here Wednesday. 

They weren't able to make it here until later in the afternoon, so instead of going out to eat someplace, They just ordered a couple Pizzas delivered instead. (That Mike paid for).  Thanks Mike!!!! : )

The pizza along with some chocolate cake that Linda got out of the freezer earlier, made for a very nice meal.

By the time Mike and Terri had their rig set up, came over here and talked and relaxed a little, the pizza arrived. Then they sat down inside of me to eat and catch up on what has been happening since we last saw them last summer.

As always, it was good conversation with very good friends. ; )

Mike and Terri had already had a long day, so about 9:00 they headed back to their RV.

They could only stay for one night because they needed to continue heading East for an appointment they have, so, Thursday morning, after h and h, (hugs and handshakes), they loaded up and continued heading East. : (

Both Jim and Linda said that the visit with Mike and Terri was way to short, but before they left they were already talking about meeting up again, maybe even sometime later on this year, over on the East Coast or down in Florida!! : )

That would be great!!!!! : )

As I stated at the beginning of this blog, we've had some more rain. If you  remember, it was extremely dry when we arrived here in July and the grass, (and almost everything else), was completely dry. Well, this first photo was taken back then, just after we got here.


This photo was taken Thursday from about the same spot.  A few inches of rain makes a big difference.

Yesterday, we had quite a bit of rain again when a cold front came through. The temperatures have been in the mid to upper 80's, but today they're forecasting a high of 70 degrees, and not near as humid.

That's good because there are 4 groups here in the CG for the weekend. Two of the groups are hear already and I think there may be another group here also. One group is an Airstream club and another is a Hi-Low Club.

Both of those clubs stand out because of their unique trailers.

Louise said that the CG is pretty much sold out for the weekend and I'm sure it is because there are already many more RV here than were here for the rainy Labor Day weekend.

Did you know that September is "National Chicken Month"?

Thanks for stopping by, Mike and Terri, it was really good to see you again!!!! : )


Monday, September 3, 2012

Happy Labor Day

Rantoul, IL.

70 deg. cloudy, light fog, N. wind @ 10 mph.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain in the morning, then partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 84F with a heat index of 90F. Winds from the NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.



Happy Labor Day!!!!

It rained, lightly, off and on all day yesterday. Every once in awhile the sun would even come out, but then in a few minutes, it was lightly raining again. : ( There were a few people out and  about between showers here at the park, but most just stayed inside of their RVs.

Today is supposed to be a little better. I hope so, for those who were brave enough to go camping this weekend.

Besides being Labor Day, this is one of Jim and Linda's favorite holidays. You see, after today, most folks will put their campers away for the year, the kids will be back in school, and the campgrounds and RV parks will be much less crowded, even on the weekends!!! : ) 

It will be this way until Memorial Day next year, except in the "Snowbird" areas where campgrounds and RV parks will start filling up with "Old Fogy's", like Jim and Linda, in October and November. ; )

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  I hope all of you have a great Holiday!!! If you're traveling please be careful out there on the highways.



A Point to Ponder : "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Lots Of Rain

Rantoul, IL.

71 deg. clear, NE wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = Periods of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.


Lots of rain!!! I don't think that we'll get the 7 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac that some of the weather stations have fore casted, but we're getting there. As of this morning, Jim's rain gauge had 4.3 inches of rain in it, and they're forecasting more showers for today and tonight.

So far, I haven't heard of any flooding in the immediate area, but then who knows. The local TV stations around here evidently don't think that there is any news to report on the weekends. Oh, they have the evening news, but by that time, much of the news you're getting is almost 24 hours old!!!

Being that it rained off and on for much of yesterday, there's not much to report on from here. Friday, Jim did go to the Rural King store and pick up a few items that he wanted, but other than that, he and Linda haven't done much except watch TV, read, and work/play with the computers.

A lot of RVs came in for the weekend, but there are quite a few sites empty, so there must have been a lot of cancellations. It's too bad that this storm had to come right on the Labor Day weekend because that's the last weekend many people will get a chance to go camping.

So, what's going to happen today?  I really don't have any idea. A lot will depend on the weather. There are still some showers just to the South of us and with the warm muggy air that we have now, more may form this afternoon.

Did you know that on this date in 1935 a hurricane hit the Florida Keys killing 423 people?