He Still Knows How and A Sloppy Joe Dinner

Rantoul, IL.

63 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly sunny. Isolated showers in the morning...Then isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Light northwest winds. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.


Jut to prove that Jim still knows how to take photos, I thought that I'd post this one that he took the other day. It's not a photo of anything special, but I thought the dark blue sky and the puffy white clouds were kind of neat. It was taken from my site, looking towards the North.

Jim and Linda took CLT and headed to the County Market Grocery store yesterday morning. I though that they were only going to pick up a few items, but when they returned, they had the whole back end of CLT full of groceries!!!! : O

Somehow, they managed to get them all put away in my refrigerator, cabinets and basement compartments. : )

The afternoon was spent with Jim taking a nap and doing some cleaning inside of me, Linda cleaning some too, resting and making a desert for Louise's evening meal.

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention that Louise invited Jim and Linda and another couple over for dinner last night?

It was sometime yesterday morning when Louise came over to my site and told Jim that she was having Sloppy Joe sandwiches, home made potato salad and home made slaw for dinner and that he and Linda should come over about 5:30 or so and they would eat around 6:00.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  being that Linda always likes to take something to contribute to the meal, she decided to make one of her sugar-free deserts. 

The one that she made this time, she just calls, "Peach Stuff". I could probably find the recipe if anyone is interested, but I know she uses a cake mix, some peaches, sweetener, and some nuts.

As usual, Louise put together a very good meal. Both Jim and Linda said that her "Sloppy Joe's" were really good and so was the potato salad and the slaw. And,  ,  ,  everyone seemed to enjoy Linda's desert.

After eating, Louise started a fire and everyone sat and talked. Jim and Linda must have had a good time because it was after 9:00 by the time they came back here. ; )

Thanks Louise!!!  : )

Today, Denny and Bev and Dave and Dee Dee will be coming. I don't know when they'll be getting here, but I would imagine that it'll be sometime this morning or early afternoon. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Denny and Bev's motor home and Dave and Dee Dee's 5th wheel a little better.

It's too bad that Gordy and Dorthy won't be coming with their MH. : (

A Point to Ponder :  Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

The "Eyes" Have It

Rantoul, IL.

55 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Light southeast winds.


What do the "Eyes" have?  They have a good report!!!!!  : )

Jim and Linda took CLT, (Cute Little Truck), and headed down to Linda's retinologist a little after noon yesterday. Again, even though she hadn't noticed any problems, she was very anxious about going. Well, as it turned out, everything is fine and she won't have to be going back for another year. (Unless she notices some changes in her vision.)  

Great news!!!! : )

Of course to check her eyes, they had to dilate them. So, when she came back here to the CG, she was still wearing her "movie star" glasses. ; ) 

Not much else happen around here yesterday. Jim did go over and talk to Louise in the morning to make sure that there were sites available for the 2/3 of the "Illinois Bunch" that will be coming tomorrow. I don't know for sure which sites they'll have but hopefully they'll be pretty close to me.

Today, Jim and Linda need to go and pick up their mail at the Post Office and a few things at the grocery store. I also need a little cleaning inside of me so I'm presentable.

A Point to Ponder : Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

The Rains Cometh and The Illinois Bunch Too

Rantoul, IL.

55 deg., clear, W. wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.


Wow!!!! That was some kind of storm!!!

Yesterday afternoon, we had strong winds, small hail, severe thunder and lightning and 1.8 inch of rain!!! The radar had all kinds of purdy colors in it, but we lucked out and didn't have any tornadoes in this area. (That I've heard about). 

We definitely needed the rain, but we didn't need all the other stuff that came with it. 

Yesterday morning, Jim spent quite a bit of time on the computer and then went out and secured everything outside as they were forecasting the storm and the radar for this area was starting to light up. The afternoon was spent watching the radar, TV and the weather out of my windows.

By late afternoon, the storms were over, so Jim and Linda took CLT and headed to Monical's Pizza where they had a very good pizza.

After they returned, Linda worked on her Family Tree program and then they both watched a pre-season football game on TV.

Oh, and with all the excitement of the storm, I almost forgot!!!! The "Illinois Bunch" are coming this Sunday!!!! : )  I didn't think that they would be coming until sometime in September!!!!!

What a great surprise!!!!!

Well, actually 2/3 of them are coming. Jim talked to Dave and Linda talked to Bev and it looks like Denny and Bev and Dave and Dee Dee will be here, but Gordy and Dorthy won't be able to come. : (  Bev did say that Gordy and Dorthy may be able to drive down here for one day, but they won't be bringing their RV.

Jim hasn't been able to get in touch with Louise yet, but he's quite sure that it won't be a problem getting them sites here at the CG for 3 or 4 nights.

He'll go over and talk to her this morning.

Today, right after lunch, Linda has that appointment with her retinologist. He'll probably dilate her eyes so she won't be able to see much for awhile after her appointment. Then sometime, either today or tomorrow, Jim and Linda will need to go to the grocery store to pick up a few thing before the Illinois Bunch get here.  And, I need a little sprucing up inside.  ; )

A Point to Ponder:  Half the people you know are below average.

Another Test

Rantoul, IL.

66 deg. clear, SE wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm and a chance of rain in the morning, then partly cloudy with thunderstorms and rain showers. High of 91F. Winds from the SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.


Didn't post the last few days because there hasn't been anything newsworthy happening around here. : (  Yesterday, however, Lind had to go and get another blood test. It seems that there was a problem with one of the results on the previous test and her doctor wanted her to get another one, just to make sure everything was OK.

Linda really didn't want to get another test because in the past, there has been problems with the results of this particular test, and it has always proven to be OK. But, the doctor insisted, so she and Jim took CLT and headed down to Champaign and to a Quest Diagnostics Center to have the blood drawn and the test preformed.

Because Linda has to fast before having the test, she didn't have any breakfast, so they stopped at a Bob Evans Restaurant on the way back here. : )  After lunch, CLT took Jim over to the CVS Drugstore to pick up a few items and then to the County Market Grocery Store to pick up a few more things.

There's nothing scheduled for today, but tomorrow, Linda has to go see her retinologist for her annual eye check-up. She hasn't noticed any change in her vision, so she isn't expecting any problems.

A Point to Ponder:  The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

Drivers, Usual Stuff and Olympics

Rantoul, IL.

61 deg., rain, SW wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Showers likely and a chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.


Why is it that some drivers insist on driving fast in campgrounds and RV Parks? Yesterday, a car came past in front of me that had to be going 30 mph!!! Now, if you're out on the street that goes past the CG that's fine, but here in the park, especially on the weekends, there are children playing and some of them wander out onto the roads from time to time!!!

This weekend, we have more children than we usually do, and I'm guessing that they range all the way from infants to teen-agers. When this guy went speeding by, there were about 5 or 6 small children, (I'm guessing ages 2 through 6), playing just feet away from the road. If one of them would have wandered out on the road from between parked cars, it would have been a disaster!!!! : O

And, it's not just people in cars either!  How many of you have seen the guy in the big MH or truck pulling a 5th wheel go blasting through a park like they were out on an expressway? 

What are these people thinking?   Don't they realize that they can't stop that rig in time if a child should happen to run out onto road? 

So, please slow down when driving through a CG or RV Park. You're site will still be there in 5 extra minutes, the the camper who invited you over for coffee will keep it hot for you and if you're leaving the CG, it really won't make any difference if you leave the park a few minutes later.

If you should happen to hit a child or even possibly an adult, you're sure to be a whole lot later, and just think how bad you would feel.  : (

Jim and Linda didn't do anything special this weekend. Jim went through another one of my basement bays and re-arranged it. He also took a couple bike rides and talked to Paul and Louise. Linda did a lot of work on her Family Tree Maker program and of course, they both watched the Olympics on TV.

You know, I'm kind of glad that the Olympics are over. I enjoyed them but I'm looking forward to regular programing again. Oh, and talking about the Olympics, how did you like the closing ceremonies? I guess they were OK if you were a young person, but I just didn't get a lot of it.

Jim said that the only part of the closing ceremonies that he liked at all was the Spice Girls segment. ; )

They're talking about rain off and on all day today, so I don't know what, if anything, will get done outside. Jim has some computer stuff that he needs to get done, so maybe this will be a good day for doing that.

Did you know that the idea of an Olympic Flame burning from the start of the games to the closing was first introduced in 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, where a fire was lit in the tower of the stadium, though no torch relay was undertaken? The first torch relay was conducted for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

We Could Have Saved 3 Or 4 Thousand Miles

Rantoul, IL.

53 deg. clear, NW wind @ 7 mph.

Forecast = Mostly sunny. Highs around 80. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.


Wow!!! 53 degrees this morning!!!!

Because we're so used to it being so hot for so long in this part of the country, 53 degrees feels like it's winter!!!! Wouldn't it be nice if the temperatures didn't go from one extreme to the other so often?

I received a few comments on yesterday's blog about how far we have traveled and how many states we have been to in during the last 13 months. Yes, we did travel a lot this year, and I really don't expect to be traveling anywhere near that much every year.

The thing was, it had been 4 years since Jim and Linda had been out west to see Jeff and Heather who live in Portland Oregon, and, since you're going that far anyway, it would be a shame not to see other attractions or areas along the way, even if you had to take a longer route to see them.

Yeah, we could have gone straight out to Portland from Florida, and then straight back here to Illinois, and probably reduced the distance by 3 or 4 thousand miles, but just think of all the wonderful sights we would have missed. Things like the beautiful sunsets in the desert of Arizona, the stark beauty of Death Valley, the majesty of the Sequoias and the Redwoods, the beautiful California and Oregon coasts, the beauty of the mountains in northern Idaho and the "Big Skies" of Montana. We wouldn't have seen the wheat fields of the Dakotas or the lakes and forests of Minnesota. And, don't forget that great week we spent on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan where we saw some of the most beautiful sunsets, over Lake Superior, I've ever seen.

No, I wouldn't want to take such a long trip every year, but in a few years, I'll be ready to go again. ; )  Maybe next time we can visit Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, the Great Salt Lake, some of the National Parks in Utah and Wyoming, and maybe even the coast of Washington!!!!

Hmmm!!!! Where's that Road Atlas?????   ; )

Did you know that the five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and are interconnected to symbolize the friendship to be gained from these international competitions? The colors were chosen because at least one of them appeared on the flag of every country in the world.

Been Doing Some Calculating

Rantoul, IL.

62 deg. overcast, NW wind @ 14 mph.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Highs in the mid 70s. North winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.


Yesterday, I said that I'd be traveling quite a few more miles yet this year. Well, that got me thinking about how much and where I've traveled since Jim and Linda purchased me here in Illinois last summer.

So, I've done come calculating!!!

By my count, in the last 13 months, we've been to 26 states, (9 of them twice), and traveled 11,313 miles!!!!!

Wow!!!! No wonder I'm enjoying these couple months of relaxing here in Rantoul!!!!

Not a whole lot to report for yesterday. Jim must have felt ambitious because he went through some shelves in my bedroom closet and threw some stuff away. Then he reorganized the rest of it to make more room. A little later, he went outside and completely emptied one of my basement compartments and repacked it, incorporating some items that CLT had in the back of him.

Linda finished up her latest embroidery project and  worked on her Family Tree program. Then for dinner she put together a nice meal of meatloaf, sweet corn and potato salad.

Around dinner time we had some light showers come through the area. I understand that there was some severe weather near here, with some damage, but all we had was a little rain and some distant thunder.

Did you know that today is "National S'mores Day"?