Did Ya Miss Me? and Trying To Catch Up

Did Ya Miss Me?

The last 9 days, I haven't had Internet, Jim and Linda didn't have phone or TV. I've been operating off of 30 amp electric with temperatures running right around 90 degrees, so I've only been able to use 1 phase of my AC to try to keep it cool inside of me.

Luckily, Jim and Linda have been spending most of the days at the house were the reunion is being held and haven't been here at the CG too much.

I've tried to keep track of everything that happened during that time, so I'm going to try to get you caught up on what's been going on.

I'm now at the Rustic Barn RV Park in Kieler, WI., for 1 night only, and will try to get as much posted from here as possible, but I have a weak signal, so I don't think I'll be able to post any photos. : (

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We left the Borderline RV Park near Land O Lakes right at 9:30 Saturday morning, (the 14^th of July), and continued South on US 45. When we got down to Eagle River, we turned off of  45 onto WI 17 and followed it down to Rhinelander.

Everything was going fine until that point, and then things got real interesting real fast!!!!

WI 17 kind of by-passes the city to the east, and there is a section of 4 lane divided road for a couple of miles before you get to US 8.  Well, it was on this section, at one of the crossroads, a car pulled right out in front of me and then stopped!!!! Jim slammed on my brakes, blew my air horn and got me stopped, about 3 feet from the car’s driver door!!!!  : O

Whew!!!!!!!

The driver of the car then took off down the road, and we followed at a safe distance. Once we turned West onto US 8, (a 2 lane road), the driver of the car that had pulled out in front of me, decided to pass the row of cars in front of him. The only problem was that there were cars coming from the opposite direction!!!! The car swerved back into the right lane just in time to prevent a head-on collision with on-coming traffic, and then pulled off on the shoulder of the road and stopped.

We pretty much stopped on the road too because Jim had no idea of what the driver was going to do next!!! Well, as we slowly crept by, both the driver and passenger doors of the car opened and 2 people got out.

It looked like they were changing drivers. 

We don’t know what the problem was, but the elderly man driving the car must have had something wrong with him. The car wasn't swerving around as it traveled down the road while we were following it, but there definitely were some bad decisions made.

Hopefully they made it home safely.

US 8 took us over to Tomahawk where we turned South on US 51/ I-39 and followed it all the way down to Colona, WI., where we turned off on WI 21.

At that intersection, Jim pulled me into a truck stop and bought me a nice drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel, which was about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than in Michigan. : )

Once I had my drink, we followed 21 West to the little town of Necedah, where we turned SW on WI. 80.  80 then brought us down here to the Lil’ Yellow River Campground near New Lisbon.

It was 1:25 when we pulled up to the office so it took us 3 hours and 55 minutes to travel exactly 200 miles, dodge the driver in Rhinelander and stop for my drink of diesel.

Not too bad, considering.

I don’t have any kind of Internet connection here at the CG. We’ll be here for 9 days and I have no idea when any of this will get posted, but I’ll just keep writing using this word processor. Hopefully Jim will find some way to post it for me.

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07-15-12  Lil’ River CG and  Day One Of The Reunion

The Lil’ Yellow River CG is an older park. There’s lots of nice big trees for shade, (which is good considering that we had temperatures in the 90’s yesterday), some of the sites are pull-through, and I think most are pretty level.

The drawbacks are that there is only 30 amp electrical service, no sewer hook-ups, no cable TV, no wi-fi and the CG is getting a little run down. There are trees that need to be trimmed, electrical boxes that need to be repaired and the park just spruced up in general.

I really doubt if this owner will ever do any of that though. You see, he lost his wife a little over a year ago, and I just don’t think his heart is in it anymore. : (  It’s too bad, with a little up-dating and repair, this could be a very nice park.

Jim and Linda didn't do a whole lot yesterday morning. They got things ready to take over to the reunion, (mostly food and beverages), and then about 3:00 they headed into town and to the reunion.

For the reunion, Linda’s brother Glenn and her sister Nancy have rented two houses that are next to each other. Both houses are on a small lake, have lots of bedrooms, (for the kids and grand kids), large living areas and full kitchens. There are also large decks on the back of the houses, overlooking the lake.

So far, about ½ of Glenn’s family are here and most of Nancy’s family. Laura, Ashley and Anna are supposed to arrive here from Florida today, and the rest of Glenn and Nancy’s family should be getting here too. So, by this evening, everyone who is going to be able to make it this year should be here. : )

I’m hoping Jim will take some photos of the houses and all the people so I can post them.  Of  course, there’s still the little problem of getting on the Internet, that hasn't been solved yet. : (  

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07-16-12  Hail! Hail! The Gang’s Almost All Here!

Yesterday morning, Monday, Jim and Linda loaded up the rest of the food that they were taking for the evening meal into CLT and headed over to the reunion.

About 10:00, Laura and the girls called and told Linda that they were still down in Illinois, but were heading up to the reunion and would be there as soon as they could. : )

I didn't get the exact times, but I think it was around noon when Glenn and Jeanette’s daughter, Mary, and her family arrived. Then around 2:00 or so, Laura, Ashley and Anna pulled in.

Now, everyone was there except Debbie, (Nancy’s, Son’s, wife), who is still in the Chicago area, because she had to work on Monday. : (   But,  ,  ,  ,  she should be getting to the reunion today, (Tuesday), and that will make it complete. : )

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting and then Laura and the girls helped Linda make the BBQ, green beans, frost the cakes and get out all the drinks, chips, paper plates, plastic glasses, and everything else needed for dinner.

After dinner, it was more visiting and playing games until about 9:30, when Jim and Linda came back here to the CG for the night.  

A very good 2^nd day of the reunion!!!! ; )

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07-17/18-12  The Reunion, Days 3 and 4

Most of Tuesday was spent visiting. Debbie did make it to the reunion without any problems. Linda, Laura, Ashley and Anna went down to the Wisconsin Dells for awhile in the afternoon. They went to a book store in downtown Dells and then to a cheese shop in Lake Delton. 

It sounds like they had a good time. ; )

Yesterday, (about noon),  Laura and the Girls had to leave already. : (  They had to get back down to the Chicago area in order to catch a flight this morning, back to Florida. They weren’t able to stay very long, but everyone was very happy that they could come.

Then, it was more visiting, but since Mary and her family went to the Dells, and Ed and his family went to Milwaukee, there weren’t near as many people there.

Later in the afternoon, Glenn, Jeanette, Nancy and David went to the Casino down in Baraboo, WI., and Jim and Linda came back here for awhile and took naps. Then, for dinner they all met at a restaurant down in Mauston.

After dinner, they went back to the house where they played games, visited and watched TV, while a fairly strong T-storm passed through the area, just to the South of New Lisbon.

Today, I don’t think anything special is happening. Probably just more visiting and catching up on what’s been happening since the last reunion, a year ago.

Oh, I just remembered  one more thing. Jim called and made an appointment for me at the HWH factory on Moscow Iowa to have my right rear leveling jack cylinder looked at next Tuesday.

It’s been leaking a little for quite awhile now, and since we’re going to be passing fairly close to the factory, Jim thought it would be a good idea if we stopped by on our way from here down to Rantoul and have it repaired.

Their labor rates are less than most repair shops, and they should have any parts needed to stop the leak. (Including a new or rebuilt cylinder if necessary).