Thursday Happenings.

Started the day in the usual way, Coffee with my bride, Donna then departed at 05:30am for the truck company and then the restaurant. Today it is back to temps in the 90’s. I decide to do an oil change on my Duramax before it got to hot, it was needing one after our trip to Wisconsin. Got that done and then had to run to the Insurance man’s office to pay for the car insurance. wanted to check and make sure my coverage on the fiver was replacement value in case of fire, when things happen to others it makes you aware of a lot of things you don’t know about. While I was doing the oil change I checked the gauges on the fire extinguishers on the truck and trailer.

How about a couple more vacation pictures that haven’t been posted yet, I love just seeing my bride’s smiling face when she is enjoying herself.

                                 My Bride & I.

             Waiting on the drink order to come…

Got the bedding for the fiver washed today also so now we are combat ready again, I talked to Adam’s Mom and made plans to take the trailer to the Lake on Tuesday morning and then go and get him after I set it up. We will spend the rest of the week there. He may bring his best friend again which is fine it gives him someone to play with if there aren’t any other kid’s at the campground, he knows all the regulars at the pool and beach so they always have a good time there. Grandpa knows the Mom’s and Grand mom's so he has someone to talk to too.

Had a question on how my sister Wendy in Pa. she is about as healed as she will ever be, and is getting around fine, a little pain now and then so she is taking pain management. She has been plagued with foot problems all her life and so she is doing the best she can.

Not much else going on at the Weeb Ranch today, Donna & I want to take the Grandkid’s to an RV park that is pretty close that has a lot of kid stuff like pools and playgrounds to keep them busy, I may suggest Springfield Il since it’s only a couple hours away and we can drag them to the Lincoln Exhibit's for a little history lesson. Chris & Nicole haven’t been out with us yet, so we want them to go too.

Hope everyone is having a good day. be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Wednesday Musings.

Up early for coffee with my pretty bride and then she was off to the truck company and then the restaurant.
I want to welcome three new followers, two of whom I have been following on their blogs, Margie –Anne, New Zealand Diary, Gypsy Boho, ( no blog listed). & Sharon Del Rosario, Gypsy&The Mariner's RV Adventures, Sharon & her husband Don are currently in Alaska on an adventure, check in with them and see how they are doing, Margie-Anne is still recovering from the terrible earthquakes her homeland has experienced, read about her adventures too. Donna and I welcome you to our humble blog and hope you enjoy our journey to full timing.
Pretty slow day in Dardenne Prairie, I went out to the fiver and stripped the bed so the sheets and blankets could be washed, and aired the mattress out for all day, then I replaced the mattress cover so it would look presentable until the sheets are finished washing,That should be tomorrow after three loads of wash are run through.
Then aside from packing clothes and a few perishables in the fridge, it will be ready for the next trip.
Haven’t heard from the RV dealer yet if they are able to order the trim ring I need, if not I guess I can start junk yard scrounging to try to match one up. I remember when I was a kid a junkyard was a magical place, all those old cars and motors and back then anything you needed was unbelievable cheap. today your lucky to find what you need and then it is almost retail price.
Since Donna is going to the restaurant I went down and got one of my frozen PA pizza shells from the deep freeze and I will make a pizza for supper, Andy and Samantha can share in the bounty and with luck I will still have a couple pieces left for lunch later this week. I am getting down to my last couple of packages (2 to a package) so I will have to start making my own dough again soon.
I decided not to fight the holiday weekend crowd at the Lake and will wait until next week to take Adam up, it is so much better when the weekend warriors have left and you can get a good spot and relax without the pool and beach being so crowded.
Not much else going on, hope all is well with everyone out in blogsville. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Tuesday Notes.

Donna and I had our morning coffee and then it was off to the truck company, I know she dreads going each day and to see how happy she was and so stress free during our vacation makes me wish there was some way for her to retire and slow down, the darn health insurance issue is the stickler.
While we were up in Wisconsin on the 20th we heard about ED & MARYLYN-THE HAPPY  WANDERERS 5th wheel being destroyed by fire, what a tragedy and to think he had it almost extinguished and ran out of powder. what a heartbreaking thing. STEVEO and I were talking about it and since a wheel bearing looks to be the cause of the fire, I related how every summer I repack my bearings, and that on my list of things to buy before we are off fulltime was an infra red heat sensor that you point at the wheel and it reads the bearing temperature. Steveo said I have one of those and showed me his and how it works, well right before we left Wisconsin Steveo said look what I found and he had a Harbor Freight coupon for 50% off on a sensor instead of $59.99 it was $29.99. I thanked him and put it in my wallet. This morning I had some errands to run and remembered Harbor Freight Tools had a store in St Charles Mo. so I went there and sure enough they had the sensor and honored the coupon. Thank you Steveo it was like money in the bank. instead of putting it off it is now in the truck ready for duty.


                      Infrared Thermometer
My next purchase will be the generator I have been wanting, On the vacation I procrastinated and listened to my wife Donna who said we won’t need it there will be electric wherever we are going, well leaving DENNIS & DONNA"S the RV park we went to was having a power outage, 5 hours later still no power and Donna was showing breathing distress from the 90 degree heat and humidity, we had to move to another park. So that will be next on the priority list moved in front of the flat screen HD TV for the living room. 
That’s about it for today, planning on some cube steaks for supper before Donna goes back to the restaurant tomorrow night. Hope all is well out there in blogland with all our friends, Be safe out there, Sam & Donna……

Monday Meanderings.

Up at 04:30AM and had our coffee before Donna headed to the truck company, yesterday and the day before they had 6 inches of rain here in Dardenne Prairie, lots of flooded roads and just messy out, it rained all night and then about noon today the sun came out and it got up to about 85 degrees, it is going to take a couple of sunny days to dry out around here. I was going to finish the trailer with getting all the wash done, but decided because our pump runs so much when the water table is high that I would wait a day or so.

Supposed to be really nice at the end of the week around Thursday or Friday so by that time I might plan a trip out to the Lake with Adam. Nicole and Chris left for a couple weeks with their Dad so it was quiet around here today, About the only thing I got accomplished was going to the grocery store, we were out of Milk & Bread & Eggs.

My niece Dianna’s daughter Lauren competed in a Mega Rally, with her horse, so I will put a few pictures in, sorry I don’t know the horse’s name, Lauren is about 15 years old and quite an accomplished rider.

                  Grand Niece Lauren.

Not much going on I am relaxing here in the house and waiting for the ground to dry up.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Sunday News.

We were up at 05:00AM had coffee and then read blogs for awhile, Sam had the tanks to dump and flush out and then Donna got the trailer ready and packed so when we got home we could start unloading easier. About 09:00AM we set the special sea and anchor detail and got underway for home.

Rigg’s watching his dad flush the tanks out.

Rigg’s has turned into a great camper dog and loves traveling in the truck, he snoozes between his Dad & Mom with his head on a pillow on the console and the rest of him on the back seat.

                      Down for the count.

        “Mom here’s my toy can we play please.”

It was just before 12:30PM that we crossed the Mississippi River bridge on I-270 into St Louis County about 01:00PM we were pulling into the Weeb Ranch in Dardenne Prairie.Be it ever so humble, it’s always nice to be home. We got the royal welcome from Sadie Mae she was so excited to see all of us, jumping and doing spins.

Then as soon as Rigg’s laid down on the kitchen floor Sadie laid right next to him to make sure he wasn’t leaving again.

Another vacation over, the truck and fiver performed flawlessly, We so enjoyed and appreciated the company and the hospitality shown to us by Dennis & Donna and Steveo & Karen. The week just flew by and it was so much fun.

A couple of our favorite shots.

Does it look like we had too much fun. Can’t wait to head out again.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Saturday Mumblings.

Got up had coffee saw Karen & Linda off to their loom gathering up north. About 11:00AM we headed south, we decided that we were going to stop about halfway and the weather was sunny until we got into Illinois and then it started to rain. We called around and on the third try found a campground with full hookups that wasn’t full. It was just west of Bloomington Il. and we arrived about 05:30PM after 400 miles of travel.
The name of the place was the Kamp Komfort RV Park in Carlock IL. and it was a very clean and nice place, that give, Good Sam and CampclubUSA discounts, of course the 50% off doesn’t apply on Fri&Sat nights, but we did get the Good Sam discount. The wi-fi is excellent and then have a doggie walk and pool and the usual nice park amenities, we would recommend this park for someone stopping in the area. Easy access from I-74 and only a few miles from I-55.




         As you can see Rigg’s is right at home.
We just put the landing gear and rear jacks down to stabilize it and didn’t bother unhooking since we will be leaving for the Weeb Ranch in the morning.
That’s about it for now, we will spend one more travel day before we are home and the vacation is over. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

TGIF

Up early and had coffee with my bride, it was not raining and it actually looked like we might have some sun later in the day.

About 09:30AM Sam,Donna.,Karen&Linda jumped in the truck and headed north to Laona Wi. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive north from Karen & Steve’s, What was there, Lumber Camp #5 and it’s logging railroad pulled by a steam engine.

We arrived just after the 11:00AM train had left so we waited for it to return. At noon we all boarded the train and Sam got to ride in the cab of the steam engine. What a thrill, Karen said it would take all day to wipe the grin of his face.

                Donna waiting for the train.

                 Donna,Karen&Linda in the Depot.

                               The train arrives.

               

                      Sam in the fireman’s seat.

              Sam’s view going down the tracks.

Karen taking a picture from the car behind us.

                    Tractor at the logging camp.

                         Logging Equipment.

After we toured the logging camp we waited for the train to take us back to Laona Station. We all decided to ride the caboose.

           Sam and the Conductor in the caboose.

             Linda, Donna & Karen in the caboose.

All to soon our train ride was over and we headed back to Steveo & Karen’s place.

We had a great BBQ’d chicken supper and talked for awhile before calling it a night.

Tomorrow we will be heading south and stopping at a campground for the night in Illinois, before heading to the Weeb Ranch in Dardenne Prairie MO. on Sunday. Donna has to be back at work Monday.

We have had an absolutely  wonderful stay at Karen & Steveo’s their hospitality was great and it was a great stay despite the weather.

Hope all is well and everyone had a good week out there in blogland, Before I forget here is a windmill for Mike McCall.

                                       Here ya go Mike.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Thursday Happenings.

Today was a kind of slow day here in Wisconsin, we had our coffee together,at Karen’s, Steve was a t work and missed all the fun, the doggie’s all played or slept together.Then we just kinda sat around either in the house or the fiver, Sam piddled with things like tire and oil checks and stuff on the truck and fiver , also charging the batteries for the cordless drill.

Rigg’s watching as Duchess gets a hiney rub from Sam..

Rigg’s with his “Glows in the dark sticker” on his head.

It was another cool rain off and on day here, but about 5:00PM we all headed to Oconto Falls for supper at a nice Restaurant, The Penquin Again II Restaurant.They had everything from Pizza to ribs and beef tips.Our group sampled them all including a Wisconsin draft bee called New Glaris Beer witch Sam & Steve sampled.

We had a pretty little girl,Taylor take a picture of us at the table she reminded Sam of our Granddaughter Nicole, just a cute as a button.

             Linda,Steveo, Karen, Donna,&Sam.

             Our photographer Taylor,9 years old.

After dinner it was home where we sat and talked until bedtime. Another great day on vacation. Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Wednesday Musings.

Wednesday dawned to be a cloudy day again, but no rain falling it did look like the weather was more promising in the direction of Green Bay.

The girls, Linda, Donna & Karen decided to have a girl days out and go sightseeing and shopping and what ever girls do on one of those days.

Sam on the other hand was heading to the National Rail Museum in Green Bay.

What a surprise it was when I arrived and I found today was also A day out with Thomas Day at the Museum and Thomas the Tank engine was there. There were  kids everywhere. It was so neat to see all the smiles and excited faces. although it made photography difficult at times.

                        Think she is having fun.

                            The Star of the show.

Don’t have any pictures of the girls day out but they appeared to have had a great time and Karenn got to stop and show off her Grandson Jamison for lunch.

               Karen & Jamison at the lunch stop.

The rain held off until 01:00PM and then it poured I called it a day at the Museum after 78 pictures and buying the mandatory T-shirt. It was a really nice museum and had a lot of stuff that it one of a kind. one of the display was and English Steam engine from WW2 and it cars named the Dwight Eisenhower, it was General Eisenhowers private train during the war.

We got home and I found Rigg’s had spent his afternoon snoozing in the fiver.

Then we had a great supper of Chicken Pot pies that Karen fixed up and they were yummy. After a relaxing evening of conversation everyone was tired so we all hit the hay a 10:00PM Hope Everyone is having a great time. Don’t want to forget a Happy Birthday to my Niece Tammy down in Gulfport Ms. Be safe out there Sam & Donna..

Tuesday Notes.

We were up at 05:00Am and had coffee, about 06;30Am we joined Karen & Linda for some more coffee, Karen made some of her world famous Northern Wisconsin French Toast for breakfast, it of course was great. it was a cold dreary day, So no sightseeing was planned. On the way ip to Wisconsin I noticed that a repair I had of a scrape on the edge of the front of our roof had started to peel back.Sam went to the RV dealer with Karen and bought some Eternabond tape and two tubes of Dicor self leveling sealing caulk. On the way back we went and saw Karen & Steve’s old house in Green Bay.

When we got back we had to wait until Steve got back from work and then he put the ladder up and we looked at what needed to be done to fix the fiver. Steve had the neatest ladder that folds up and stores in his motor home.

He climbed up and took pictures and noticed that the caulk installed from the factory on the top at the front cap was starting to crack and peel from 5 years of hot sun so he decided we would repair that also.

                

          Every job needs a Sergeant to supervise.

                                            

                

The Lieutenant named Karen came out to help make sure Steve was working.

Anyone who reads Karen & Steve’s blog will know that Steve is a meticulous craftsman in all the work he does, His modifications to their Motor Home are legend. We were so glad he made the repairs for us since Sam is to heavy for the roof and doesn’t like ladders, The finished work was much better than you could have expected from an RV Dealer. it is so nice to have friends like this.

For supper we had some salmon off the grill and leftover spaghetti. Is this high living or what. a little after 08:00PM after another night of great fellowship Sam was tired out from all his watching Steve work and called it a night. Hopefully the rain will stop on Wednesday for a trip to the train museum.

Rigg’s is having a ball with  his new friend’s Duke & Ducky get along great with him are are playing with their new toys. I know he loves his vacation and isn’t looking forward to going home to soon.

Got a call from Adam and wanted to know when Grandpa was coming home, I told him soon and that when we got home he would be going to the Lake again for some more camping.

We are enjoying our stay in the north woods of Wisconsin, even though it had rained everyday, there is no 100 degree heat index ,little humidity, and the nights are cool so no A/C is needed in the fiver and you sleep like a log.

Well that’s about it for today, Be safe out there, Sam & Donna…..