Wrapping it up.....

Monday September 29-We had a guest last night...normally Hailey's really good about sleeping all night but....not this time. She kept waking up and so I ended up sleeping on the floor next to her. Well I didn't get that much sleep. She didn't have a fever, she sounded a bit croupy. She slept in and was fine in the morning. I promised her we would make cut out sugar cookies before we left so that's what we did. Then she asked if we could go look at more toys. She is still looking for birthday gifts. Then we dropped her off at home then headed back to our rig.

Tuesday October 1-The weather seems to be changing, it was really cool out there today. The leaves are starting to change as well. I finished the rest of the wood in our rig. Boy it sure made a big difference in how it looks. Its like we gave our woodwork a drink. It looks a lot richer. Our to do list is getting smaller.

Wednesday October 2-Today again it was really cool outside, good weather for soup. So we made soup. It was a slow day around the campground. I don't think anyone even used my shower house.

Thursday October 3-Today I got started making Hailey's birthday snacks. I made her sheet cake and when I flipped it out to cut out had a bit of a problem. The center of the cake stuck to the pan. I panicked at first but I could still make it work. So I cut out Olaf from the movie Frozen. I put it in the freezer so I could frost it later. We went into town. Jeff decided he wanted to get a shingles shot. He called the insurance company and they told him it would be paid for. He had tried before and they told him it would cost him $197.00. So this time he had a print out that said it was covered, well guess what....they said it would still cost $180.00. Well needless to say he didn't get the shot. When you here someone say its paid for its real hard to pay that much money. Decided to go in and watch Ashton's hockey practice, the last one we would get to see. He did really good, showed so much hustle and was really listening. Since we ate at Burger Fry last week and loved it we decided to get one more trip in there. It was extremely yummy....again. We even got a milkshake this time and it was homemade and so good.

Friday October 3-Brrrrrrr. Not only is it really cold and wet, its super windy. I made cupcakes for Hailey's birthday and also some princess orderves.  Jeff and I went to the movie Gone Girl...it was really good. We had planned to go to the October Fest in the Amana Colonies tonight but it was so cold we cancelled. We did still drive over to pick up Jeff some beer from the brewery there. Jeff had it last year and they only make it for the October Fest. We stopped by Bushwood to have a drink with both boys. Somebody from there work was quitting. The grand kids were there too. How nice is it to be able to see them whenever you want. We are trying to soak up as much love as we can before taking off. We finished off the night with dinner out at The Butcher Block. Justin and Molly ate with us. We weren't very impressed with the food or the service. The company was good so that saved the night.

Saturday October 4-Big Day today,,, Its Hailey's 4th birthday party. I got up and got started frosting her cake first. Its Olaf the snowman from Frozen the movie. It was a fairly easy cake to decorate and I think it turned out really good. Next I had to frost all the cupcakes and make them pretty. We went over to the party early. Its still really cool out but at least the rain had moved out. When we arrived Hailey was all dressed up in her Elsa dress...a pretty little princess. She even showed a little excitement over her cake. The party was a big success...the weather was just chilly, the cakes turned out and I even got some good pictures this year. I sure felt great after I had the cake and cupcakes finished. Sissy got so many gifts and she is so animated when she opens them up. It really didn't matter what the gift was she loved them all. We left went home for a bit to take care of our babies. We have been leaving them a lot lately. The day wasn't finished yet. Jeff and I met Seth and Ashton at the stable to watch the Rough riders play. It was a real good game. We didn't know what we enjoyed more the game or watching Ashton. He was sitting down on the ice with some kids he knows from hockey. The camera man was there and Ashton did his best to be in every shot. They interviewed him, and put him on the big screen more than once. He participated in the Mac arena dance, the YMCA dance and the chicken dance. The best part was when the mascot Ricochet came out and started messing with him. The mascot sat on Ashton and Ashton pulled his tail. Then Ricochet took Ashton's shoe, smelled it and acted like he was gonna throw it on the ice. If the game wasn't entertaining enough watching Ashton was. It was a real fun night. To bad we wont be able to attend any more games this year.

Sunday October 5-Oh boy it was a lazy day....I don't think we did much. Picked up some stuff outside. Mostly we just rested up from that crazy busy weekend.

Monday October 6- Happy Birthday Hailey!! She is officially 4. It was a real busy day for us. First we had to take the dogs to the vet. It was time to get there vaccinations. Both dogs are doing good, but both have gained weight....it must be something in the water. The vet was in Center Point. We used them last year and really like them there. Stopped to fill up the truck up and headed back to the campground. I got busy...I needed to get the laundry done. Then we loaded up the bikes and cleaned up. We took a trip into town to say Happy Birthday to Sissy and to get our last kisses and hugs. While we were there Justin called to say that Jeff's package arrived. Jeff was excited for this package. It was the series of The Wonder Years. Had to go by and pick that up. Then we headed home.

Tuesday October 7-Another busy day....Started by cleaning the shower house, its been really easy lately cause nobody is using it. Then we started putting things away inside. I loaded a plastic tub with the things we are gonna leave here. Jeff took it up to the shed that Joan said we could use. Called Hickory Haven campground in Keokuk where we are heading next. They have plenty of spots. Then Jeff checked his email and saw that my new phone is going to the wrong address...we thought this was fixed...so that calls for another phone call to Verizon. Boy sometimes I think they just try to make things difficult. Well we think its fixed but no way really of knowing until Thursday, that's when its suppose to be arriving. Next we asked Joan to come join us for chili for lunch. She came and it was a nice visit. With fewer workers here now we haven't seen much of her. After she left...back to work. Loaded up the boats and decided to put the rugs away since they are nice and dry. I got a hammer to loosed the stakes with. I guess I'm not qualified to use a hammer because while I was trying to get one stake out I managed to hit myself in the mouth with the handle....ouch. I didn't make a sound after it happened. The first thing I did was check to make sure my teeth were still there...they were. Then I went in to get some ice and take a look, yep that's gonna leave a mark for sure. After about a 1/2 hour I went and showed Jeff...he agreed that I shouldn't use the hammer. I was just happy My teeth were ok.

Wednesday October 8-Jeff and I both woke up early...I guess we were both thinking to much. Then I remembered about the lunar eclipse.....BLOOD MOON. We went outside and took a look. Pretty cool. Both of us woke up super early so didn't have to rush to get ready to leave. We pulled out around 10 o'clock and dropped off some cookies at the office on our way out. It feels weird to be pulling the rig...its been awhile. We stopped once because one of the tire sensors went off again. Jeff wanted to make sure it was a false alarm, and it was. Didn't have any problem finding our campground because its located in our hometown. It was a nice day to travel and set up. We just happened to get the same spot we were in last spring. This campground is a  good Sam park. We had a full hookup with 50 amp service. The antenna TV wasn't as good as we remembered. The park was fairly busy. They are housing some workers that are working at a new fertilizer plant in Weaver. Well we hit town and the running started. First we went and got supper at the Southside Boat club. They are serving Papa Chico tacos on Wednesday night. Its a favorite restaurant that used to be in town. Our boys use to bus tables there. Those tacos were as good as I remember. We stopped at the fire station and visited a bit before heading home. Jeff's brother Fritz who lives across the street came over and talked. We made the trip back because our niece, his daughter is getting married on Saturday.

Thursday October 9-Had a full schedule today, the bad news its rainy, I mean its pouring, its horrible.  First we had to get prescriptions filled for Jeff. Then stopped by to see my sister Dru I gave her some quilt patterns to use. Next we met a friend for lunch, so nice to get caught up with her. We had an appointment with our financial guy, who just happens to be my old boss. So not only did we check on our mutual funds I got to visit with my old coworkers. So we were there for awhile. It just wouldn't quit raining. Stopped at the store before heading home. Then we went across the street to meet our nieces husband to be. Funny thing his name is Taylor, that just happens to be our nieces name too. We visited for a bit and headed home. Good news....my phone actually came...we thought that a miracle! So it was mailed to my sons house. He is coming to Keokuk to the wedding on Saturday so he will be bringing it to me....yeah!!

Friday October 10-Another day of running but its not raining at least. I had Jeff run me by Stan's  Bakery, they have been here forever and by far make the best creme horns on the planet. Next stop was at the city offices to see about Jeff's health insurance and to pay for his life insurance. One more stop before heading home. It was to see Peggy Vass, she is the mother of my best friend all through grade school. I spent alot of time at her house when I was growing up. Jeff knew her from work. She was a dispatcher at the police department, which was in the same building as the fire station. She was happy to see us, and we were happy to see her too.

Saturday October 11-I had made plans to meet a friend at the local coffee shop, Java River. She was my best friend all thru grade school. We were also going to meet a friend from high school. I haven't seen her since I graduated. We had a great time sipping coffee and catching up with each other. The time flew by. Had to get home before Justin showed up. We got home and changed our clothes for the wedding. Justin and Molly arrived and we had to get to the church. The wedding was small but very nice, next drove to the reception at our old churches multi purpose building. There we got to meet and catch up with family and friends from church. Home after that. I got my new phone out but didn't get started on it yet, tomorrow we'll start on that. I'm sure it will be a pain, to late in the day for that.

Sunday October 12-Today we went back to our home church...NTCC. It always feels good to walk in there. They are in the middle of changing preachers. They have a new preacher but our old preacher doesn't officially retire til next week. He's been there for 40 years. Its good to come home to the church and people you know so well.  I wanted to spend some more time with Judy before we take off so this afternoon was the only time left for that. We took a short road trip to find her a party outfit. We had a successful trip she found something to wear. It was pretty dreary outside but that didn't matter to us we just wanted to spend some time together.  I did get most of my phone set up, with some problems but that's not surprising.


Monday October 13-Rain Rain Rain...We had planned to leave today but that was moved to tomorrow with this weather. I met again with John about my investments. I needed to mail in my old I phone, picked up a few groceries and caught up all the laundry. The campground here has a nice laundry facility. Now I think we are ready to move on down the road. Let the adventure begin.

Welcome Fall

Monday September 15, I have kinda designated this day as my cleaning day. I usually do some extra cleaning at the shower house, so I guess I just carry that momentum back to our home. My friend had to meet with the surgeon today so by keeping  busy I wasn't constantly worrying. She called to say she would have surgery on Wednesday. It's been rather cool here, below normal temps. So we decided chili would be a good fit for supper.

Tuesday sept. 16, Pretty uneventful day. Went to town to pick up some things. Jeff needed more wax cause it's time to wax the rig again before hitting the road. We tried a new restaurant for lunch, Jeff got a deal $20 worth of food for $10. The restaurant was Oyami. It's a Japanese grill and sushi house. We were extremely happy we only spent $10 because our meals were terrible. The chicken was hard to eat. Maybe the sushi is good. Don't think we will be visiting there again.

Wednesday Sept 17, Didn't get much sleep last night, thinking about my friends surgery today. I was waiting by the phone all morning. Her husband called as soon as he talked to the surgeon. Everything went well, she'll be home later tonight. I felt better after hearing from him. For supper Justin invited us to go with them to Smugglers Wharf. Molly's mom Tammy joined us as well. It was nice to meet her. We had a great time visiting but the food and service were just so so.

Thursday Sept 18, I got up really early to get my cleaning done. Then I loaded up my stuff into the truck and headed south to Keokuk. I'm going to spend a couple days with my friend. I'm going to take care of her. When I got there I was pleasantly surprised. Judy is doing great, she's not even feeling any pain. It was a great relief to see her and make sure she's ok. It was also great to just sit and visit. The weather was really nice so we sat outside on the deck and enjoyed the sunshine.

Friday Sept 19, Another full day at Judy's . Again the weather was picture perfect. Judy's friends from work came out for lunch. I heated up some soup, and had lunch outside on the deck. Another friend from church stopped by for a visit as well. Nice to see them. In the afternoon I drove Judy to see her mom. It's nice to see Glo. She's a character and she's just gotten more spicy with age. We sat with her for awhile, she started off a tad grumpy so first we had to get her in a better mood. By the time we left she was happy as a clam.... Time well spent. Headed back to Judy's and didn't do much of anything, just letting her rest up. 

Saturday Sept 20, I woke up before Judy today, I loaded up my stuff cause I'm heading back home. I talked some more before leaving around 9:30. It was really good for me to come back and see how Judy's doing. I think she enjoyed it too. I made one stop on my way home. I went to Dave's Old Fashioned meat market for some homemade wieners. The drive home was long. It was nice to be home, and back to my own stuff. So glad that Judy's doing so well and she's got a great attitude.

Sunday Sept 21, Slept really good in my own bed. Jeff and I got ready for church. After church we went to pick up the grand kids. We went for lunch at Pancheros, one of there favorites. Then on to the movie theater to see "Dolphin Tale 2" we liked it, the kids liked it so it was a great day spent with 2 very special kiddos.

Monday Sept 22, We got up super early today. Jeff took me in to Seth & Katies. I'm going to Chicago with them to attend the Chicago Blackhawk Training Camp. Jeff is staying back and hanging with Ashton. We drove into town, really lucky with the traffic. Drove to our hotel Crowne Plaza, it's really nice. Unloaded our stuff then headed downtown to get lunch and do some shopping. We grabbed a taxi to P F Changs for a light lunch ... It was yummy. The lettuce wraps are really good. Then we walked around and looked at some shops. I was looking for a specific shop....Garret's Popcorn Shop. I got me a bag of carmelcorn so I was happy. We didn't really buy to much but it's always an adventure exploring. We grabbed a taxi back to our hotel. We unloaded and headed to the united center. On our way made one stop. Seth wanted me to experience Billy Goats. So after a beverage we contined our walk to the United Center. The line to get in was already quite long. The tickets to get in were only $5.00. It was general admission. The first 12,000 got free   Duncan Keith bobble heads. We stood in line for about 1 1/2 hours. The doors opened at 5, then the scrimmage between the Blackhawks and the Blackhawks started at 7. Jeff in the mean time had a big night planned for Ashton and him. Ashton called to say they were living like kings. First they went to Planet X.... A place to play laser tag, putt putt golf, rock climbing, you know all the good stuff. After they headed to Red Lobster to feast. Ashton had crab legs and Jeff unlimited shrimp. They had a wonderful time together. Ashton is only  9 but already seems to be outgrowing us. In the meantime in Chicago. We got our bobble heads and found some really good seats. It was really exciting to see all the players in real life that I've watched on TV. I know it would have been more exciting to watch a real game but I had a blast. They played each other the red team and the white team. After the game they had a shoot out that was fun to watch too. I loved it. Someday I hope to attend a real game. After we walked back towards the hotel. Again another stop at Billy Goats for  Hamburgor, fries and coke... No Pepsi. Got back to the hotel and couldn't wait to get my shoes off . My dogs are barking...we walked all over today....it was great, but my feet are feeling it.

Tuesday Sept 23, The beds were super comfy. We got up and headed across the street for breakfast. The restaurant was called Eggsperience. It was wonderful but kinda cashy but the food was awesome . My daughter inlaw had an egg white omelet that was enormous, she said it tasted as good as it looked. Seth had French toast and he gave me a bite.... It was yum. After eating we headed out stopping at Total Hockey to get Seth and Ashton's skates sharpened. Then back  in the car and to the outlet mall in Aurora. The funny thing here was we noticed a Disney store, we didn't know they had one. Katie and I were outside the store when the lady unlocked the door asked if we wanted to come in. Well yes, we were there very first customers. Seems this is there first day, we found the Frozen section and a really special dress that Katie couldn't say no to. Just so happens they have shoes to match. So she had to purchase them as well. I know a little girl that's gonna have a great birthday. The rest of our trip home was uneventful, the way we like it.

Wednesday Sept 24, Jeff wanted to go to town. Seth and Katie told us about a new phone plan they are advertising. It's a sprint ad, I have Sprint now and the coverage is not that good here in Iowa. The cost was gonna be less and I would get a new phone. Well, we stopped in the Sprint store to talk. Then next door was the Verizon store, went in to talk to them. They are offering a plan, unlimited talk, text, and 2 gigs of data for $60. If you are a new customer they give you another gig of data. Also a new IPhone, pretty much free cause they give you $200 for your old iPhone. It seemed to be just what we were looking for so ordered a phone and a new phone plan for us. Hopefully this will work better for us. Then to celebrate went and got pedicures. Jeff's first one ever and I think he liked it. For supper we just had leftover soup ...a new recipe (chicken tortilla soup)....taste even better the second time around.

Thursday Sept 25, Its a gorgeous day and I decided to start on the wood in the rig. I got some stuff called Restore a Finish. You just rub it on the wood, it really is making it look better. There is a lot of wood in here. It needs to be nice out  cause you definitely want some ventilation while applying this.  It's gonna take a couple days to get it all done. I got a call from my friend after she talked to the oncologist, it sounds like everything's looking good. Have to wait for a test to see what's next but it sounds good. We went in to watch Ashton's hockey practice cause we won't be around much longer to watch. He did a great job. He listened and showed great hustle . To reward him we stopped at a new restaurant.... Burgerfry. Oh my my that place has great burgers and frys. Seth got a milkshake and we tried it. Should have ordered a shake....well next time.

Friday Sept 26, More plans today ... It's either feast or famine. I worked on the woodwork again today. Didn't get it finished but I finished the bedroom and bathroom. We were getting ready to head to the Amana Colonies when Jeff got to talking to one if the campers here. We probably visited with him over an hour. When we left,we didn't feel we had time to go into town. We went to the RV park there in the Amana Colonies. The Carriage/ Lifestyle group was having a get together. Jeff met them thru there forums . They were camping there, we couldn't do that but asked if we could come over to meet them. They were having brats and burgers tonight.  Everyone we met was nice. The food was good and it was nice to compare stories.

Saturday Sept 27, It was summer like out there today. After getting my laundry started I got busy making some deviled eggs and pecan bars to take back to the rally. They are having a pot luck tonight. We left to go over early, this time we went into town. I wanted to visit the quilt store which I must say is fabulous, lots of beautiful fabric. I also went to the bakery, I have to get the crispies, my favorite. Jeff went to the brewery there. He loves there Millstream octoberfest brew. After we both got our shopping done we drove over to the RV park and the pot luck dinner. We toured a couple of the rigs and then everyone ate. Again the food was great, and the company better.

Sunday Sept 28, We went to church at Cedar Rapids Family Church. Went to the second service. Hailey is coming out tonight so we ran to the store to get some supplies. Came home to get rested up after all our running.  Went into pick up Hailey. We had promised to take her to Toys R Us to look for a birthday gift. She had a great time looking around. We got some ideas of what to get. Then we went to Justin's for Italian beef sandwiches.... Love them. We headed back home and got Hailey settled in. When she comes to visit we pretty much do what she wants. What a fun busy weekend.

Almost Fall

Tuesday September 2, Today we cleaned up around our campsite. Tomorrow we will be pulling our home to Ketlesons to get our wheel bearing repacked. It just makes it real that we will be packing up and hitting the road soon. Thats a completely different kind of a routine. I think I'm ready, I love being here to see the kids and be a part of there lives but it's hard to stay put for so long. Now I will have to get my check list out to make sure there aren't any silly mistakes before taking off.

Wednesday Sept 3, We got started early because our appointment is at 8:30. We unhooked the water and sewer lines. We hooked up on the first try and headed out. We made it to Ketlesons with only one glitch.... one of the tire sensor alarms went off. This was the first time we actually rode on our new tires. Jeff found a spot to pull over and check it out. It was a false alarm so that was good. We decided to just wait there while the work was being done, it took a little longer then they told us but the quoted price was the same. After pulling out of there we went to a truck scale to weigh the rig. Jeff wanted to get an accurate rear axle weight and the pin weight. Then we headed back to the campground and set back up. It went pretty smooth.

Friday September 5, A special day indeed, It's our grandson 9th birthday so I had to sing to him. It was a rainy day most of the day. Our son Justin had his wisdom teeth out today....that is not fun. He's probably gonna be sore for awhile.

Saturday September 6, We went into town to mail off our old wooden refrigerator panels, Jeff sold them on eBay. We didn't plan on using them again and our kids weren't thrilled about storing  them either. It worked out well all the way around. We stayed and watched the Iowa Hawkeyes play but left at halftime cause it was painful to watch. The good news is they came alive in the last four minutes of the game and won. We brought Hailey home with us to spend the night. So our Saturday night was action packed. 

Sunday September 7, We met Katie & Ashton at Bloomsbury Farm. We had promised Ashton we would take him on the zip line. When we arrived we were the only ones there, we did some exploring and feeding of the goats, llamas and mules. Needless to say that was great fun. Hailey wasn't big enough to zip line so first Jeff and Ashton went. Ashton got a little scared but loved it after the first initial leap. Then it was Katie and my turn... It was a blast. The kids played around on all they had to offer. It was a great way to spend grandparents day....

Monday Sept. 8, It was a nice day and a busy day for me. It's a big cleaning day for me, the shower house and after that I usually continue with the cleaning here at home. I also did the laundry, gave Belle (our schnauzer) a haircut, and helped Jeff install a light on the ceiling fan. My day ended on a sad note, a friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. It looks like they caught it early so that's a plus.

Tuesday Sept 9, It rained a lot last night and it looks like rain is in the forecast for the next few days. We decided to take in a movie,"When The Game Stands Tall", I liked it, Jeff thought it was a bit slow. They have a special on Tuesdays here, $2.00 drinks and popcorn, now that's a deal at the theater. 

Wednesday Sept 10, We both woke up not feeling good, we have sore throats, probably a cold coming on....yuck. We stayed in and didn't do much, Jeff made some yummy turkey and rice soup that tasted really good.

Thursday Sept 11, We hung around home most of the day. We had plans to go watch the Roughriders scrimmage tonight at the ice rink. We met Seth and the kids. First stopped at Justin's to help get his plane tickets bought to come to the Keys this winter for a visit. Then we all watched the game, the Roughriders didn't look to good. They lost. It was still fun to watch.

Friday Sept 12, Still didn't feel to good so hung around here. We had plenty of entertainment though cause the hummingbirds are just going crazy . I'm having to fill the feeders twice a day. We have counted up to 7 or 8 at the window feeder at a time. There's only 2 places to drink from. So it's a battlefield out there. Jeff has been bragging about his meatloaf to Justin and Molly so they came out tonight for supper. They enjoyed the dinner but didn't stay long.

Saturday Sept 13, We still both didn't feel that good, we didn't do much of anything but watch a TV. We couldn't get the Hawkeyes game so I just waited for updates from the kids... We lost. It's really cool outside, way below normal temps.

Sunday Sept 14, I couldn't stay in again today so I took the truck and went to town for some retail therapy. I must be loosing my touch cause I don't seem to get the same joy out of that. When I got back I think Jeff was ready to get out so we went in to see the kids, we hadn't seen them for awhile because we didn't want to give them our colds. Then Justin invited us over for supper so if course we said yes. Who passes up a free dinner?  As we pulled into the park we noticed they had the new sign up....finally. It looks really good, we both had the same thought... Put the sign up just about the time it time to close shop. Oh well it sure looks nice.

Summers winding down.....

Monday August 18, My best friend Judy received a call from her mothers assisted living saying she fell. We packed up Judy to get her on the road..disappointed she had to leave early, but happy her mom was ok. My son Seth nominated us for the ice bucket challenge for ALS, so we knew we wouldn't wimp out on a challenge. We did the challenge and donated online. Jeff went to movie " The Giver" while I ran some errands.

Tuesday & Wednesday it was gloomy and cloudy.....perfect weather to quilt , I finished Ashton's birthday gift which was a big load off my mind. I did have a week to spare. Jeff got in touch with Janie & John trying to get together once more before they take off back on the road. Set up to meet them tomorrow.

Thursday, There is hardly anybody at the campground, so makes for a quiet week. We headed into town to meet our friends for dinner at White Star. They enjoyed happy hour and had dinner. I had crispy chicken with the cheesy potatoes. I loved it, I had that before and couldn't wait to enjoy it again. After we finished eating we decided to move our party to another spot. We walked to a bar called Rocks. Since the flood this city has really worked on the downtown area. It's really nice now. For Thursday night the place was hopping. One of the draws is the mechanical bull. We didn't partake but there were plenty who did....Ones that had been partying harder and longer then us. It was really fun. We said our goodbyes and wished them happy trails.

Our weekend consisted of grocery shopping, a trip to Lowes and Hobby Lobby. Jeff has been helping our younger son work on his basement. So some of that shopping was to help him get everything he needed. The weather for the weekend went from smoking hot to humid and rain. We went back to church Sunday at the Cedar Rapids Family church, we like the church and the welcoming feel they show. 

Monday we were surprised to get a call from Ashton, this is his last day of summer vacation. Seth took the day off to spend the day with him. They invited us to go to a movie, so guess what, we went to a movie..."Into the Storm". It was pretty good,I knew there was a good reason I don't like storms.

Tuesday August 26, Woke up to the camper shaking because of the wind. Jeff had already looked at the radar, he told me we have weather coming. I grabbed my stuff and my dog and headed to the shower house. It looked really bad, we got lucky though mostly just rain and some wind. After seeing that movie yesterday I wasn't taking any chances.

 

We went to town to have our eye appointments. We made them with a new eye Doctor.  He's from our hometown Keokuk Iowa, and went to school with our boys. He did an excellent job and we will definitely go back. Well that's one more thing off our to do list.

Wednesday Jeff got a call that our new 17.5 wheels and tires are here. He ordered them a couple of days ago from Trailer Tire and Wheel and had them shipped to the Fed Ex Distribution center in Urbana.  It saved us some money on shipping. It was only about 10 miles away and so easy to pick up. They even used there forklift to put in the back of our truck. Another  job I did today was defrost the freezer. It had gotten really frosted up. The ice maker wasn't making ice it was so bad. I got it all defrosted and the ice maker worked, so happy about that. Then we put on our new tires. I was really surprised that it went so smooth, no issues. Another task crossed off the list.

Thursday August 28, It was a rainy day and I was kinda bored so I decided to cut my hair. I've done this before but I couldn't remember which comb to use, well I grabbed the wrong one so needless to say its shorter than normal... Good news is it will grow back...

Jeff decided he wants to do a bit more remodeling. Wants to add a light to the ceiling fan. Something that should be so easy right.... Well the wiring that's up there for the light isn't hooked up so it didn't work. Gonna have to do a bit of research before we can get that put up. It was so gloomy and cool that Jeff decided to make some homemade chicken noodle soup. It was yummy, I guess I'm ready for some cooler temps for a bit. 

Friday, it's suppose to be clear today til after supper so I thought I better get the laundry done. We don't have a dryer on board so it all depends on the weather. Also it was Jeff's turn for a haircut, so I took care of that. We purchased a new rug for outside, our other one was just falling apart. We put it down, love it it's super big. My last task to do today was to get my grandsons birthday cake made and put in the freezer for frosting later. I make there cakes every year and I always put a lot if pressure on myself but in the end it always turns out.

Saturday August 30......It's opening day for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kick off was at 11:01. We were invited to Seth & Katie's for breakfast. I made some homemade cinnamon rolls to take..we enjoyed breakfast burritos and some had bloody Mary's. They say Katie makes really good ones. The Hawkeyes won, closer than we thought but a win. While I was over there and had help, we put up the pictures and shelves in Ashton's room. It's part of his birthday present. I painted one wall and got some Blackhawk pics to put up. It looks good. We headed home to see how everything was going at the campground. It is a holiday weekend, but with that being said it sure is a quiet bunch.....that's great.

Sunday August 31, I made cupcakes today for the party tomorrow. It's a really nice day so Katie and the kids came out. Us girls went to the beach. Jeff & Ashton put together a new balsa wood plane. They didn't get to fly it much cause it was so windy. Glad that we got one more beach day in.

Monday Labor Day...and that means one thing PARTY!  Ashton was born on Labor Day so it's not technically his birthday but usually have his party on this day. The first thing to do was get his cake frosted. He wanted a Stanley Cup Cake this year do that's what I did. After that was finished I frosted those cupcakes too. The party started at 1, so we headed over around 12:30. It was a wonderful day weather wise. Everyone had a great time. He got lots of great gifts and the cake was good. A good time was had by all. Came back home and relaxed, the park had cleared out and party & cake number one done. I can relax til October and Haileys cake and party.

Is this Iowa??

Monday July, 28- We have been enjoying this weather...it's not typical for Iowa but we aren't complaining. The temps have been lower that normal and the humidity is lower as well. We have been doing some cleaning and maintenance Jeff replaced the rest if the seals on the slides. He's also cleaned and caulked the roof. Besides working around the place we also enjoyed sitting outside, reading, walking and meeting new people. We have friendly folk here in Iowa. As the weekend rolled around we went to the farmers market in downtown Cedar Rapids. They happen on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month. Well good news at the market it's peak sweet corn season and we found some that turned out to be the best we had all summer. We ended this day with a trip over to Squaw Creek park to have dinner with our friends John & Janie, other full time RVers. It was a wonderful evening by the campfire visiting.

Jeff and I decided to do a little remodeling to our rig...besides our new recliners we replaced our wooden refrigerator panels with stainless. We love that. We also put a new backsplash behind the stove. Not a lot but we are pleased with the changes.

Wednesday August 6, we made a trip to Letts,  Iowa to visit a friend from high school. He called a week ago to catch up with Jeff. We decided a trip to talk to him in person was necessary. It was nice to see him and visit about old times.

Thursday we had a special visitor... Our granddaughter came to stay. We took her to the Collins Road Theater. They have free kids movies weekdays at 10 a.m. all  summer. We arrived early and boy was that a good idea. That place was packed. They have 5 theaters and everyone of them were full. They say if the theaters are full that's 900 people. Kids get in free and adults pay $1.00. We had never taken Hailey to the show, she did real good all except when Sparkles the clown showed up. She is not to excited about clowns. The movie was Mr. Peabody and Sherman....Sissy called it Mr. Peepotty....so that was funny.

Friday was Sissy Day. We played outside with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and frisbee. Painted her toes and walked around the campground. She decided the afternoon would be spent on the beach. Her & I walked down and spent some time in the water and in the sand.

The weekend was spent hanging around the campground. Sunday Seth, Katie, Ashton & Hailey came out to go to the beach. The sun spent most of the time behind the clouds but the kids didn't care they had fun. Ashton stayed with us because he has hockey camp and we are going to take him and pick him up.

Monday August 11, we took Ashton to hockey camp, he was really excited about going. At first there was a problem because the ice wasn't ready but they worked hard to get it ready for the afternoon ice time. We stayed in town while he was at camp. Took advantage of there washer & dryer, washed my sheets. Jeff washed the truck. I went to get some red paint for our grandsons bedroom wall. It's to go with the quilt I'm making for him. It took them 3 trys to get a paint look red.

Tuesday dropped off Ashton at camp and  went to Seth's. I taped off the woodwork so I could start painting. Before painting I went to Morgan Creek Campground to visit with Pat the campground host, that's one thing I miss about staying put....can't visit with those we've met there. It was good to see her and see her great grand kids... They've grown. Came back and started painting. I'm covering stripes so it's going to take lots of coats. We picked up Ashton and he is loving his camp.

Wednesday again with the hockey camp. Then over to continue with the painting. I know I gave that wall at least 8 coats. It looks pretty good though. We collected our hockey player and brought him home. Seth's taking the day off tomorrow to go watch Ashton at camp, it's the last day. 

Thursday we stayed home, we've been running all week so we had things to get done around here. I even got to spend some time at the beach.

Friday our younger son Justin took the day off to work on his basement floor. Jeff went over to help. We had a late lunch, I went to get groceries, pick up Ashton to stay the night. We decided since having such a late lunch we would have popcorn and root beer floats for supper. It's great to be a grown up!

Saturday my best friend came for a visit, she and I went to the outlet mall for a little retail therapy. Jeff & Ashton stayed home for some guy time. It's seems Ashton been playing with this balsa plane they purchased at the hardware store. He loved it and Papa lost it. Judy and I went thru that mall in record time. It wasn't really so much about the shopping, just being together. Had supper here and just hung out.

Sunday August 17, We got up early to go down to the beach. The park is hosting a triathalon. It's 2 different ones, a shorter one and a 1/2 tri.. We wanted to watch the swim. For the 1/2 tri, they swam 1000 meters, biked 56 miles then ran 13 miles...yikes!!! When I first got up it was really foggy but by the time the swim started at 7:30 it cleared some. We watched them take off on there bikes. Then we came back for brunch and headed back down to watch some of the runners cross the finish line. The weather was really pretty good for them until right towards the end when the clouds broke and the sun showed up. Then it was hot. I was really impressed with the whole thing. I could never do that. Again we stayed around here for supper. Then Judy and I walked around the other campground loops. I also showed her the cabins. Another good day... Not doing much but enjoying time with friends. It's always good to have company... Especially my best friend.

Summer Continues....

Monday after the big holiday weekend and the shower house showed it. With all the rain these knats just don't want to go away. When you leave the lights on all night in the shower house that's where those pests like to go...what a mess so many bugs. That's one of our duties as hosts, to take care of the shower house. The park cleared out and it's very quiet again. It was cleaning day. We also had company coming for supper (stir fry) so had to do lots of vegetable cutting. Our friends John & Janie came over for an evening of food, beverage and conversation. It was a great night. That's a benefit of this way of living... Meeting people, making new friends and comparing adventures. It's always good to get together and tonight was no exception.

The fun continues, we headed into town (Cedar Rapids)on Tuesday to get our grandson Ashton. We went to breakfast first, he picked IHOP. We were surprised to learn it was there 56th anniversary so to celebrate they offered a short stack for $.56, well that was a no brainier on what to order we all had short stacks. Then we took Ashton to hockey. They are offering a drop in hockey so the kids can keep up there skills over the summer. Ashton came home with us. We went for a nice bike ride all around the park. The bugs were still horrible so sitting outside was not much fun. We went in and watched a movie....a much better option. 

Wednesday we planned to get Ashton back out in the kayaks, this time we were gonna get the sails out and Papa was gonna give him a sailing lesson. We both were impressed with how good he listened and understood. He had a blast. We met Seth, Katie & Hailey at Brogans in Palo for supper..good pizza.

Thursday I met a good friend from my work for lunch. She brought her boys up for football camp. So while they worked on there football skills we got to catch up on each other's life's. It was really good to see her. She was the best part of my job.

Friday my friend Teri, was back, this time she came to the campground with her husband and youngest son. More visiting. I wish that was a career option (visiting) cause I would do really good in that job. We had supper at our sons (Justin's), we ate and watched a movie before heading back home.

The weekend...Saturday Hailey called to ask us to join her and Seth for lunch at Red Lobster, well Jeff doesn't refuse that offer ever. Ashton and his mom Katie were in Des Moines at a color run. So Seth was getting to spend some time alone time with Sissy. The weather the rest of the day was rainy, we made it a movie day. Sunday was still cloudy we watched everyone pull out. We decided to rearrange our furniture. When we ordered our 5th wheel we ordered it  without furniture and purchased our own. Our recliners are super comfy but extremely large. Since we have landed here for so long we decided to change things up. Since our chairs are so large we had to put away a couple of the dinette chairs to make it work. We like the new set up but think we need smaller recliners.

New week, new plan. Gonna try to get back to walking everyday, I haven't been doing that since I broke my toe but I think that excuse is no longer valid. It felt good to get out and walk. This is a beautiful park so my scenery is awesome.

Tuesday, a day of running. Not like jogging or anything but to get some groceries, etc.  We stopped at Menards to look for some stain or polish to help hide some of the gigs on our furniture. I got some little samples to take home. We really don't want to sand and re stain it just want to restore some of the shine. Next we spotted a furniture store...we decided to look inside just to see if they had any recliners that would work. Well my husband had already done some pricing research on line so he kinda knew what prices would be. Well guess what...we walked out of there with 2 new lazy boy recliners. That didn't take long. Now to sell our big chairs. We had an interesting thing happen this evening. Jeff noticed that someone was outside taking pictures of our camper. He went out to investigate...we had some people from India checking out our rig. The one fellow was living in Cedar Rapids and his brother came from India for a visit. He was trying to explain about camping. We let them come in to see our happy home. That doesn't happen everyday.. Never know what will happen next. By the looks on there faces I'm not sure they totally got it.

Wednesday Jeff started replacing the seals on the slides, it was easier to replace then we anticipated. Our maintenance list is getting smaller. The day was a pretty one. We had unexpected visitors tonight....Lenny & Dawn a couple from Palo stopped by to visit. He's a retired firefighter so they have a lot to talk about.  Another fine couple we would have never met if not for this wacky lifestyle.

Thursday another beauty of a day. Jeff and Ashton had a date for a movie...the newest of the Planet of the Apes.... In 3-D. They loved it

Friday we decided to finally get the kayaks out. We really haven't had a day on the water. It was a perfect day, warm, calm, and not to hot. We took a tour around the whole lake.... It was really nice. We walked the dogs and stopped to visit with yet another wonderful camping couple , Katie & John, there are sure a lot of nice people out there.

Saturday we loaded up our old recliners to deliver to our son (Justin ) he wanted them for his basement. Then we decided to try a new restaurant in Cedar Rapids. Cheddars, it was busy and neither of us were impressed. Then we went to pick up our new recliners. Both of us were hoping we would like them. They definitely are smaller, they match fine but the best thing is the amount of space they save. It seems so much more roomy. 

Sunday we visited a new church....CR Family Church. We felt very welcome and the worship was great and so was the message. I think we found  church that will work for us. Stopped by Morgan Creek Campground to see John & Janie. They were there so we visited a bit before heading home.

Monday we had a repair guy from Ketelsons  to look at our A.C. Unit in the bedroom. What a great experience was that. He was friendly, knowledgeable and quick. He new what was wrong and had it fixed in no time. It's good to know there is a RV place that does good work so close. 

The rest of the week it went from blazing hot & humid to awesome summer weather. It's been in the upper 70's and lower 80's with hardly any humidity... Who likes this weather?....we do! We took advantage of the weather and cut Belle's hair, gave dogs baths and enjoyed sitting outside.

Friday July 25th our son Seth's 35th birthday. We took him and his family to Red Lobster for a birthday extravaganza. The he bought new furniture so we picked it up and delivered to there house. First we had to remove the old and then replace with the new...everyone was happy. We finished the night with another trip to uptown Friday nights. We went with Justin and Molly. After we had seen enough music we went to get a bite to eat. The kids had to have a running race... We watched. Went to a bar and had appetizers. The best part was watching Justin and Molly ride the bull, kinda funny!

Sissy Saturday, she came out cause the kids are renting a boat on Coralville lake. We let her be in charge of our day. First breakfast, Minnie Mouse pancakes, then a walk around the campground. After lunch we went into Palo to a splash pad. She played there for about 15 minutes. Into town to get her bike and let there dog Noodles out. While in Cedar Rapids we decided,(she decided ) to go to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt....yum from everyone. We came home and she helped me make chocolate chip cookies. We had supper she picked a movie to watch and the day was gone.

Sunday we went back to church and this time we took Hailey with us. We really liked it again. So happy that we found a church that fits. We took Hailey home came back home and enjoyed the rest of the day. During our walk this evening I had to wear a sweatshirt and it rained on us a bit... We wanted to go see the new dock they put in. The place is pretty empty but I'm sure it won't last long.