Across town again...

Tuesday June 25, we loaded up and it was messy. It's hot, humid, and the bugs are crazy. The only good thing is its not raining. Our rugs had to be put away wet so it was a little more work trying to keep everything dry. So we made it to Squaw Creek and set up again close to the shelter house. We picked 2B. I got to set up my bird feeders and in no time we had takers. Had some house finches and gold finches. I'm so becoming my grandma... That's so funny my kids tell me I'm getting old. True I am but still like to watch the birds and listen to them sing.

We woke up the next day after a huge rain. It's cloudy but I got my walk in. The rain helped with the humidity. It rained so much that they had to evacuate another county park so this one filled up fast. We saw our first hummingbird today. While I was walking I spotted 3 deer. Gotta love all the critters. 

The humidity came back for Thursday but it went away in the afternoon. So weird it was like someone flipped a switch. I talked with my neighbor who had like 10 bird feeders. She let me know what kind of feed to use for different birds. Also she told me the names of these birds I'm feeding.

Friday was a beauty of a day, went for a walk and could actually sit outside. It was so nice we even went for a bike ride. I got to see more of the park. Also found some black raspberries growing by the side of the road. Since the weathers improved we have spent a lot of the day outside. We even went to our new friends John and Janie's campsite to enjoy a campfire. That was nice.

Saturday another day of rain, the kids had planned to spend the day on the lake but I guess that 30% chance of rain turned out to be wrong. I went back over to Justin's to clean his house, boy my boys sure have lots of projects for me. They ended up coming home early, I didn't get the whole house cleaned but I was done for the day. His house is a lot more than my HOW...

Sunday we decided to try a new church. The preacher was from our home town Keokuk. It was a really nice day and we found the church and found out the preacher wasn't there today. Jeff made a funny comment on the way out. He said they are definitely prompt. Church was at 11:00 o'clock and we were walking to our truck at. 11:45, that's quick. After church came home and made delicious eggs. Seth & Katie had us over for supper. Nice to get invited.

A new week and a new month and beautiful weather. Jeff went to Lake McBride to fish I stayed back and enjoyed the weather. I'm really loving this weather, and when you have good neighbors you can shoot the whole day just visiting. Tuesday was another nice day and we got to enjoy it. We walked and then had a super yummy supper...the fish Jeff caught yesterday.

On Wednesday it was really nice again and we were happy cause we had tickets for an outdoor concert. We spent the day around the camper doing some cleaning. Went to Justin's then headed to Red Lobster for supper. After we went to Riverside Casino to see Bad Company, we were really close but a little to the left. The concert was really good, it just didn't last long enough.

Happy 4th of July! Jeff went fishing with Justin. I stayed back. So I had the day to myself. It was nice out and the sun was shining. Jeff got home and he was tired so we didn't head out to watch any fireworks. We heard some and watched them on tv, does that count?

My boys had Friday off too so we met them for lunch. Saturday the heat starts coming back. We thought a cool movie theater sounded like a good idea so we headed to town. Sunday morning went to church at Antioch, and then came home to prepare a fruit salad and cheesecake dessert for a cookout at Seth's. We got there and visited a bit, ate an early supper, played with the kids and then headed back home. Plan on moving tomorrow.

Back to Morgan Creek

Tuesday June 18.

 We packed up and headed over to Morgan Creek for a week. We found us a good spot and as we were backing into it we saw our friends right behind us as they had just pulled in as well. We had everything set up by 10am without incident. That was nice. I  put up my hummingbird feeder and my new bird feeder.

We went and got Ashton to spend the night cause its suppose to be nice tomorrow so were taking him fishing. Well it happened a beautiful day and we took full advantage of it. Drove to Pleasant Creek and unloaded the kayaks. First thing I spotted was a snake swimming in the water. Got the kayaks all rigged up and Jeff got Ashton in and gave him some instructions. He's never been out in the boat alone. He did real well and loved it. When they came back we enjoyed a picnic lunch and then the boys tried fishing. They didn't have much luck but we were impressed at Ashton's casting skills. They went back out for another boat ride before loading up and heading back. We had to get Ashton rested up before hockey.

We got a new bike rack so that's what Jeff worked on Thursday. He thinks its gonna be so much better than our old one. Its a Thule 916 XTR . Then we had to get Hailey from daycare cause Katie has to work late. We got a little bit of time with her which is always welcomed. Then to finish out the night we went in to watch the ski show.... Well it really wasn't what we expected.

Then on Friday it stormed again. So much so that we went to the shelter house. I also made an apple pie cause my best friends coming up to spend the weekend. I had to drive and meet her so when she called we went and lead her back to the campsite. When we got back to the rig we just hung out and visited. So nice to catch up with her. We talked til we were falling asleep then headed to bed.

Saturday we went across town to Justin's and Jeff went with him to shop for a tv.  Judy and I did a bit of shopping as well. When we got home we sat outside and enjoyed the weather. Jeff made a huge batch of chicken stir fry, so yummy!! After supper we headed back to Justin's to watch the Blackhawks win!!!! It was great to watch cause we watched it on a 92 inch projection screen.

Sunday we went to Seth's so Judy could see the kids and also because Hailey really wanted to see Judy. After we went to Pancheros and got lunch cause Judy had never been. Ashton came with us cause its one of his favorites. We sent Judy on her way home and Ashton came home with us. He really wanted to come and if he wants to spend time with us we figure better take advantage of that. I'm sure there will be a time when he won't want to come and see us.

When we got home I started making Hailey some flip flops with ribbons on them. I had shown her the ribbons and purple flip flops and she was really excited to have them.

Well Monday came in like a lion, it's raining again and it's suppose to all day. We tried to keep Ashton entertained with cards, games, and the Wii but the guys decided to take in a movie. I stayed back cause the weather and the dogs. They were having all kinds of warnings and watches. I just kept my eyes open and watched the news. Finally the weather stated that the warnings did not include Cedar Rapids so I gave a sigh of relief the next thing I know the sirens are going off. So I'm trying to get the dogs on there leashes, my phone, quilt, charger, umbrella, you know all the necessities. I headed to the shelter in the pouring rain. Katie is texting me wondering if I heard the sirens. All I could do was wait to hear from the guys. The storm missed us, we just got lots and lots of rain. We are suppose to move tomorrow but gonna wait and see.

 

 Decided to go ahead and leave on Tuesday the 25th, there was a break in the weather so we started to load up. It was a mess, everything is so wet and dirty. Normally we put things up early but no chance of that this time. Got it done and heading across town.

Palo Here We Don't Come.....

Tuesday June 4th we packed up and headed to Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area just north of Palo, IA. Wanted an early start cause the weather looks like rain. Imagine that. Our plan was to go to there for a week. Ashton had asked many times to go fishing so that's what we were gonna do. We called before heading out cause they have one loop closed for improvements. They let us know there was a few spots open for first come first serve. We arrived found a spot but before pulling in we had to fill up the water tank cause you don't have a spigot on site. It was a pull through site so easy to get into. Ashton got to help chalk the wheels and he was willing to help do whatever. Jeff went to plug in the surge protector and it kept showing low voltage. That was a problem and it was working at our last site. Jeff tried another spot and same thing. He thought it was because of the electrical work they have been doing. Decided to hook back up and move to Squaw Creek  just to be safe. Ashton was a bit upset cause his heart was set on fishing. We promised him we would definitely get him fishing soon.

Pulled into Squaw Creek and got a  prime spot again close to the shower house for shelter with this crazy weather. When we plugged the power management system still showed a  voltage problem. Jeff contacted the company and they said something had happened to one of the boards so he had to send it back in for them to replace. Not sure what happened. Got everything set up but the weather didn't really cooperate all that well. We did get a bike ride in here and there but couldn't get too far from home cause when we did it would rain. Wednesday night had to take Ashton into hockey practice. Thursday and Friday it was some nice but rain always managed to find its way into the day. Friday night Jeff went downtown with Justin to watch Brandon Gibbs play. I stayed back. I was inside working on a quilt and I kept hearing a weird noise. Finally that strange noise got the best of me I went out to look. People were outside looking up so I looked up and saw a hot air balloon. It was so low  you could see the people waving . I thought they would hit the trees that's how low they were.

Saturday stayed around the campground til evening went to Seth's to watch the Blackhawks. I also recovered there kitchen chairs. Sunday was such a long day. It rained again. We were looking forward to Monday cause it was suppose to be nice. It took most of that day to get nice. Again on Tuesday very cloudy. We had to get out so we went into Marion for lunch and to check out there downtown area.  We had lunch at Zoeys Pizza and then walked around downtown. I managed to find a chocolate shop..yum! We had some nice weather on Wednesday during the day but severe weather moved in later in the afternoon so we didn't go in to watch hockey practice. Luckily we didn't get that weather it went north. Then it happened a beauty of a day on Thursday. We loaded up the kayaks and made our way out to Pleasant Creek. Jeff did some fishing, I just enjoyed the sunshine.

Thursday night Justin brought out his puppy (Barkley the wonder dog). We are watching him this weekend. Wasn't sure how my dogs are gonna like it but they'll have to adjust. The bad news is the puppy doesn't like his collar, his leash, or being tied up. Looks like we have some training to do. We discovered Barkley likes to walk on the leash if he's following our dogs. We thought the walk would wear him out for bed. We put him in his kennel and headed to bed. I figured he would whine  a bit but not for 11/2 hours. Jeff wanted me to do something after 5 minutes. I knew it would take a bit but not that long.

We went for a drive on Friday to check out some  other campgrounds. We walked the dogs to try and wear Barkley down for sleeping. Well he wasn't very good . Jeff went to check on him about midnight cause he woke up whining, next thing I know he's bringing him back to bed. Nope that's not gonna happen we have a 2 dog limit in our bed. I took him back out to the kennel and I slept in the recliner. I think it was the raining that bothered him tonight.

Saturday turned out pretty nice so we decided to go to the farmers market. There were sure lots of people there and they all loved Barkley, I could have given him away more than once. We stayed around the campground in the afternoon and then went to Seth's to watch the Blackhawks. They lost. We had one more night with Barkley so we were hoping he would sleep tonight. Put him down and only whined for 10 minutes and slept the whole night....yippee!!

 

Sunday, Father's Day we decided to make it a relaxing stay at home day. I made brunch for Jeff. The weather was better so we did get to enjoy the outside a bit. I made spaghetti bread for supper. Justin came and picked up his dog and it was back to normal. We had one more full day here before moving. It was nice on Monday a bit warm but no rain. Jeff did some cleaning on the rig. We headed in to have a late lunch at Red Lobster. One of Jeff's favorite places to eat. Tomorrows moving day ...

Morgan Creek/Memorial Day

Like I said before we decided to leave a day earlier than we had planned and were happy we did. Morgan Creek was filling up fast. We got a spot right next to the shower house and was glad of that cause of all the serious weather we've been having. Nice to have a strong shelter close by. This trip was the first one with our new kayak rack on top the truck. We had previously carried them in our rig. Still have some fine tuning on the rack and how we load, but I think it's gonna be way better.

Wednesday and Thursday we just kinda hung out around the campsite. I did put up my hummingbird feeder. I love when they come around so much fun to watch. On Friday it was a beauty of a day so Jeff took his kayak to Pleasant Creek to go fishing. He got 1 good one. Then we met Seth, KT and the kids at Pizza Ranch for supper to ranch a roo it up.

We had made plans to go back to Keokuk, Iowa for the weekend. The weather was horrible, it poured rain all the way there. Then that kinda put a damper on the big event we were going to. It was a graduation party, good thing they had a big garage. After the party we went to visit and spend the night at my best friends house (Judy). We mostly just visited and caught up on things. We left Judy's Sunday morning around 10:30 wanted to stop at the nursing home to see my uncle Bob. Found out that's a good time to go calling cause we ran into 3 or 4 people we hadn't seen in quite awhile. We both were happy we stopped.

On Memorial Day it rained, rained and rained. We met the kids at Perkins for breakfast. With the weather being as it is we took in a movie, The Great Gatsby was not as good as we had hoped. When we got back to the campground we just watched TV and I finished the quilting part on my quilt. Oh yeah for you hockey fans the Blackhawks won so it tied up 3 games to 3. Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday rain, rain, rain. I did manage to finish binding my quilt and get started on a T-shirt quilt for the girl that graduated. With this weather, all the rain the bugs are horrible so even if you get a decent day you can hardly stand to sit outside.

The weekend arrived and I had promised to paint my younger sons table and chairs so we headed over there. We did it inside, good thing cause it rained again. I also recovered the chairs and they look
good. Also watched the Blackhawks win again.

Sunday came and the weather took a dive it's really cold out. Boy this Iowa weather is something, you never know what you'll wake up to.

Another week and its nice today I did some cleaning, and gave our dog Belle a haircut. We went in and picked up Ashton to stay with us a couple nights. Schools out and his summer camp doesn't start til next Monday. We thought he could see how we pack everything up. He thought it was neat how the slides pulled in and everything had a place . So we are off tomorrow to another site.

Squaw Creek

Wednesday May 8th making a big move across town. We have never stayed here at Squaw Creek. Before leaving we talked to some new friends Janie and John that are fulltime RVers. Jeff has followed there Flamingo on a Stick blog for awhile. What was really nice about this move...no hassle. Didn't have to hurry or rush around cause it was literally across town. When we arrived, took our time and found a spot that was kinda private. I found the sites to be bigger and spaced apart more. Everything was really green here.

We got everything set up and it's really nice. It's always different to go into a new spot and figure out what they have to offer. This park is definitely bigger than Morgan Creek. What's bad for us is we aren't familiar with this side of town. So when we take off we really have to think of where we are going and how to get there. So that's what we had to do when we headed in to watch Ashton's hockey practice. That's getting to be a habit, he really loves it and you can tell by the excitement on his face. 

I'm glad we moved on Wednesday cause Thursday it decided to rain so we went to Menards to get some supplies. The weather didn't break so decided to go to a movie and dinner. Friday cloudy again so I baked. Saturday came and Justin came out for breakfast and to look for mushrooms....no luck. Later on in the day Seth (oldest son) called and invited us to an arena football game, never been so we went. There are some serious fans there and I don't know about Jeff but I thought it was great! We left early cause Justin (youngest son) had a gig and of course we weren't gonna miss that. It was a late night for us, not really use to that.

Sunday....Mothers Day. Usually we are on a vacation this time of year but not this year. Our daughter in law had lunch. It was yummy, turkey and all the trimmings. We visited and ate and ate. Nice to spend time with the family. 

Started off a new week and the weather was better today so decided to do some cleaning in the basement of the camper. I took everything out and vacuumed it out. There was sand in there from Florida. 

Then we had a super hot day 96 degrees. Yikes that's too hot! We took advantage of weather without moisture and did some maintance. Worked on the A.C. Unit. I had to help Jeff cause his hands are to big. Got the cover off the unit but to get it back on that was his problem, so thats were I came in my hands could fit down in there to start the screws. We got everything done on it that was needed. It took longer than we thought of course. 

Had a bit of a scare with our little wiener dog, she woke us up at 5:30 one morning which doesn't sound that bad but she never wants to get up. I have to drag her out of bed every morning and then she goes right back to sleep. She wouldn't lay down at all and her little tummy was rumbling like crazy. I took her out and I think it was cause she ate a bunch of grass and had a belly ache. She felt better and so did I.

The weather changed again, got cooler so it was perfect to sit outside and quilt, bonus I was serenaded by turkeys...one even ran by our campsite.

Had to make a day trip to Keokuk IA to attend a visitation. My best friends father in law passed away. Not good circumstances but nice to see my friend.

Saturday another family dinner I thinked they called it Seafood Saturday. Red Lobster a family favorite, and for dessert we got to take the grand kids home with us.  We kept very busy entertaining them. I had to paint sissys toes and watch her ride her new scooter. That was sure something to see. Ashton just wanted to ride his bike. 

We got to attend church the next day with them. Ashton went to Sunday school and loved it, Hailey was pretty shy so she set on my lap and fell asleep. We met Seth & Katie at the ice rink for some ice skating. Now that was something to see.....me on skates. I thought maybe after 20 years I could still skate but no, not gonna happen. I'm old and afraid to fall down that makes you a terrible skater. I made a batch of baked spaghetti for supper. We ate at Justin's it was delicious.

Had some bad storms come through, so we didn't sleep that well. So our day was spent resting up from lack of sleep and running around after kids. Very lucky with the storms, there were some terrible ones all around us, grateful for that.

With the holiday weekend approaching we decided to move a day early. When we went to hook up the rig couldn't get the hitch to lock. That's a big problem. Jeff took it apart and worked on it. Finally got it to work. Moved to Morgan Creek again. We were glad we moved early cause the park was filling up fast. We got a pretty good spot. Home for another 2 weeks.

Grand Kids Here We Come!!!!!

Got stuff loaded and headed to Cedar Rapids around 10am. Both of us really excited to see the kids and grand kids. Definitely know these roads have taken this path many many times. When we arrived at Morgan Creek Park there were probably only 3 campers set up. The hosts hadn't even showed up yet. The water at the sites were just turned on but the dump station hasn't opened yet. The good news it's suppose to be a nice weekend. Not any problems really setting up, I was just in a hurry cause we had a very important meeting scheduled. We had set up to surprise the kids with picking them up at daycare.

So we made our way in town parked at Seth & Katie's and walked to the daycare. When we got there Mary had Ashton and Hailey come out. Ashton ran to us with hugs and kisses, he is such a loving boy. Sissy was a bit surprised she came to me but she noticed Papa had a beef (Beaird) she told him right away that she didn't like it and told him to shave it off. We gathered them up and walked to there house. It was fun giving them the little things we brought back from our travels. Ashton was especially happy with the alligator head.

 It was a big night for Ashton cause he was starting hockey tonight so we got to go and watch. So we drove over with our son Seth and our other son Justin showed up to watch. So nice to see my boys we really missed them too. After we headed to Justin's house for pizza. So nice to be around the family again.

The next day we hung around the campground and Jeff got his work done on the computer. I quilted and we both went to grocery shop.

On Friday we decided to go to a movie "42" really good. Then we met up with the family at Pancheros for supper. Went to Justin's to watch a movie but just visited instead.

Saturday morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls took them to Seth's. Katie and I went to get paint for there house. I'm gonna do some painting for them. Jeff and Seth went to get some hockey pads for Ashton. We came back to the campground with an extra body. Hailey is staying over night. We had supper, painted her toenails like Grammys and had a campfire with marshmallows. I don't think she liked the marshmallows they were sticky she said.

Had Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. Then Jeff went to hit golf balls with Justin. I had to bake some cupcakes for a family fish fry tonight . Jeff went skating with Seth & Ashton. We had a wonderful dinner at Seth & Katie's. We even had an Easter egg hunt since we were gone then, the kids loved that.

The start of next week, I started painting Seth's basement and hallway. The weather turned cooler, actually cold. Then on Friday we had to be the daycare for the day. Ashton went to school, so it was us with Sissy. It was cold and rainy so I decided to start on painting there bedroom. Sissy was good all day and a joy to be around. Than we went to Riverside Casino to hear an Eagles tribute band. They were excellent.

Another weekend with lots to do. Went to Coralville with the kids and then they came home for supper. Hailey went home Ashton stayed over. So needless to say we had a busy evening . Jeff & I were tired from our late night on Friday so I asked Ashton if he was tired he said Nope not one bit....yikes!

After breakfast on Sunday Jeff  & Ashton were outside playing trackball and with the new bug assalt gun. Ashton thought the gun was the funniest thing ever. KT came and got me and we went to the farmers  market. I got cupcakes, so good. For supper to Justin's. I think they missed us. A new week and its a bit warmer that's nice. We worked on some cleaning cause we had a tree at this spot that keeps dropping sticky stuff kinda messy. We are getting ready to move across town on Wednesday. We did talk to some full time RVers who has a Blog that Jeff has been following. Looking forward to getting to visit with them some more.

Wyaconda - Mark Twain Lake, MO

Friday April 19th we had reservations for Wyaconda State Park but since there has been so much rain and flooding we were very nervous about going there. We called to see what the conditions were and we both decided that we didn't want to risk it. We know what happens when those Levy's breech. So we called to explain the situation and see if we could cancel with minimum cost. They were gonna check with the person in charge. So we decided to hook up and head that way.

Next we had a bit of a problem with the brake controller. We, Jeff messed with it and got it working. We had a fairly long trip planned for today, but thought we could do it since we were familiar with the roads. The roads weren't a problem at all. The traffic was light and the roads were good. The problem was getting someone to call us back on the reservation thing. Usually we wouldn't make reservations but it was the weekend and we would be pulling in later than usual. Finally we decided to forget Wyaconda and head to Mark Twain instead. There's a lake there instead of a river. The lake was high but no danger in it flooding us.

 When we finally got a hold of them again at the reservation place they weren't cutting us any break at all. We ended up getting charged for 2 nights plus a $7.50 fee and a $5.00 fee as well. What do you do? Learn from it. Kind a ridiculous we thought. It wasn't like we were canceling for no reason. Actually part of the park was closed from flooding but not the loop we had reservations at. Didn't expect to get a full refund but thought they would consider the situation a bit but nope! Both of us were a bit miffed about that but felt our decision was the best one.

Got us a good spot at Ray Behrens which is located at Mark Twain Lake. We go there often and they have a nice section of 1st come 1st serve. This is a nice park but we had picked Wyaconda because its closer to our hometown of Keokuk Iowa and we had business we needed to take care of. With the high water the road was closed to get over to Iowa so we had to take the long way. So we had to plan our trips. With the road closures it was a 2 hour trip one way.

On Saturday we hung around the campground and did some laundry and cleaned. We are going to Keokuk tomorrow for church and then we are heading to Jeff's brothers for pizza and conversation. On the way home we had a bite at steak and shake.

Monday we stayed at the campground and Jeff changed the oil in the truck. I put together a quilt to start quilting. We were heading back to town tomorrow.

Tuesday Jeff had a meeting at the city offices, then we had to get our taxes prepared. (we had an extension) Next we had to meet up with my best girlfriend for lunch. Our old neighbor was in the hospital so we stopped to see him. I dropped by to say hi to my sister also. We went to the grocery store and ran into Jeff's sister and her husband so had to catch up with them. We really felt like this was a successful trip. On the way back to the campground we decided to go the Illinois way. There was a reason a brand new Texas Roadhouse had opened in Quincy Illinois and we stopped to have supper. You talk about good....everything was. It was a long day of running but it was a good day. Our next move to Cedar Rapids...the kids and grand kids, can't wait!!!!