Dinner with Phil and Tandy

Friday, October 3, 2014 - Bowling Green, KY

This morning I got up early, so I could get started working.  I knew we would be headed for Bowling Green this afternoon to meet Phil and Tandy for dinner, so I wanted to get started working early.  :)  I was able to get a walk in for Gracie in between the rain storms. 

During the night last night the awning automatically retracted.  It woke me up, but when I heard it I thought someone was landing an RC helicopter on our roof.  I was so convinced that I even thought about waking Mike up to check it out.   Shortly there after it started raining and the wind was blowing harder, so I asked Mike if the awning came in.  And he said "Yes, it just did".  In the morning I did tell him about the helicopter and we both got a good laugh from that one.  :)

Around 3:00pm we headed for Bowling Green.  The plan was to meet Phil and Tandy at Rafferty's at 5:00pm.  Mike found a Camping World in Bowling Green, so we decided we would stop there first to pick up some more leveling blocks.  It just so happened it was on the same exit as Rafferty's.  :)

After shopping at Camping World, we found we were going to be at the restaurant a couple of minutes late, so Mike sent a text message to Phil.  Phil wanted to know where?  Mike said the restaurant.  We arrived, but Phil and Tandy were not there.  Come to find out Bowling Green is on Central Time.  We were an hour early.  :)

Phil and Tandy arrived about 30 minutes later.  We had a wonderful time and dinner was pretty good.  We were there for about 3 hours.  We were really happy Phil and Tandy contacted us to let us know they would be in the area.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Move to Campbellsville

Thursday, October 2, 2014 - Campbellsville, KY

Once again the plan was to be on the road between 9:00am and 9:30am...well today we made it!  We pulled out of the campground at 9:20am!  And we were making good time.  The GPS showed we were going to arrive in Campbellsville about 1:15pm.  We knew it was going to take longer because we were not going to follow the GPS directions.  We do not like taking the truck and trailer on too many twisty, turny  roads, so we were going to take I-64 to I-75 to Cumberland Parkway, then north to Campbellsville. 

About every 15 - 20 minutes I would pull up along side of Mike to make sure the straps were still holding the underbelly up.  When we got south of Lexington on I-75 I noticed the tail of one of the straps had come loose.  I quickly checked it out and it was not long enough to get caught by the wheel, so we did not pull over on the interstate.  But we did take the next available exit.  While off the highway we also thought it would be a good time to get some lunch and fill up the Suburban.  We took about 12 gallons out of the fuel tank on the trailer, then I topped it off at the gas pump.

After we left the truck stop we got caught in stand still traffic due to an accident on I-75.  We finally got moving, but traffic was very heavy for the rest of the time we were on I-75.  I was glad to be done with that section of the trip.

We finally made it to Campbellsville and the GPS told us to turn on Soule Chapel Road, but the road was only 1 lane wide.  So Mike waited at the church parking lot while I drove down the road to find the campground.  Once I found it I asked them the best way to bring the trailer in.  I followed their directions back to where I left Mike, then turned around and lead him back to the campground.  There were a couple of tight turns that I needed to do traffic watch for, but we made it to Green River RV Resort safe and sound.  :)

There aren't any picnic tables at this campground.  And I am sure we will have additional campers around us before long, but below is a picture looking out my front door.  :)

We will be here until at least December 23rd.  On Tuesday, October 7th Mike will start working his first "work camper" job with Amazon as part of their camperforce at their Campbellsville fulfillment center.  More about that after he starts the job. :)

This afternoon Mike heard from Phil that him and Tandy would be in Bowling Green, KY for the Mustang show this weekend.  We checked the map and found we were only about 1 hour and 10 minutes away, so we agreed to meet for dinner tomorrow night.   :)

It was getting late and we had a couple of things we wanted to pick up at Wal-Mart, so we decided we would eat out again tonight.  We went into town and found Colton Steak House.  Mike had the half a rack of ribs and I had pork chops.  Both meals were good, but Mike said he still likes the ribs at Texas Roadhouse better.  He said the ribs were heavily seasoned with some type of rub that he did not really like.  Once we got back home we called it a night.

It was another wonderful day!

Glass Co. Tour

Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - Milton, WV

It was such a pretty day today.  :)  We checked out to see what attractions are in the area and found the Blenko Glass Co. offers free tours.  So around 2:00pm we headed over to check it out.  Well it was not exactly what we thought it would be, but it was nice.  I thought we would actually get to through the factory area.  Based on their website there is not a glass blowing demonstration on Wednesday's, so maybe on any other day of the week you can go in the factory area.  But the museum part was nice.  Very little, but nice.

That did not take very long, but it was a nice break from work.  It was back to work for me and relaxation for Mike.  :)

After dinner we took Gracie for her evening walk, then we called it a night early, since tomorrow is another travel day!

It was another wonderful day!

Moving Day & Problem with the Rig

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - Milton, WV

This morning the plan was to be on the road between 9:00am and 9:30am.  I am so seeing a pattern here.  :)  We would have been close today.  I was headed for the Suburban with Gracie at about 9:40am, when our neighbor stopped by to say "Hi".  :)  About 45 minutes later we were finally pulling out.

As we were driving down the road we went over a bridge, suddenly what appeared to be a whole lot of trash was swirling around behind the trailer.  I radioed up to Mike to let him know, but did not think to much of it.  But as we continued down the road the trash continued to swirl behind the trailer.  After about 5 to 10 miles I told Mike that I was going to pull up beside him and check it out.  As soon as I got up to the trailer I could see the leading edge of the front underbelly cover had fallen off and was dragging on the ground.  I immediately radioed him to "Pull Over!".  :(

We spent the next 30 to 45 minutes strapping up the cover, so we could continue down the road.  I always hate doing repair work on the shoulder of an interstate.  Fortunately traffic was not heavy, but it is still no fun at all.  Below are a couple of pictures of what we did to get the cover secured for the rest of the trip.

As you can see from the pictures the one corner is completely gone.  We still don't know why it came down.  The hose that is hanging down is a fuel hose that goes from the gas tank at the back of the rig to the generator at the front of the rig.  And yes it was dragging on the ground also.  :(  It was leaking fuel!

When we got to the first rest area we stopped to wash our hands and take a deep breath and also check to make sure the straps were holding.  Below is a picture I took of the area at the rest stop.  It is beautiful!  :)

We finally made it to the Hunting/Fox Fire KOA safe and sound.  We arrived around 5:00pm and we were both wiped!  The drive was a little stressful.  After getting the rig hooked up to the utilities Mike started dinner.  We had spaghetti for dinner.  It was good.  While Mike was cooking dinner I did get a picture of our campsite.

This is our second time to this campground.  The sites are very close together and last time we could not even open our living room slide all of the way.  This time we made sure we could open all of our slide all the way, especially since we will be here for 2 nights.  When we pulled in there was not anyone next to us, but before dark the campground filled up.  Below is a picture of what it looked like from our picnic table.  :)

After dinner we were both very tired, so we called it a day!

It was another wonderful day!

Resting Day

Monday, September 29, 2014 - Staunton, VA

This morning's walk was an easy walk today.  I now have the cold Mike and Avander had.  So, we decided it was not going to be our normal fast walk.  We ended up walking a little over 3 miles.  It was very nice.  Once we went about 1.5 miles we turned around to see this.  :)  It was a little cloudy.

In the evening we headed into town to pick up groceries.  When we got back we took Gracie for a walk in the campground.  Mike really like the coloring in the sky, so he took this picture.  It does not do the pinks justice.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Moving Day

Sunday, September 28, 2014 - Staunton, VA

This morning we were up early again and went to Mass at St. Olaf.  After Mass we went to Southern Pancake and Waffle House.  Mike had the western omelette and I had 2 eggs over medium, bacon and fried potatoes.  The food was good and the service was great.  Of all of the pancake houses we went to while we were here, we both agree that we like Hot Stakes the best.  We also agree the service was good at all of them.  :)  And we did not even go to all of the pancake houses in the Williamsburg area.

We finally got back to the trailer and worked on finishing up our packing.  Originally I was hoping we would be on the road by noon...well at 12:15, I was not even sure we would get away by 1:00.  Between all of the  people that stopped by to talk and all of the packing we still had to do we did not leave until 2:50pm.  A little late.  :)  Fortunately we only had to drive approximately 150 miles.

We arrived at the Staunton/Walnut Hill KOA around 5:00pm.  It was not a bad drive and we arrived safely.  I took this picture right after we got set up.  I was running out of sun light.

 This is what it looks like sitting at the picnic table.

After getting set up and taking Gracie for a walk we decided it was time to get some dinner.  We asked at the office for a good place to eat and they directed us toward Edelweiss Restaurant.  It was an excellent choice! 

Below is a picture of the fireplace, which I thought looked really cool.  It also shows how rustic the inside of the restaurant was.  :)

I had the Rindsrouladen, which is thinly sliced top round of beef stuffed with a delicious mixture of pork, herbs, pickles, carrots, bacon and spices.  Mike was trying to decide between the Bratwurst & Weibwurst, which is pork and veal sausages served with sauerkraut and brown gravy; or the special of the night, which was stroganoff.  After talking to the waitress, he decided on the stroganoff. (NOTE: all descriptions of the meals are straight from their menu. :) )  Red cabbage, Bavarian cabbage, green beans and spatzle (German noodles) are also served family style with all meals.  Both meals were excellent.  If you are ever in the area we would highly recommend this restaurant!

Believe it or not we even had dessert.  All of the desserts are homemade and we just had to try a couple.  So I had Oma’s German Torte and Mike had Black Forest cake.  Both desserts were amazing!  :)

Needless to say we both left the restaurant very full and ready to call it a night!

It was another wonderful day!

Play Day

Saturday, September 27, 2014 - Williamsburg, VA

This morning Mike and I got up early and got busy working on packing things up.  I started cleaning the grill when Jess, Mike J and the boys showed up.  :)  Once I finished cleaning the grill we packed up, stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up food for a picnic lunch, then on to Kidsburg!  :)

We had a really great time playing.  The last time we were here with the boys the zip line was broken.  It is fixed now and Alex really enjoyed it!

 Avander did not feel the same about it.  This was his first and my guess last ride on it.  :)

Alex enjoyed playing on all of the equipment.

 

Alex enjoyed riding on the swing with his dad.  :)

Avander was playing on the slides with Papa.

 Avander also played with dad on the playground equipment.

Alex wanted one more ride on the zip line, so I helped him out.  :)  I even rode on the zip line, but no pictures of that.  :)

We had a wonderful afternoon at Kidsburg.  Then we headed back to the campground to play on the jump pad.  The jump pad is up at Colonial KOA, so Alex and Avander hopped into their blue truck and rode it on the trail, as the rest of us followed on foot.  :) 

While up at the jump pad Avander saw us throwing rocks for Gracie to catch and decided he wanted in on the action as well.  Gracie had a great time!

 

Alex had been wanting to mine for gem stones several times this summer, so Jess finally gave in today, since it would be his last opportunity for the summer.  Both of the boys seemed to really enjoy it.

It was getting late and we were all getting hungry, so we decided it was time to head back down the trail to Williamsburg KOA.  Avander did not want to ride in the truck with Alex, instead he opted to ride on Papa's shoulders.  Alex had a lot of fun driving the truck down the hill. 

Once Papa started playing with a stick, then Avander wanted down, so he could do the same thing.

When we got back to the trailer Jess and Mike J packed up their stuff and we all headed into Williamsburg to the Golden Coral for dinner.  We had a nice dinner, then it was time to say "Good-bye".  We have had a wonderful time here and we, especially Papa, will miss seeing the boys.  We will be back in a couple of weeks when the baby is born, but in the meantime, we will miss everyone.

It was another wonderful day!