workin'

We attended our Goldwing Chapter monthly meeting last night and had a good time. We have a pretty large group and everybody gets along real well which makes the get togethers even more fun. We used to be able to sell 50/50 tickets to raise money to fund the chapter. A couple of years ago the state cracked down on this practice saying it was gambling and wanted their cut. Pretty ridiculous when we never made more than $100 on it. Big government at work I guess. Nowadays we have an auction of donated items and do even better on it than we did on the 50/50 sales. Last night was "auction night" so Rudee and I purchased a gift certificate from the KOA here for one night of full hook up camping to donate. We were kind of surprised at the final cost, over $46.00, for one night of camping. I thought this was extremely high and realize now why the campground has been mostly empty and why KOA's seem to get a bad name in the RV world. Our campground is nice but it is by no means a "resort" where you would expect to pay higher costs for the amenities and/or location.

Last week end when we were at Suters 5th wheel sitting around the campfire a car pulled up. I was a little surprised to see readers Bruce, Jennifer, Kurt and Lilly Sherrill. They also have a Montana 5th wheel and keep it parked at the same park. We first met up with them at the Montana Owners Club Fall Rally in Goshen last September where they were our neighbors and it was nice to see them again.

Speaking of Old Mill Run Park in Thorntown. We did check to see what sites they had available. We are pretty limited since we have to have a dedicated land line for Rudee's work. They do have a section of their park with phone lines but none of those spaces were open right now. We gave them our information to call us if a phone site become available and of course our friends will keep an eye open too.

Nicholas, our favorite Grand Son (he is the only grandson LOL), has a program at his school tonight. We are going to pick the kids up at their day care and meet Amanda at her house to save time. We are not sure if Ryan will be able to make it our not since he works in Ag. and planting season is in full swing and he has been putting in loads of overtime. The program should be entertaining and fun. I'll keep you posted.

relaxing week end

We were up early Saturday morning and picked up our daughter Amanda so we could all walk in the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Walk in Indianapolis. The weather was downright cold and none of us was to keen on standing around in the cold waiting for the walk to start.
We made a stop for breakfast at Flapjack's in Brownsburg and a new plan was hatched :-). We had already paid our registration for the walk and Amanda had picked up our packets and shirts so we really were not missing anything by not going sooooooooo we didn't.
Amanda had a babysitter arranged for the day so we drove to the Indiana Live Casino in Shelbyville. I would like to tell you that the only reason we went there was because Amanda wanted to go but that would not be the total truth :-) we all three thought it would be a lot more fun than walking in the cold!
Our luck was mixed. Rudee came out a few $$ ahead, I was down $6.00 and Amanda was down about $20.00. Not too bad for 2 hours of gambling, of course we tend to stick to the 1 cent slot machines and are NOT high rollers :-).

Rudee and Amanda dropped me off at the 5th wheel when we got back and they went to get their nails done and do whatever else it is you girls do when you get your beautification treatments.

Rudee took Amanda home and we just relaxed the rest of the evening in the 5th wheel watching TV.

Sunday we were a little slower getting started than normal. I didn't even get my shower in until after 10:00 am. After eating "brunch" we headed over to Thorntown and sat with Steve and Trish around their campfire. While we were there Dave "Grumpy" Williams showed up with his 5th wheel in tow. Grumpy rents the site next to them for the season and we all helped him get his rig parked and sit up. He also has custody of their shared golf cart so after unhooking Steve and I rode with him back to his Goldwing shop and loaded the golf cart up and brought it back to the campground.

We left Thorntown around 5pm and headed back to the 5th wheel where Rudee made us supper. We had loaded backed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Yum!

The weather has been very "spring like" around here. The nights have been cool and we have had to use the furnace overnight to stay comfortable. The daytime highs have been in the 60's, very pleasant. We are beginning to make some plans for our vacations this summer. We will be taking an extra day during Memorial Day week end and 4th of July week end so we can attend some motorcycle rallies. Our big trip will be in July where we are taking 2 weeks and going to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We are really looking forward to that! We are talking about taking another week sometime and doing another motorcycle trip. We are just not sure when that would all work out but as always ..... I'll keep you posted.

walk in the woods

Saturday we got our errands ran and took a quick trip to Turkey Run State Park. The day started out a little cool but was supposed to warm into the mid 60's.
We arrived at the park and paid our $5.00 admission. We started out at the Inn where we grabbed a quick lunch in their dining room. We shared a salad and a very tasty chicken quesadilla.
With lunch out of the way we drove through the park. There were quite a few cars parked in the main parking lot by the Nature Center where most of the parks hiking trails begin and end. We drove on to a more secluded area and parked the truck in a picnic area parking lot. We headed into the woods and begin looking for mushrooms. We hunted for awhile but didn't find any. Rudee did point out lots of wild flowers and we enjoyed being out in nature. Mushroom season really doesn't start for a couple of more weeks or longer but with the warm weather we have been having I was hoping to find a few "early birds".
We headed out of the park and drove to Thorntown to visit Steve and Trish at their camper. They were just getting it opened up for the season so we called them to make sure they wanted visitors. We stopped on the way and picked up some firewood and a few groceries. Once we got there Steve and I built a campfire and roasted some hot dogs. The girls took care of the side dishes and we had a nice supper around the fire. It sure felt good to be back in the "camping mode" again. Sunday was supposed to be even nicer than Saturday so before we parted ways we made plans to meet for breakfast and take a motorcycle ride.

Sunday morning started out cool. We met Steve and Trish at the gas station/grocery/restaurant in Darlington Indiana. I wouldn't normally go out of my way to eat at a gas station but this place had a nice little cafe' attached to it that served breakfast and lunch. Rudee and I shared an omelet that was quite good.

By the time we had finished breakfast the weather had warmed up enough to shed our heavy coats and just wear our sweatshirts. We decided to ride to Nashville Indiana and walk through some of the shops there. We rode south on SR 231 to SR 67 and into the town of Martinsville where Rudee was born. We turned onto SR 252 and took it to SR 135 which turns into the main drag in Nashville. The trip took us about 2 hours and was a nice ride with very little traffic.

We parked on a side street in town and walked through a lot of the shops. We picked up some Salt Water Taffy at a candy store and Rudee found a nice shirt and purse at a place that was going out of business where everything was 1/2 off. She got a really nice shirt and a new purse for $20.00. We did make a stop at an ice cream parlor and found our fellow Goldwing friends Larry and Shirley Abbott sitting on the porch eating ice cream. We bought our treats and shared the porch with them. Larry and Shirley ride a really nice goldwing trike and have just gotten back from their winter home in Florida. We spent a little while catching up with them before heading back to the bikes.
We headed home making a stop to gas up and take a butt break about 1/2 way. We all made it home safe and sound and had a really fun day on the bike with friends.

The weather has been just about perfect this week. The temperatures have been almost 80 degrees and the sun has been shining. I put the awning out Sunday and we have been sitting outside some in the evenings. They are predicting a cool down for this week end though with highs in the upper 50's. We are walking in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday morning with Amanda and Ryan. We did this last year and had a nice time. I'll keep you posted.

Moving day

Sunday we had a nice Easter at our daughter Amanda's house. She worked hard on a very nice meal which included cake and ice cream for our grand daughter Avalynn's birthday. There was quite a crowd as we also celebrated Easter Sunday. After our meal we found out the Easter Bunny had made a trip through the back yard and the kids were all turned loose to go and find the eggs. We all had a great time.

Work this week was pretty busy. We had severe storm warnings issued all around us Tuesday evening and there was some large hail just south of us. The storms missed us but I did have several beat up cars and trucks to inspect.

Rudee took the day off on Friday so she could take her parents to their doctors appointments. We figured this would be good day to schedule the phone line to be transferred to our normal summer spot. I called the phone company several days ago and set it up. We also let Jamie, the manager here, know we were going to make the move this week end.
I got up early so I could get the jump on my appointments and made it home early this afternoon. Rudee wasn't home yet so after a quick lunch I decided to go ahead and get the 5th wheel moved. Well that was my big plan anyway. You know what they say about the best laid plans! The first thing I did was to move the bike out from under the 5th wheel overhang. I was going to ride it over next to the new site but first was going to stop in the storage area where our truck is parked and get the Freightliner fired up to get the air built up and the engine warm. This is where things started to go haywire. When I tried to start the truck it wouldn't start. Battery was pretty much dead (or so I hoped). The battery is located in a battery box on the drivers side of the truck underneath and near the rear of the cab. I had backed the truck into it's spot and there were motorhomes parked very close on both sides of the truck so there was no way to get another vehicle close enough to use jumper cables. I got back on the bike and rode back to the 5th wheel and parked it. I gathered up all my extra electrical cords and my battery charger and walked back to the semi. It took 4 cords to reach the nearest electric box but I made it and was able to start recharging the batteries with the charger.

Fast forward a couple of hours and I'm back at the truck saying a little prayer and turning the key again. Whoo Hoo it started!! I got busy and rolled up all the cords, replaced the battery box lid and put away the charger. I let the truck run while I unhooked the utilities and brought the slide outs in. It's been a few months since I went through the hook up procedure and kept checking and re-checking everything. I was afraid I would forget something since I was out of practice but all went smoothly and I headed out. I drove/towed all of 200 yards and parked it in the new spot :-). Rudee made it home just as I was finishing unhooking and helped me get everything set up. Last thing to hook up was the phone line. I checked the phone at the old site this morning and it was shut down so I figured "no problem" right? Wrong!! We didn't have a dial tone on our new site either. Rudee called the phone company and they said they will work on it and should have the phone line turned on by noon tomorrow. We'll see.

We have some errands to run tomorrow morning and I am hoping to take a walk through the woods and see if we can find some mushrooms!! I'll keep you posted/

Happy Easter and a blast from the past

We got a call from Rob and Janie Runion Friday afternoon inviting us to take a motorcycle ride with them. They were coming our way to drop something off at our mutual friends Ron and Sandy Mendenhall's home.

We met them in Parkersburg Indiana at Ron and Sandy's and all six of us headed out with Ron and Sandy in the lead. We rode through the hills and hollows of Montgomery and Putnam counties headed for Rockville Indiana and the 36 Tavern. We had never been to this restaurant before (shocking isn't it, LOL) but had been by it a time or two in our travels. The restaurant/bar was decorated sort of "wild west" and had lots of animal heads mounted to the walls. We all ordered sandwiches but the steaks and chops they were serving to tables around us looked good too. We all enjoyed our meal and plan on going back again sometime.

Saturday morning the predicted rain came and settled in for most of the day. Rudee and I got some running around done. I needed some sturdier plastic totes for the back of the Dakota and found some nice ones at Home Depot. We also went to Wal Mart and bought a large duffel bag to store our vinyl skirting in this summer.

The KOA has turned on the water to all the other sites and we are making plans to move back to our "summer" home which is a site 2 rows over. We have the phone/Internet line set up to transfer to the other site next Friday and that gives us the entire week end to make the "big" move.

The rain quit about 3:00 and we went outside and took the skirting off the 5th wheel. We carefully packed it away into it's new bag and will store it in the front cargo bay until we need it next winter. I really think the skirting helped keep the 5th wheel warmer this winter. I doubt if we will save enough on heat costs for it to pay for itself but if it keeps Rudee's toes warm (and mine too!!) then it's worth it.

While we were outside working a class A motor home pulled in and the owners went in to the office to register. Rudee and I were carrying things to the trash and I kept looking at the motor home and finaly told Rudee "I think that's our old motor home". Rudee took one look at it and said "yep, sure is". What is the chance of that? We waited for the couple to come out of the office and talked to them a little while. They had just purchased it from a private individual from Kankakee Ill. We talked for a while and I gave them one of our business cards so they could call us if they had any questions on it. The motorhome is a 1989 Open Road by Allegro and we owned it for probably 2 years back in the mid 90's before trading it in on a toy hauler 5th wheel.

Saturday night we met Steve and Trish at 32 Wharehouse in Lebanon for dinner and basketball. How about those Butler Bulldog's??!!! I actually attended classes at Butler for a short time during my Paramedic training back in the late 70's so I guess I am kind of an alumni. Their coach went to high school in Zionsville and their star player is from Brownsburg which are both just a few miles away from us. It's pretty exciting seeing a small school reach the big game.

We are going to Amanda and Ryan's house for Easter Dinner and an egg hunt. They are expecting a big crowd of about 25 people so it should be a fun time. I'll keep you posted

Big trucks

Saturday morning we were up early for a week end. We were meeting Steve and Trish in Lebanon where they were leaving their car at his Mom's house and riding with us to Louisville, Ky.

We drove to Lebanon and didn't have to wait long before Steve and Trish drove up and we transferred their luggage into our trunk. The first order of business would be coffee and breakfast at Flapjacks. :-)


After breakfast we hopped on I-65 south and made the 2 1/2 drive to Louisville. The truck show was being held at the Kentucky Expo Center which is on the near southside of Louisville right off I-65. The complex is large and the show was taking up the large Expo room as well as 2 other wings. We found a parking spot and made our way into the closest building. On our way in we passed several nice trucks that were being displayed out in the parking lot. These were all "working" trucks that the owners keep highly polished for these type of shows. There were also some "show trucks" inside.





We took our time walking through the vendor booths as well as the manufacturer displays. We took a break for a hot dog lunch and to rest our aching feet at a concession stand. Here is Steve and Trish resting.



We also found some celebrities in attendance. Here is Alex from the "Ice Road Truckers" show. He was doing a radio interview for Sirrus Sattelite Radio.



We spent a few hours seeing everything and picking up "freebies" at some of the booths. Once we made it back out to the car we were all pretty tired and our backs were all sore. I guess none of us are as young as we used to be. :-) I for one have trouble walking for an extended time on cement. It really plays havoc with my back.

Leaving the show we drove over to Churchill Downs which is the home of the Kentucky Derby. They have a nice museum there that Rudee and I went through several years ago but alas it was closed for remodeling. We then headed downtown to see the sights there.

I remembered that the Louisville Slugger Factory was downtown and I was able to find it along with a parking space right in front. Sweet :-). The factory gives regular tours ($10 per adult) and they also have a nice museum area with displays. We purchased our tour tickets and while waiting for the tour to start, looked through the displays. For those that don't know what a Louisville Slugger is, they are baseball bats! They have some pretty famous bats on display, like one of the bats used by Joe Demagio to set the longest hitting streak in major league baseball at 56 games. We also saw Babe Ruths autograph and bat. They have a pitching machine set up and you can "stare down" a 100 mile per hour fast ball. Wow, that thing was moving. I would hate to get hit by that pitch!

We took the tour which was interesting. I expected a much larger factory and was surprised at how small the actual production area is. They sure do make a lot of baseball bats in this small factory. They don't allow photography during the tour but here are some photos of the outside and of the museum area.

We checked into the Holiday Inn in Clarksville Indiana and dropped off our luggage. We then went back across the Ohio River into Kentucky looking for a nice supper place. We stopped first at Joe's Crab Shack and were a little shocked they charged $3.00 for parking. We were even more shocked when they said we had to wait 20 minutes before they would let us even in the parking area. I told them no thanks and we left.

Thank goodness for our GPS. I looked for a seafood restaurant and it led us to the Kingfish which sits right on the Ohio River. The place was not extremely busy and we got a table that overlooked the river. The food was good and we were able to watch a few boats travel by.

Sunday we packed back up and checked out. We headed for the Horseshoe Casino to try our luck. We signed up for their players card and ended up getting two free buffet' meals. Rudee was the lucky one this trip and after covering my losses we carried out a few $$ more than what we came in with plus had a nice meal in their buffet :-).

We were not done yet though, we headed to the French Lick Casino in Larry Bird's hometown of French Lick Indiana. We played here for an hour or two but neither one of us did much good :-(.

We made it back to Lebanon and dropped Steve and Trish back at their car and headed home. A quick stop for a carry out pizza and we ended the evening relaxing in our recliners eating pizza and watching a movie. Ahhhhhhhh.

The weather is really, really nice for this time of year. They are predicting temps in the 70's and sunny skies. Sounds more like summer weather than spring but I'm not going to complain :-). I see some motorcycle rides in our future. I'll keep you posted.