Ah! Washington

We are here in Moses Lake and will arrive in Monroe early tomorrow afternoon. I have posted some pictures Brenda took along the way.
We are less than 200 miles from there and we can't wait to see our family.
The trip lately has been uneventful.
We over nighted in Reed Point and Missoula, MT.
We went to church last night at St. Francis Xavier in Missoula. The church was very old and reminded me of many of the churches we saw in Rome.
It was very Gothic with Frescos on the ceiling and around the Sanctuary. The stations of the cross were all paintings. The whole church was very ornate. It is run by the Jesuits.
We stayed in this park, in Moses Lake, 3 years ago when we first went to Monroe in our RV. This is a very nice park but the roads are narrow and the sites are hard to maneuver into, especially if there are cars parked on the roadway.

We are in a pull through site but we had to take the car off and position it on the asphalt and off of the grass, then hook it up again. Very inconvenient.

I washed the bugs off of the front of the coach and Brenda did some major housecleaning inside.
The house looks pretty good now.
No cable here and I won't set up the satellite dish for one night. We have been without TV for most of the trip and haven't really missed it.
I do like Top Shots on Sunday nights on History, and I have missed it 2 weeks in a row. Hopefully they will repeat it so I can see it in it's entirety.
Ta ta for now.

Medora Musical

Last year, while we were traveling with Ted & Donna, we thought about coming up here for the Medora Musical. It was way out of our way to get here from Rapid City, so we didn't make it.
Brenda and I decided to try to come up his way on our way to Monroe, and boy, are we glad we did.
The musical was spectacular, with many talented people, and was a celebration of North Dakota.
They all had good voices and the choreography was outstanding.The guy that played TR even looked like him. Most of the music was original, and it became very patriotic. Even the veterans were recognized. The people of the Dakotas are very appreciative and vocal in their gratitude of the veterans.

We got to the outdoor amphitheater early and got to our great seats (5 rows from the stage).It was still light and there is a hill behind the stage. There were 2 bull Elk feeding on the top of the hill and one was the dominate male as he tried to run off the smaller one. It was neat.

This afternoon we drove through Teddy Roosevelt National Park and visited the information center. It was an outstanding drive and we got to see some wild life that you don't see in Texas.
We saw and photographed Prairie Dogs, Wild horses, and a lone female Elk.
We saw a lone Bison, but it was too far away and among trees, so that we couldn't get a picture.
The visitor center was well done and we got an informative talk from one of the interns working in the park.
They have the cabin TR had built for one of his 2 ranches in the Medora area. It is the Maltese Cross ranch house and it is sitting in its original location. It was too close to Medora for TR's piece of mind, as he had too many visitors, so he bought another ranch 35 mile north of Medora and maintained both ranches. he was very big into cattle and also a great conservationist.

We are leaving in the morning for Old West CG in Reed Point, MT. We stayed there last year on our way to Yellowstone.
It was a nice place to overnight, but there is absolutely nothing to do there. It is a very small community right on I-90.

Ta ta for now.

North & West to Medora

We left Nebraska City on Monday and headed to Sioux Falls.
The campground was less than expected and as I was backing the coach into our very tight spot, I ended up burying the right side of the coach in the mud. AAA came to pull us out and we got settled into our site.
We were within 2 feet of our neighbor's slide and when the jack's were down the jack sunk into the mud. I do not recommend Westwick Motel and RV Park. Although. they have had a tremendous amount of rain this year.
It got 2 reviews in RV Park Reviews on good and one bad, but not for the reasons we experienced. The residents and mgt. were nice and some were helpful.

Our next stop was in Jamestown, ND. It had a very nice rustic campground and store. Fort Frontier CG also had a bar & Grill above the store.
We had 8oz NY strip steak dinner for $8.50 each and it was delicious.

We are now in Medora, ND for 2 days. We are going to the musical tonight.
When we checked in to the CG, I asked if I could wash the bugs off of the front of our coach. The lady in the office responded with "wash the whole thing, we paid our bill and besides it keeps the dust and Yellowjackets down." So after getting setup, Brenda and I washed both the car and the coach. We had run into quite a bit of rain so both were very dirty.

Last night, Brenda and I went out for a walk, and there was a duo (husband & wife) playing a mixed bag (ballads and CW) of music on the front porch of the office. They were pretty good and the price was right, Free.

The weather here is cool but humid. This area is called the ND Badlands. They usually don't get much rain here, but we were told that they had gotten 10" this week. Every thing is lush and green, similar to what we saw in the SD Badlands last year.
It is really hard to tell that this desert as it is so green here.

We hear from one of our neighbors that the musical is great, so we are looking forward to it tonight.
This a view from our site.

Ta ta for now.

Trip North

We are on the road heading to Monroe.
We left Saturday as scheduled and on time. (9:15)

Mike and Nancy came out to say farewell and Mike helped me back the coach out of the driveway.
There were hugs and words of encouragement on both sides. We may never see Nancy again, but she has been hanging in there, so you never know. We will be back in Memphis in January.
We drove up US hwy 51 and crossed the Mississippi River at Dyersburg. We wanted to avoid all of that construction in West Memphis and it was really going south to go north, a lot of miles in the wrong direction.
We had made reservations at most of the western RV parks, but did not in Missouri where we planned to spend the first night. We had forgotten that it was Fathers Day weekend and the park where we planned to stay was full.
We found one about 40 miles further down I70, in Columbia, MO. Nice park, but the sites were really tight.We had to take the car off to get into the site and I still scraped the side of the coach on a tree on the way into the site.
The tress were planted too far back and it was difficult to get in without hitting something.
One of our neighbors helped me get in without further mishap.
We went to church and really enjoyed the service. People were very friendly.
We are now in Nebraska City, NE. and leaving later this morning for Sioux Falls, SD.
It rained here last night until about 1:30am.
We had planned to walk the park, but it rained all evening.

Fathers day was good. I heard from my children and Lindsay. It was nice talking to them and for them to remember.
We didn't disconnect the car so we stayed around the house last night.

Today is Brenda's birthday. Happy Birthday to her.

This internet connection is rather slow here, so we will post pictures at another time.

Ta ta for now.

Last week in Memphis

We are in our last week here before heading north and west.

We have had a busy week:

Saturday, Brian, Adam, Alan and I went to Glen Eagle to play golf. We played a 2 man scramble with Adam & Alan the winners, So Brian and I had to buy the beer. It was awfully hot and humid, but we had a great time.
We came back home and we moved the coach out onto the driveway so that I could wash it. There is a dumpster and POD on the driveway, and although it is 40 feet wide up close to the house it is mighty crowded with the pod, dumpster and the coach.
That night Brenda and I went to a friend's daughters wedding. We didn't know the bride or the groom, but there was a lot of people we knew there.
We've known Peggy (bride's mom) since she was in high school. She and Bev have bee friends for many years.
They both go to Nativity and a lot of the people from the wedding go to Nativity as well.

Sunday, we went to Tim and Lauren's house for a farewell party for our Nephew Blake. He is a floral designer for Kroger and has been promoted to corporate in Cincinnati. It was a pleasant time and a bunch of folks were there. It is so hot that most of us stayed in the house.

Monday was my last day at the nursery. We had a bunch of orders to pick, fill and ship so I had decided to help with that project. It took about 6 hours to complete.
Brenda took Vick to the doctor for his check-up. Vick is visibly slowing down every time we see him. He has been on anti-seizure medicine his entire life and it has taken it's toll on him.

Yesterday, I washed the rig. After sitting under trees for 3 months it was filthy. It took 4 hours to wash it, with over an hour on the roof alone. It looks so much better and I feel better about having a clean home.
Brenda went to the soup kitchen for the last time this year. She really enjoys her time there and really likes the workers who go every week. Most are part of the 'Breakfast Club', and these are really special people.

Last night we went to Jackie and Bill's for supper. Jackie had asked me to come look at the recliners that they had taken out of their coach, as they couldn't figure out how they worked.
The chairs are made by Flexsteel, and they were somewhat familiar to me.
Jackie fixed a very nice supper and we visited until 11:00pm. We has a great time.
They are headed out west in the late summer/early fall and we hope that we can get together while we are in the Seattle area.

Nancy appears to be hanging in there. She has been out with Mike picking out fabric for the furniture, choosing tile for the floor and visiting the house.
She is remarkable, but she gets tired easily, as one would expect.

We have been invited by some of our nephews to get together before we leave. So the rest of our evening here will be filled.


ta ta for now.

"I'M MELTING"

Why is it so hot this early in the year? Doesn't God know that summer starts on my birthday(June 21st)? We have had some really hot weather this year.

We have had a busy week here. Please bear with me while I remember what took place last week. For those of you that know me, remembering what happened last week is a chore. Hopefully, my brain will remember it all.

We start out the week with a Sunday graduation party for my nephew, Jarrod Weirich. My brother, Dennis and his wife, Donna had a party for Jarrod in their back yard. Their friends and family came. Of my family, only 2 people were absent. We had several cousins and nephew and nieces come. There was a lot of catching up with relatives and playful high jinks in their back yard. When our family gets together, we always have fun and tease one another.

Monday was Memorial Day. Ann and Alan(our Nephew) Had everyone over for an afternoon of swimming and water balloon fights. The water balloon fights were suppose to be for the kids but the big kids(adults) got more fun out of it than the little kids. We had 3 containers of water with the balloons in it. Halfway into the fights, Brian jumps in the container of balloons to pop them all and his brothers take off armed with water balloons launching them at him. By the time they threw the last balloon Alan's yard looked like a rainbow of color on the grass. pooped balloons were everywhere. A good time was had by all.

Tuesday was soup kitchen day. Ethan, my nephew, came with me to help out. He was a big help in making sandwiches and putting together sack lunches. While we were there, the lady that is in charge of handing out tickets for the sack lunches mentioned that she did not know where they were going to get buns for hot dogs the next day( Wednesday is hot dog day). God heard the request and a truck from Kroger appeared. It was loaded with bread and hot dog buns. While serving the soup, bag lunch and drinks, we grabbed loaves and buns to be taken to the storage area. It was like loaves and fishes. Ask and ye shall receive.

Ethan and I went back to his house and had some lunch. Ann was taking her sons to the zoo and she was nice enough to ask me if I wanted to come. Rick was working, so I had no reason not to go. Besides that, I had not been to the zoo since our daughters were young teens. Boy, has it changed. They have a nice place for the polar bears and the seal show is worth watching. We saw all kinds of nocturnal animals. We also went down by the farm. It smelled like a farm. We saw goats and pigs and chickens, horses and ducks. By the time we left, we smelled like the farm.

Wednesday started out with Mike and Nancy borrowing some air conditioning. Nancy had wanted to see the work done on her house and they decided it was too hot to sit outside for a visit with us. We supplied them with ice water and visited a short time with them, as I had a doctors appointment to go to. After seeing the doctor, We went to wally world and did our usual grocery shopping. By the time we got back home, it was time for dinner.

Thursday was wash day. I got to Bev's house about 11 and put the garage door up so I could get in the house. Steven did not hear the garage door go up because he was in the shower he happened to go downstairs and see that the garage door was up so he closed it. I had to put it up again to bring the clothes in.I started the clothes and then visited with Steven for about an hour. Bev worked the night before, so I did not see her at all.

Friday was a kick back day and We did nothing but eat and cat nap. I thought I was ready for bed by 9 but my brain was not ready. I had rested all day so, consequently, I was up till 3 a.m. before I finally went to sleep.

My day started at 6:30. I had promised Richard I would meet him by 7:30 to rub shoulders for the family picnic at Nativity. We rubbed about 45 shoulders and boxed them up so that the spices can soak in. I went home and changed and picked up around the house. Vickie called and we agreed to meet at Wolfchase Mall so that I could find an outfit for church. We walked up and down the mall but found nothing. Vickie suggested going to Dress Barn. We found a skirt and blouse there. We went our separate ways for a bit.
Ann and Alan were having everyone over for another get together. Vickie, Rick and I had plans to go see Bill Engvall at the Gold Strike Casino that night. We planned to meet up with Vickie at Ann's and go on. We couldn't just run in and leave. Besides that, Mike and Nancy were there. It was good to see Nancy out and about.
We were able to get our tickets about 7pm. Since the show started at 8 we went downstairs to gamble. I put in 5 dollars in a quarter machine and about the fifth spin I won 500 dollars. I knew I had won but Vickie had to explain to me how much I had won. Ricks next comment was, cash out, CASH OUT. Rick took the ticket and kept the money for me.
The show started at 8 and was very good. His stories were funny and he did not feel the need to use vulgar language to get his point across. After the show, I badgered Rick till I got a little money to gamble. We spent about an hour and decided it was time to head for the barn.

Sunday was family picnic day at Nativity. We went to 7:30 mass and went to breakfast with the breakfast club. Afterwards, we came back to Nativity and changed into shorts. Rick helped chop the shoulders and I helped a little bit. Tommy and Karin helped set up too. Everything went smoothly and a good time was had by all. By 4, Bev and Richard were headed home for a well earned rest.

On that note I will bid you Adios. That catches us up till today. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Ta Ta for now.