Time With Family and RV Rallies in the Midwest

Hello again readers, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Monday, June 26^th, while we were in Remington, Indiana enjoying our last day at the Caboose Lake Campground. Tuesday, June 27^th, was yet another travel day. We were up and out by about 10:30, heading about 110 miles north and east to Bremen, Indiana, another small farming community in North-Central Indiana. We arrived at the Pla-Mor Campground just outside of town about 12:30 and quickly got settled in for our four day stay. They gave us one of the nicer spots that we have had in a while, a very large grass site with a concrete pad and patio and with nice views. The primary reason for our being here is that my niece, Raquel Disch, her son Malakai, and boyfriend Josh Reed, live in Warsaw, Indiana, a slightly larger town about a half hour southeast of Bremen. We would have liked to have been closer, but because of the looming Fourth of July holiday all of the parks closer to Warsaw had no vacancies.

After we got setup we relaxed for a bit and then around 5:30 we left and drove down to Warsaw to visit with Raquel and family and then go on into Fort Wayne, Indiana for a minor league baseball game. Raquel had contacted us yesterday and told us that the Fort Wayne Tin Caps, the San Diego Padres farm team, was having their annual Military Appreciation Night tonight and they were giving free tickets to veterans. They said that they, Raquel and Josh, were going and that Raquel's brother Rusty Disch and his wife would also be there. We wanted to take the opportunity to see Rusty as we had not seen him since my mother's funeral in 2009. Raquel and Rusty are kids of my brother Russ Disch who lives in Las Vegas. Rusty is a veteran of Army who was a combat medic in the Gulf and Raquel's boyfriend Josh is an active duty Army Staff Sergeant who is currently on recruiting duty in Warsaw. His “normal” duty was as a crew chief for an Apache attack helicopter.

We got to Raquel's place and found that three of Josh's four kids from previous marriages were also staying with them while Josh was on ten days leave. We visited for a while then we all drove into Fort Wayne, which was another 45 miles southeast. We went in our car because we figured that we would probably leave before the end of the game because we had over 60 miles to drive back to the RV park. We arrived at the nice, new stadium for the Tin Caps, picked up our free tickets and got into our seats just as the game was starting. Rusty and his wife Nichole, as well as Rusty's son Brayden from a previous marriage, met us just before we went in. We had a great time watching the game and talking a little bit, but with the game, the crowd and all the kids, it was fun but not much of a visit. Fortunately, we still have three days here to catch up. We did get one geocache that was hidden inside of the ballpark. They were able to hide it inside because the ballpark is an official city park and is open to the public whenever there is no game or other paid event going on there. We left during the seventh inning stretch, which was about a quarter to ten. It was just getting completely dark so we decided we should leave. When we left the score was eight to four with the Tin Caps losing to the Chicago Cubs farm team from South Bend, Indiana, but we later found out that the local team rallied and won twelve to nine. We didn't encounter too much traffic going home and got back to the coach about 11:30 and went to bed.

Wednesday, June 28^th, we left the coach about 1:30 or so and drove back to Warsaw to spent the afternoon and evening with the family. After we got there we went to Walmart and picked up stuff for a BBQ and then later in the afternoon put everything on the grill. Rusty and Nichole drove up for the gathering too, so we had everyone together again, in an environment that was much more conducive to visiting than it was at the game last night. We had a lot of food, talked a lot and had a great time. We finally left about 7:30 and drove back to the park where we relaxed until bedtime.

Thursday, June 29^th, we drove into Bremen after lunch to pick up a few things at the grocery store for dinner tonight and while we were there we did a couple of geocaches in town. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the coach, doing a few chores and relaxing. About 6:00 Raquel, Josh and all the kids came over to visit and have a Mexican feast. I had made a bunch of taco meat and we also had some carne beef and chicken, along with the usual rice, beans, salsa, chips and guacamole. Josh and the kids took advantage of the huge grass area around our coach to play some ball. About 7:30 we had dinner and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. It was a great visit with family again. About 8:30 they packed up and headed back to Warsaw, just in time as it seems since just after they left a few mild storms blew through and got everything wet. We watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, June 30^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove back to Warsaw so Jackie could get a haircut and pedicure and we could do a Walmart run. We also thought we could visit the Warsaw Elks Lodge. By 3:30 or so we were done with all our chores and we drove over to Raquel's place to say goodbye since we are leaving the area tomorrow. We didn't stay long, maybe 15 minutes, but when we walked out the door it was pouring down rain. We decided to not try to go to the Elks in Warsaw, but instead headed for home, worried that it was raining as hard in Bremen and concerned about possible leaks in the coach. As it turned out, it had just barely sprinkled in Bremen and coach was fine. We put away the groceries and then decided to visit the Elks Lodge in Plymouth, another small town about 19 miles southwest of Bremen.

The Plymouth lodge was located in a country club area and was right adjacent to a very nice golf course, although the lodge didn't have anything to do with the golf course. It is a small lodge, less than a hundred members, but on Friday they do a full menu dinner and the restaurant and bar is open to the public. It turns out to be a very poplar place for the locals and the within an hour or our getting there the lodge had at least a sixty customers or more. The members we were sitting with at the bar were very friendly and we met the lodge secretary and one of the chair officers. They didn't have any lodge pins, but the secretary said they were on order and that she would send us one when they came in. We gave her a card. We decided to stay for dinner and both of us had fish. I had the all you can eat and Jackie had the fish basket. It came with a salad and the fish was outstanding, some of the best I have had. We left about 7:30 or so, went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Saturday, July 1^st, half way through the year already! Today was another travel day and we were packed up and on the road by 9:30. Today we were going about 132 miles southeast to Celina, Ohio, just across the border from Indiana, to attend the Monaco International Chapter rally at the fairgrounds. We made a fuel stop on the way and had an uneventful trip, arriving at the fairgrounds just before 1:00. The parking crew quickly took us to our parking spot, which is on grass, as are all the spots at this venue. This could be troublesome if the rains continue, but we are going to be here at this rally for eleven days, so we have plenty of time to figure things out. It is unusual to be at a rally that long, but it is because we took advantage of four inexpensive days of early parking. The rally organizers set that up so that people wouldn't have to travel over the holiday weekend. The actual rally doesn't start until Wednesday, the fifth. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting set up for our stay and then relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

Sunday, July 2nd, I went out and got a Sunday paper and we enjoyed the morning with the paper and coffee. After lunch we went out to do some exploring and geocaching. Celina is located on the western shore of Grand Lake St. Mary, the largest inland lake in Ohio. Grand Lake St. Mary is a roughly rectangular, man-made lake about 8 miles long by 3 miles wide, covering some 13,500 acres. Grand Lake St. Marys was constructed in the early 1899's as a reservoir for the Miami and Erie Canal, which connected the Ohio River with Lake Erie. At one time the lake was the world's largest man-made lake and was dug totally by manual labor. For this reason it's average depth is only 5 to 7 feet. The canal system thrived for about thirty years in the mid-to-late 19th century before it was replaced by the railroads. In the 1890s oil was discovered in the area, and oil derricks were set up in the lake sometime around 1891. This made Grand Lake the location for the first off shore oil drilling to take place. The lake is now a thriving recreation area.

We did some geocaching, getting four new finds and one DNF, as well as exploring the area. We drove the nine miles east to the town of St. Mary's, which sets on the eastern shore of the lake and explored that town as well. After we got back to Celina we stopped at Walmart for a few things, then went back to the coach for the rest of the day. We sat outside in the shade for a while and enjoyed the nice day, then ordered some pizza from a local place. We hung around the coach the rest of the evening.

Monday, July 3^rd, we went out after lunch and drove to the local community hospital so Jackie could go into the ER and see about her knee pain. She thought just maybe she could get another cortisone shot. The last one she got was in April back in California and her knee pain has been acting up again the last couple weeks. The hospital was in a neighboring town, Coldwater, Ohio, and was a very nice facility. There was no wait and she got right in. They examined her, gave her an ultrasound of her lower leg to rule out a blood clot, but would not give her a cortisone shot because she has had three already this year. They gave her another prescription for an anti-inflammatory and recommended ice and elevation. We went to Walmart and filled her prescription, after getting one geocache for the day in Coldwater. After the Walmart run we went back to the coach and relaxed. At happy hour we went out and visited with a large Monaco Chapter from the Southeast Area that is here at the Monaco International rally. They are the Monaco Travelers and they seem like a really fun group. We are going to join, just so we can party with them during this rally. We visited with them for a while, then walked around the campground and visited with other friends before going back to the coach and watching TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, July 4^th, Happy Independence Day! Since the rally here actually starts tomorrow, and we go straight from this rally to the FMCA rally in Indianapolis, we decided to do our laundry today. We figured that the laundromat wouldn't be busy today and we were right, there was only one other couple there when we went after lunch. By 3:00 we were finished with our laundry and back at the coach putting stuff away. At about 4:30 we went for happy hour with the Monaco Travelers after giving them a check and joining the chapter. We had a nice visit and about 6:00 they brought in pizza for the group for dinner. Everything was finished about 7:00 and we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, July 5^th, the first actual day of the rally. At 9:00 we went down to the events area and visited the vendors, which didn't take long as there are only a half dozen or so at this small rally. I also signed up to get the waste tanks emptied on Sunday, the last day of the rally, as we are going right to the FMCA rally in Indianapolis on Monday, and we have no hookups there either. We took care of a few other admin items and I picked up a couple of Monaco shirts from the manufacturer's booth. We went back to the coach and had lunch and then Jackie went to a seminar at 1:00 on women in RVing. At 2:00 we both went to a seminar on slide floor rotting. It seems that Monaco, because of the way they constructed there slide-outs, is prone to having the plastic laminate on the outside of the slide floor come loose and allow water in to rot the plywood floor. It was a little scary and I signed up to have the guy come out and inspect our coach to see if we had problems brewing. At 5:00 there was a BBQ outside sponsored by Paul Everett, the RV sales company that comes to all the Monaco and FMCA rallies. They had hamburgers, hot dogs, beans and slaw and the food was really quite good. We sat and ate and talked with some friends and had a good time. About 6:30 everything was done and we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Thursday, July 6^th, we went down to the dining hall a little after 8:00 for breakfast. The rally fees for Monaco rallies includes breakfast for the four days of the actual rally and we decided that we were going to start to take advantage. After breakfast we went to a meeting of the volunteer mentors, something that we have done at most Monaco rallies. At Monaco rallies if you are a first time attendee they assign you a mentoring couple that meets with you the first day of the rally and kind of shows you the ropes. We had some very nice people mentor us in 2006 at our first rally and we have been doing it since. We had two couples, one from Georgia who were new to RVing and another couple who have been members of FMCA for a while but are just new to Monaco. After the first timer's meeting we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. At 12:30 Jackie went to the Ladies Luncheon and at 2:00 I went to the Monaco International Board of Directors meeting. As a Regional Director for MI, I am part of the board. We were both done with everything by 3:00 and went back to the coach for a bit. About 5:00 we went back to the dining hall for the social hour, dinner and evening entertainment.

The first evening they set up the tables so you sit with the couples you are mentoring, so we had our two couples with us at our table. We had a good time getting to know them during the social hour and dinner. As usual there was an open bar and salad bar first. About 6:00 they had announcements and then dinner. The dinner was good, beef and chicken, potatoes and peas. About 7:00 the entertainment started and it was a trio of a father and his daughter and son. They were outstanding musicians and singers and put on a great show of 50's and 60's music and country music. The dad was one of the best guitar players I have ever heard. At many shows at these rallies people start to leave as soon as the show starts. Tonight I don't think anybody left early. They finished the show around 9:00 and the room was still packed. Lots of dancers and everyone had a great time. We went back to the coach, watched an hour of TV and went to bed.

Friday, July 7^th, we again went to breakfast about 8:30 and then back to the coach for a little while. About 10:00 we went to a briefing by some of the executives of REV Group, the company that now owns Monaco Coach. REV also owns Fleetwood Coaches, American Coach, and several other smaller motorhome companies. They bought Monaco and Holiday Rambler from Navistar several years ago, about three years after Navistar had acquired the Monaco brands from bankruptcy. The execs talked about their future plans for the Monaco brand, which is to make it their premier luxury brand. There will be no more lower level Monaco Knight's like ours or even the Diplomat's and Camelot's that most of our friends own. Monaco will only offer three very high end luxury models. The Holiday Rambler line will provide the slightly less high end diesel pushers. Of course, they are really not Monacos any more because they don't have the proprietary Roadmaster chassis and are built completely different. Monaco's as we know them are no more and never will be.

After the REV briefing we went to the Monaco's in Motion luncheon and meeting. This is another chapter of FMCA that is kind of a sub-chapter of Monaco International. They do member generated and operated caravans. We have not been on one yet, we haven't found one we wanted to do that was also convenient to our schedule. We are considering doing one ourselves next year, but only thinking about it right now. After the luncheon Jackie went back to the coach and I went to a seminar on route planning with Google maps. We relaxed in the coach until 5:00 when we went down to the dining hall for happy hour and then dinner. Dinner was pretty good again, chicken or pork with the trimmings. The entertainment tonight was a local classic rock and roll band out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were no where near as good as the group last night and we left after about a half hour. They had no personality and the songs all sounded the same. After we got back to the coach our friends Geoff and Johana came over and we sat and had cocktails and talked for an hour or so. They are vendors, with Geoff doing satellite TV stuff and Johanna selling LED lights and crystal nail files. After they left we watched some TV and then went to bed.

Saturday, July 8^th, we had breakfast about 8:30 and then went back to the coach to relax. At 11:00 I went to a class on inverters, which turned out to be a waste of time since the guy didn't present anything I didn't already know. Jackie went to a 1:00 session on the FMCA Governing Board Meeting to be held at the FMCA rally in Indianapolis. Jackie is the National Director for the 3-Ts Chapter and will be at the Governing Board Meeting. This should be an interesting one since they are considering opening up FMCA to all RVs, including trailers and fifth wheels. At 2:00 we went to the business meeting for Monaco International and then I went to a meeting for the Monaco International Regional Directors. Jackie stayed in the dining hall for the caravan meeting. Generally Monaco International organizes a caravan for members going to the FMCA rally which almost always follows the MI rally. We have been on caravans in the past and found them interesting. At 5:00 we went down for happy hour and then dinner. Tonight was prime rib and fixings and it was very good. There was no entertainment per se tonight, but they did have a lady from the Mercer County Visitor's Bureau who gave a very interesting talk on Grand Lake St. Mary's, much of the information is what I put in this blog when we first got here last Saturday. After the talk we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, July 9^th, the last day of the Monaco rally. The only “rally” activities today were a brunch at 11:00, which we went to and enjoyed. At 1:00 there was a car show on the fairgrounds, along with an outside craft beer vendor and a BBQ trailer. These events were open to the public and arranged through the Mercer County Fairgrounds staff. Volunteers from Monaco International were manning the beer trailer and the Chapter got to keep any proceeds. After the brunch we decided that we were going to try and move the coach to a different spot. When we were parked last Saturday the fairgrounds had experienced a couple of days of pretty heavy rain and the ground was quite soft. We had only had a few light showers since we got here, and nothing in the last three days, but there was possible heavy rain forecast for tonight. We were unsure if we could get out today because of the soft ground, but we knew for sure we wouldn't tomorrow if we got a lot of rain tonight. We packed everything up, started the coach, and the back wheels just spun. I didn't try very long because I didn't want to bury the coach down to the frame.

I called Coachnet, which is the towing and roadside service program we have for the motorhome. It has the best reputation of all the service companies for large rigs. We have had it since 2007 and never used it, so I called them. The service guy told me that they covered winching service, which is what the call it when you are stuck, but only two hours and only if we are within 100 feet of a paved road. I knew it would only take ten minutes and we were ten feet from the road, so I told them to send a truck. We got a call that the truck would be there within two hours, so we went down to the car show and did our hour of volunteer work on the beer truck. Within 90 minutes a huge triple axle tow truck arrived and I showed them where the coach was. They hooked chain under the front, I started the coach, put it in gear and he pulled me smoothly out onto the pavement. Yea! No damage to the coach and deep ruts in the grass. This was the same tow truck that had been out here off and on for the last three days pulling people out of the mud, all of the parking here is on grass. After we got free I went to the dump station and dumped the tanks, then we found a nice spot at the fairgrounds on pavement with water and power and pulled in there for the night. It was actually where they had put the show coaches for the rally, but the dealer had already taken them away, so the place was empty. We just stayed in and watched TV the rest of the night.

Sunday, July 10^th, travel day. We were up at 5:30 a.m. to get the coach ready for the caravan at 7:00. Right at 7:00 we were put in line by the parking crew, hooked up the car, and just waited for the caravan to depart. About 8:00 the caravan of 22 coaches pulled out and started the 114 mile trip to Indianapolis and the FMCA rally. Unfortunately, we were the third to last coach in the line, and the first half of the route was on state highways, there were a number of stop lights, stop signs and turns at uncontrolled intersections that ended up leaving us way behind the caravan. After 40 miles they had raced off and we were on our own. I missed one turn and had to take a detour, which ended up putting us at an intersection right after a bad accident had happened. We sat for a half hour while they took care of the injured and cleared the scene. We had a good trip the rest of the way on our own, although the directions for entering the fairgrounds in Indianapolis were bad and we had another little detour before we ended up on the fairgrounds. The parking crew quickly parked us, on pavement! Yea! The power was turned on already, so we spent several hours getting set up. We took a little drive in the afternoon around the fairgrounds, getting familiar with where the various activities will be held. Most of it was familiar as we were here for the FMCA rally five years ago in 2012. We had cocktails on our own, and cooked dinner on our own, for the first time in a week. We then relaxed and watched TV until bedtime. We will be here at the FMCA rally for six nights, leaving next Sunday.

Tuesday, July 11^th, turned out to be a stay at home day for the most part. I had just finished my morning walk when the rain started and we had thunderstorms rolling through the area for most of the rest of the day. There were a couple of times when we had ten or fifteen minutes without rain, but we got a lot of rain, thunder and lightening. Fortunately, around 5:00 it started to clear up, just in time for us to walk over to the activities area for the Volunteer dinner. Every FMCA rally relies on volunteers for a most of the work, security, parking, trams, seminars and most everything else. There are only a couple dozen paid employees of FMCA, everything else is volunteers. At all the big conventions they have a dinner, which is served by the Executive board of FMCA and their significant others, for all the volunteers. In addition to the craft seminars we are doing, we volunteer for the Ice Cream Social, so we got our ribbons and went to the dinner. It was quite good this year, fried chicken and fixings, and we had a great time sitting with a number of friends and acquaintances. By 7:30 we were back home, the rain now down to occasional sprinkles, and we watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, July 12^th, we were up early, about 5:00 a.m., because we had a full day. Jackie had to go to her Governing Board Meeting, which was pretty much an all day thing, and I had to be in the Information Center by 7:00 to do sign ups for our craft classes. We set up our station at the craft sign ups area and Jackie went off to her meeting. I spent all of the rest of the day sitting or standing behind the counter trying to get people to sign up to make a lanyard out of pop tabs. In March at the FMCA rally in Chandler Jackie and Peggy sold out two classes with more than 20 in each, and another 10 or so at the Escapees rally in Tucson. Today was very disappointing, as very few people were interested. I was only able to get seven people to sign up with maybe one or two more indicating they might just come to the class without early sign up. Jackie was done with her meeting about 3:30 and came over and stayed with me until almost 5:00, when the Information Center closed.

After we left the Information Center we walked over to another building for a business meeting of the Military Veteran's Chapter of FMCA. I joined this chapter as a charter member when it formed about six years ago. At this meeting I found myself being elected as Vice President. Other than my work with Monaco International as a Regional Director I have not had a Chapter officer's position for about three years, but now I am back in the saddle again. This is a large chapter, with over 300 members and growing, so it will keep me busy. As the meeting broke up about 6:20 it had started to rain lightly again, but we made it home pretty dry. Since it was late we decided to go out and get something to eat rather than cook. We don't know the Indianapolis area at all and found that all of the nice places to eat seemed to be in a yuppy area north of the fairgrounds called the Broad Ripple neighborhood. There were dozens of restaurants, but very narrow streets, almost no parking and very heavy traffic. After striking out finding anywhere to park near several restaurants we tried for, we just went back to the area around the fairgrounds, which was mostly fast food type places. We found a burrito and taco place that had good Yelp reviews and went there. It was a taqueria, but the food was pretty good. Certainly not up to Southwestern Mexican cooking standards, but edible at least. We had a light dinner and then went back to the coach where we relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Thursday, July 13^th, we went over to the activities area after lunch in the coach. At 1:00 we had a meeting regarding the ice cream social on Friday. The Full Timer's Chapter has traditionally provided the volunteers for handing out ice cream at the FMCA conventions. For some reason this year FMCA decided to give that responsibility to a chapter from the local Midwest Area. In addition, they decided that this year instead of ice cream bars or sandwiches, they are going to provide scooped bowls of ice cream with toppings. Instead of 30 people being able to serve 4,000 in fifteen minutes they were going to have 100 people serving 3,000 in an hour. After the ice cream meeting Jackie and I went into our seminar space to put on the Pop Top Lanyards class for the four people who signed up. The class went well and only one person had a bit of trouble with the craft. We were done at 4:30 and got in the car, left the fairgrounds and drove north a few miles to do a Walmart run. On the way we stopped and picked up three geocaches. While we were in Walmart it started to rain and it turned into a real gully washer. When you looked out the doors in the front of the store you couldn't see the parking lot. Fortunately, by the time we checked out it had let up significantly and we were able to load the car without getting too wet. We stopped at a nice Mexican Restaurant called Cancun on the way back to the fairgrounds for a good meal. I had a shredded beef chimi which was very good and Jackie had fish tacos, which she said tasted good, but the fish was a little dry. By the time we got back to the fairgrounds the skies had mostly cleared up again. It also didn't look like it rained near as hard at the fairgrounds as it did a few miles north. We watched TV for a while and went to bed.

Friday, July 14^th, we were up and out of the coach by 9:00 so we could go back over to the activities area to teach the second craft class. This one only had three people signed up, however one of the ones from yesterday came back and finished her lanyard that she didn't get done yesterday. Again the class went well. While Jackie was teaching I took the car over to the Roadmaster Towing service trailer to get our auxiliary braking system repaired. We have been having some problems recently with our 12 year old unit. After the craft class we had a light lunch at one of the vendors and at 1:00 we lined up at the ice cream social to scoop ice cream. It was a lot more work than handing out ice cream bars. The first big five gallon bucket I had was so hard I couldn't get the ice cream out. They finally traded it out for a softer one and it went a lot easier. We got everyone served in about an hour and then had our own serving of ice cream.

After the ice cream we walked over to the vendor area for the first time since we have been here. The vendor area gets smaller with every rally. We only had an hour or so to shop, so we did a quick walk through just to see what was here. After shopping we took a tram over to another seminar building for the Full Timer's Chapter seminar on full timing. I was again a member of the panel that talked about full timing. The seminar was well attended and went well. When the presentations were over and we went to the Q&A part I left and caught a ride over to pick up the car before the place closed for the night. I then came back just in time for the Full Timer's Chapter business meeting. That meeting ended about 6:00, we went back to the coach and had a cocktail outside, then at about 7:00 went over to the coliseum building for the evening entertainment. Tonight was a singing duo of two women who did mostly country songs and light entertainment. They sang some songs, told a few jokes and were OK. They were not fabulous, more Holiday Inn lounge type entertainment, but we did stay until the end. We then went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Saturday, July 15^th, we left the coach about 9:15 and walked over to the coliseum to go to the FMCA membership meeting. The main reason for the meeting is that this is when the newly elected officers for the FMCA Executive Board get sworn in. They have a big ceremony where each officer is introduced, then gets his credentials from the previous office holder and gives the departing office holder his “Past whatever” credentials. Once all of that is done the entire board is sworn in. Most people show up for the drawing of ten $250 prizes, including us, but we didn't win anything. Boo hoo.

After the meeting we walked over to the vendors and had our first chance to slowly walk through the vendors and buy things. We bought a few small items, signed up for some drawings, and spent about ninety minutes doing the vendors. We then went back to the coach and drove off site to have a late lunch at a very nice, upscale Chinese restaurant. The menu was huge, one of the largest I have seen and had all kinds of exotic dishes. Jackie had lamb with onion and I had orange chicken. Everything was ala carte, so we both ordered a small soup and got a HUGE bowl of soup. The only thing that was a little disappointing is that they only had small spring rolls that were kind of tasteless, no nice pork egg rolls. We had as much in leftovers as we actually ate. After lunch we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 6:30 we walked back over to the coliseum for the evening entertainment. This was billed as “Circus Palozza” and we thought it would be a take off of Circ de Sole. It was really more old style circus acts meets vaudeville. There were a couple of acts with pretty girls doing aerial acts, some comedy and a hand balancer. The production was a little rough around the edges, but for local talent it wasn't too bad and we were entertained or ninety minutes. After the show we walked back to the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Sunday, July 16^th, travel day. Coaches started pulling out of the fairgrounds about 6:00 a.m. and by the time we were packed up and ready to travel at 10:00 we were the only one's left in our row. We left the fairgrounds, wandered around the Indianapolis streets for a while trying to find a route to the freeway, then found it and headed east on I-70 75 miles to the little town of Richmond, Indiana. We are here for the last rally of this series, a three day rally where four chapters, the Military Veterans, Full Timers, Elks, and 3Ts, all combined for one after rally. Most of the 25 rigs here belong to more than one of the chapters, we belong to all four and either hold, or have held, office in three of them. Richmond is small city of less than 40,00 in East Central Indiana, right on the border with Ohio. It was founded in the early 1800's by Quakers from North Carolina. Through history it has mainly been a farming community and later a railroad town.

We are camped in a place called Grandpa's Farm Campground and it is pretty primitive. Our spot is very pretty, and along a nice creek, but we have 30 amp and water only and couldn't get the roof satellite to work because of trees. The electric is pretty poor too. I was cranky for a while, but I got our power booster out and hooked up which I think took care of the electric, I got the outside sat dish set up and working, and we had been able to dump the tanks before we parked, so I think we are settled in for a four night stay. At 4:00 the group got together for happy hour and everyone introduced themselves. About half of the attendees are people we already know and everyone seems pretty nice. At 5:00 they served dinner, pulled pork, beans, potato salad and a few other things. It was all included with our rally fee and the food was quite good. After dinner the 3Ts Chapter had a business meeting and then we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime. About 11:00 a series of thunderstorms moved through the area and we had two hours of endless weather radio alarms, rain, a little small hail, and some winds. No problems with leaks and after the weather cleared out we had a good night.

Monday, July 17th, we woke up to clear skies. The creek which runs behind the RV park, right next to our site, was up about two feet because of the runoff from last night's rains. However, it was no where near flooding, so we just enjoyed the sound of the running water. After lunch we packed up our clothes and headed into Richmond to do laundry. There seems to be only one laundromat in Richmond and it was a little trashy, but everything worked and we got our clothes done. After the laundry we did two virtual geocaches in town. One of them was very interesting as it took us to a monument downtown that commemorates a tragedy that befell the town. On Saturday, April 6, 1968, in downtown Richmond, there was a double explosion which occurred at 1:47 PM. The explosions killed 41 people and injured more than 150. The primary explosion was due to natural gas leaking from one or more faulty transmission lines under the Marting Arms sporting goods store, located on the southeast corner of the intersection of 6th and Main (US 40) streets. A secondary explosion was caused by gunpowder stored inside the gun shop. Gas had been smelled leaking in the area for days before the explosion, and local stores would open doors to allow the fumes to ventilate out and leave buildings.

After getting the two caches we went back to the coach and put everything away. At 4:00 we were back on the patio with the group for happy hour. Around 5:00 everyone left the park and headed to the Richmond Elks Lodge for dinner. The lodge, which is south of town, is quite large and has a huge swimming pool and golf course, all owned and operated by the Elks. We had another cocktail then the Elks provided a great dinner of spaghetti and lasagna with salad and bread. This was all part of the rally fee we paid, so we only had to buy the drinks. Unfortunately, the lodge did not have any lodge pins, so they are not going to be on our banner. We had ridden to the Elks with our friends Don and Norma Preston, so we sat with them as well as the Area Vice Presidents for the Rocky Mountain area of FMCA, Jack Mayberry and his wife Connie, and the Midwest Area, Gary Milner and his wife Glenda. About 7:30 we went back to the campground, visited with Don and Norma at their coach for a while, then went back to our coach and relaxed until bedtime.

Tuesday, July 18^th, we left the coach about 11:30 and drove into Richmond to have lunch at a local place called Little Sheba's that was mentioned in a lot of the Chamber of Commerce literature about the town. It is located in one of the historic districts, the Depot District, where the railroad passes through town. They have an extensive lunch menu, but no breakfast. Jackie had a burger, supposedly their best seller, which she said was good, but nothing special. I had an Italian sub that was also good, but ordinary otherwise. After lunch we got on I-70 and headed east towards Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is the town where the Wright Brothers lived and worked while developing the powered flying machine. It is also the location of Wright-Patterson Air Force base, home to the Museum of the Air Force. John Lee, the wagonmaster for this rally is the immediate past president of the Military Veteran's Chapter of FMCA and suggested the Museum as a place for people at the rally to go visit. He also arranged for us to have dinner at the Dayton Elks Lodge tonight. I didn't have a lot of interest in the Air Force Museum, nor did Jackie, so we just went over to spend the day exploring, caching and then being there for dinner at the Elks.

Dayton was less than an hour's drive and our first stop was Costco. We wanted to get the gallon jugs of water, but they didn't carry them. We bought a few other things and then went out to do some exploring. We drove around downtown and went through a few neighborhoods looking at houses. We also did a few geocaches, getting three finds. We discovered that there was another Elks Lodge in Xenia, Ohio, a neighboring city, that opened at 3:00, so we drove over there for a cocktail. It was a very nice lodge, with friendly people. They didn't have any lodge pins, but the bartender said they were on order and took our information, telling us she would mail us one. We then drove back to Dayton, to the Dayton, Elks, Lodge 58. They have a very nice building and were very welcoming to the 40 or so people in our party, many of whom were not Elks. Tonight was pizza night and John Lee had arranged for our party to get pizza and one free drink. After dinner the lodge put on “horse racing”, a floor game with wooden horses which are moved according to dice throws. There is wagering and a lot of yelling. We only stayed for three races out of the seven scheduled because we wanted to get back to the RV park before it got too dark. We were back home by 8:30 and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Wednesday, July 19^th, we left the coach just before 8:00 a.m. and went to a nearby Bob Evans restaurant for the final rally “event” of this series of rallies. This was the farewell breakfast for the four chapter rally. Nearly everyone showed up for breakfast and we had a very nice meal, chatting with friends and checking to see when the next time we would see various people. About 9:30 we were back at the coach and, although we were staying at this park for one more night, the rally was over. About 1:00 we left the coach and went into Richmond to do some exploring and geocaching. We got ten new finds, and two DNFs for the afternoon. After we were done driving around we stopped at Meijer's, which is kind of a Midwest version of a Fred Meyers or a Walmart Supercenter, groceries as well as clothes, sporting goods, household and other shopping. We then went back to the coach and sat outside for an hour or so with three other couples for cocktail hour. After happy hour we went in the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, July 20th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 11:00, traveling 70 miles east on I-70 to Charlotte, Ohio, a suburb of Springfield, Ohio. We arrived at the Tomorrow's Stars RV Resort about 1:00 and quickly got assigned to our spot, a full hookup, 50 amp spot. We have full hookups for the first time in three weeks, yea! After we got set up we just stayed in and relaxed for the rest of the day. We are going to be here for three days before moving on, and we are on our own for the first time since the first of the month.

Since the rallies are done for now this is a good point to close this chapter our and get it published. Until the next time remember that life is easier if you work to be decisive. Make a decision, right or wrong. The highways of life are full of flat
squirrels who couldn’t make up their minds. See ya soon.

Continuing Along Old Route 66

Welcome back readers. Our last chapter ended on Sunday, June 4^th, when we moved from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to a resort on the Grand Lake of the Cherokee's in the far northeastern corner of Oklahoma. The resort is right on the lake, not too far from the town of Grove, Oklahoma. We came here in and out of rain for the entire trip. No serious thunderstorms, just a lot of on and off rain. When we arrived the steps on the coach wouldn't go out, so it was a chore to get in and out of the coach. I am sure it was a result of them getting wet, so when it dries out, hopefully tomorrow, I can try to get them working again. We got set up and then just stayed in the rest of the day.

Monday, June 5^th, we left the coach after lunch to go out and just explore the area a bit. The weather for today is still unsettled, partly cloudy, chance of rain kind of thing. I was able to coax the steps out, so we can now get in and out without breaking our neck. We first drove south a ways, across the north end of the lake, into the town of Grove. The town has less than 7,000 population, but is the only incorporated city in Delaware County. We located a nice laundry so we could wash clothes tomorrow, we found the Elks Lodge, which appears, at least based on their marquee, is only open on Fridays, and we found the ever-present Walmart Supercenter, good for future reference. We then drove around the north and south sides of the lake exploring. We even drove the 15 miles or so east to the Missouri state line. We went through a dried up little town called Afton, which is on a portion of old original Highway 66, and found a 40's era service station and garage which used to be a Packard car dealership. They still had the signs as well as a number of old, restored and unrestored, Packard cars. The service station is now a gift shop for Route 66 trinkets. There was a geocache here that we got, as well as a couple of others as we came across them through the afternoon. About 4:00 we went back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, June 6^th, the anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy in World War Two. We left the coach about noon and went into Grove for lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Las Palmeras, which had high ratings on Yelp. It was a funky little place and when we went in there were several Hispanic people eating, so we had high hopes. Turned out to be not so much. The food was OK, but very bland with no spice. Even the salsa was bland and tomato-y tasting. It was filling and fairly inexpensive and the service was great. I guess that is what you should expect getting Mexican food in Oklahoma. After lunch we went to the laundry and did our wash. After the laundry was done we headed home, getting three geocaches during the trip. We put everything away and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, June 7^th, we left the coach about noon and drove about 24 miles north to the town of Miami, Oklahoma. Spelled the same, but locally it is pronounced My-Am-Uh and was taken from one of the local Indian Tribes in the area in the late 1800's when the town was created. The primary reason for going there was to visit the Newell Coach Corporation facility. Although the full story can be found on the Newell Web site, a brief history is that Newell

was founded in 1967 by LK Newell, an Oklahoma native, when he purchased a new luxury motorhome in California and found the design not to his liking. He thought he could do better, so he founded the Newell Coach company to build high end, luxury bus-style motor coaches. The factory has always been in Miami, as have the company headquarters, and today they build between 40 and 50 coaches per year. We are familiar with Newell's, having seen them at RV shows and more than a few at the Motorcoach Country Club in Indio, California, where our good friend Barry Cohen lives. When we learned the factory was so close we knew we had to try and visit. A phone call brought an invitation to come up today and look around. Even though we were pretty clear that we would have to win the lottery to become a customer, they were still very gracious and assigned one of the sales reps, Brian, to show us the factory. We got a full tour of the plant as well as a chance to go through one of the newest coaches.

They are the only manufacturer left who builds the coach from the ground up, chassis and body. Most of their coaches are 45 foot, but, since most are also custom ordered, Brian told us they can make any length, any number of slides, and do whatever the customer wants so long as they can afford it. Coaches start at just under $2 million and go up from there. Brian told us that they are a favorite for the NASCAR race teams as well as a few entertainers. A look at their owner pin map in the lounge showed a high percentage of owners in Southern California and Florida. It was a great tour and we thank Brian for his time.

After the tour we did some geocaching, getting six finds in an hour or so. We then went to the Miami Elks Lodge for a cocktail and visit. They were a very nice, friendly lodge that has been around since the 1930's. We had a couple of drinks and got another new lodge pin for our banner, then headed back to the coach. We got home around 5:30 and stayed in the rest of the night.

Thursday, June 8^th, my brother Dennis's birthday. Happy Birthday Dennis! We left the coach after lunch and went out to do some more geocaching in the area, which we have learned is referred to as “NEO” for Northeast Oklahoma. Everywhere we looked, advertisements, billboards, and signs we saw NEO. It finally dawned on us what it meant. We had a great afternoon, getting 18 new finds before quitting and making a Walmart run. After Walmart we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Friday, June 9^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out for some more exploring and geocaching. Today we drove down to the south end of the lake to Pensacola Dam. The dam was built in 1938 and was the first hydroelectric dam in Oklahoma. The dam is nearly a mile long and is made up of a series of concrete arches. It is the longest multiple arch dam in the world. During our tour we also drove through a number of small towns and did some geocaching along the way, getting four new finds. When we finally made it back to Grove after circling the lake we stopped at the Elks lodge for cocktails and dinner. This is a small lodge, only a little over a hundred members, but they were very friendly. Dinner was great, we both had the strip steaks and we shared an order of chicken livers and gizzards. Like the one's we had in Oklahoma City, the livers were outstanding. The steaks were good, but the livers were the hit of the evening. After dinner we headed home and stayed in the rest of the evening.

Saturday, June 10^th, was a stay at home day. Did some cleaning and other chores, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed a quiet day at home. Sunday was a travel day. We were packed up and on the road by 10:30, going about 130 miles northeast to Strafford, Missouri, a small community just east of Springfield, Missouri. Strafford only has about 2,500 people, but Springfield is the third largest city in Missouri with about 170,000 people. We arrived at the Strafford RV park about 1:00 and got settled in for a three day stay. The RV park is basically a grass field, but it is only $25 a night for full hookup 50 amp service. It is also between the freeway and the railroad, but we have kind of gotten used to that after a dozen years on the road.

After we got setup and had a quick lunch we went out and did some exploring of Springfield. We found the current downtown, the older, Route 66 era downtown with a very neat town square, and then the turn of the century historic downtown. We also drove around some of the neighborhoods and had a good time exploring. We stopped at the Springfield Elks Lodge for a drink and found a very nice building and a very active lodge because they have a swimming pool. There were a lot of families enjoying the pool on Sunday. This is an older lodge, chartered in 1896, and they have over a thousand members. I have no doubt that the nice pool brings in younger members with families, making it easier to keep a big membership. After our cocktail we headed home where we stayed in the rest of the night.

Monday, June 12^th, we left the coach about 10:30 and drove south to Branson, Missouri, which is about 45 miles south of Springfield. Of course, Branson is well known as a tourist destination, originally for country and western music shows and artists, but now as a general family vacation place. We were last here in our first full year on the road, the spring of 2006. We came with a group of Elks and Monaco Rvers and spent a week here, going to shows and on tours. The place has only grown in the last eleven years and, although many of the places we remembered going to are still there, a whole lot more have sprung up. In addition, there are dozens more family activity places now. A dozen miniature golf courses, go cart tracks, a big new amusement park, and souvenir shops galore.

We stopped in the old downtown shopping area, near the river, and walked around for a couple of hours. We had breakfast in a nice cafe and spent a couple of hours looking through shops. In the midst of our shopping I noticed a flier announcing that this week, Sunday through Saturday, was Branson Police Appreciation week and there were all kinds of activities going on, as well as a lot of businesses giving discounts to police, both active and retired, and their families. Even the place we had breakfast gave us a discount. After our shopping we did some driving around Branson, just looking and touring and we stopped at the Radison Hotel, which had been on the flier as the headquarters for the Police Week. There was a booth in the lobby, manned by one of the organizers, a retired Missouri State Trooper, and we chatted for a while. He gave me one of the event's goodie bags which had some nice stuff, a couple hats, a nice pocket knife, and some other goodies. I also bought one of the event tee shirts. We spent about six or seven hours in Branson, also getting five geocaches, before leaving and heading back north.

On the way back towards home we stopped at the Lake Taneycomo Elks Lodge in Forsyth, Missouri, for a cocktail and lodge pin. Again we found a very friendly lodge, which is only about 12 miles from Branson and serves the Branson area. We had a couple of drinks, chatted with some of the officers, and then went home, getting back around 7:00 or so. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV after a very nice, fun day.

Tuesday, June 13^th, we went out after lunch to do some geocaches. We were able to get six new finds, and one DNF, in a couple hours. We also made a second stop at the Springfield Elks Lodge to pick up a lodge pin for our banner. When we were there on Sunday they did not have pins behind the bar, although they said they did have them. The told us to come back today and they would be sure to have some available. After caching we stopped at Walmart for some supplies, then headed back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the day.

Wednesday, June 14^th, another travel day. We were packed up and leaving Strafford about 10:00. Today's trip was about 120 miles to a little town along Interstate 44 called St. James, Missouri. Since I-44 in this area still follows along the old Route 66 trail, this was another Route 66 town. The town only has about 4,500 population and is just an old farming and railroad town. We checked into the Meremac Springs Country Store and RV park about 12:30 and got set up pretty quickly for our two night stay. After we had lunch and finished setting up we went out to explore. We were only out for an hour or so, both because the town was so small, but also because I was feeling out of sorts. I think I may have caught a cold from someone on Monday when we went to Branson. That's the chance you take when you go to popular places. We spent the rest of the evening in the coach.

Thursday, June 15^th, we left the coach after lunch to do some exploring and a little geocaching. Both Jackie and I seem to have mild colds, so we are not feeling a hundred percent, but we didn't want to just sit around the house and be miserable. Our first stop was at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum, located in St. James. There is a very large building which is actually the Tacony Corporation and is where they manufacture vacuum cleaners. They make the Simplicity brand, the Kenmore brand and a few others. In one corner of the factory there is a museum with

vacuum cleaners going back to the 1920's and all the way to the modern day. They even have a full time employee who gives a great, narrated guided tour of the museum with all kinds of trivia information about vacuum cleaners. We found out about this place when we Googled St. James and we had a great time. Among other things, we learned why vacuum cleaners have always had headlights. The very first electric vacuum's, from the 1920's didn't have plugs on the end of the cord. At that time most homes only had electric lighting, nothing else was electric, so there were no outlets like we have today. The first vacuum had a screw base just like a light bulb, so you went into the room, unscrewed the light and screwed in the vacuum. You needed the headlight because most rooms only had one light. Ta Da!

After the museum we drove about 15 miles northeast to the town of Cuba, which was, in fact, named after the island. The town is known for the murals that have been painted on the buildings around town. We did a few geocaches and also saw the world's largest rocking chair. It is 40 feet tall and made of steel. We ended up with three new finds, and one DNF for the afternoon. After our exploring we went back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the night.

Friday, June 16^th, my oldest daughter Tye's birthday. Today was a travel day and we were packed up and on the road at 10:30. We went a little over a hundred miles to East St. Louis, Illinois and the Casino Queen RV park. This park is on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, right across from the Gateway Arch. We have a great view of the arch and downtown St. Louis from where we are parked. Since we are both fighting colds, we got set up and then just rested and tried to get well. We will be here in St. Louis for three nights. Saturday we left the coach after lunch and went out to do some exploring and geocaching. We spent about an hour driving around the central part of St. Louis. We have been to St. Louis twice before, once in 2006 and then again in 2008. When we were here in 2008 we had just started geocaching a couple months earlier and we didn't do any during the three days we were in St. Louis. We did our first in the city, a virtual at the Gateway Arch, then continued for about an hour, getting four new finds, along with three DNFs. It seems they like to hide caches in parks in this city, and they always end up in trees or bushes. It was a little too hot and humid to be spending a lot of time crawling around in shrubbery, especially since we still were not feeling completely well. After caching we went to Costco for some supplies, then headed back to the coach where we stayed in the rest of the night. The weather forecast calls for some pretty strong thunderstorms coming through the area late tonight, so we will see how that works out.

Sunday, June 18^th, we woke up a little damp, but to clearing skies. We did have a line of storms come into the area about midnight and for the next two hours the weather radio warnings were going off every fifteen minutes. We only had about ten minutes of very strong winds, and no hail at all. We got a few minutes of heavy rain, but for about three hours we had a steady, moderate amount of rain. I went out in the morning to try to find a paper, but East St. Louis is a real slum and after checking two places I decided to not bother any further. I notice that a small tree had blown over in the park last night. We decided to just have another stay at home day to try and get rid of our colds. We did a few chores and rested.

Monday, June 19^th, another travel day. We headed out of the Casino and headed north on Interstate 55 towards Springfield, Illinois, about 103 miles. We pulled into the RV park on the grounds of the Illinois State Fairgrounds about 12:30 and got settled into a site. They have about 300 sites with 50 amp and water and except for fairs or major events they always have room. Nothing fancy, just paved parking lots, but it is only $20 a night. We also got lucky in that when we got in the security guy told us to go ahead and park in one of the handicap sites, which also have sewer hookups, because they had plenty of room. After we got hooked up we went out to get some lunch. Jackie found a highly rated Mexican restaurant not too far away called Taqueria Moroleon. The first pass I drove right past it because it is in an old building that used to be a donut shop and still has a big donut sign on the roof. The food was good, but the menu was unusual in that it didn't have any of the normal combinations. Jackie ended up getting an enchilada plate and I had carne asada. It was not the tastes we are used to from the Southwest or New Mexico, but it wasn't too bad. My meat was a little overdone though. We keep trying to find good Mexican food in places you shouldn't be able to find it. After lunch we did a Walmart run, fueled up the car, and then went back to the coach and finished setting up. We were able to get one geocache that was in the parking lot of the RV park, only a couple hundred feet from our coach. Very convenient. After we got set up we relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday, June 20^th, the first day of summer! We went out after lunch to do some more geocaching and exploring. Since it was very hot and humid it was more of a car tour. We did get four new finds, and two DNFs in a couple hours. We also drove around the capitol campus and saw both the old state capital and the new one, at least new in 1868. We also drove around the city cemetery and saw Abraham Lincoln's tomb. About 3:00 we quit and went back to the coach where we relaxed the rest of the day. Wednesday was laundry day. We went out after lunch to a nearby laundromat and did our clothes. After we got home and put everything away we just relaxed the rest of the evening.

Thursday, June 22^nd, another travel day. We got out about 11:00 and started our 95 mile trip northeast to Champaign, Illinois. For the first time since we left Santa Maria, California in April we left the basic route of old Highway 66. It continued up to Chicago, it's starting point, and we were heading east. About half way through the trip up Interstate 72 we noticed traffic slowing and then a helicopter that looked like it was landing on the freeway. We were about a half mile when traffic came to a halt. The CB traffic confirmed that it was a serious wreck on the freeway and that a medical chopper was on the ground in our east bound lanes. After about a half hour the chopper lifted off and shortly after traffic began to move again. When we got to the scene we could see that it was a large, class A diesel pusher motor home that had gone off the road, down an embankment, the into a tree line. Ouch and scary! At this point we don't know how many injured or what exactly happened. We arrived at the D&W Lake Campground around 1:30 and quickly got settled in for a two night stay.

After we got set up we went out to do some touring since we have never been to this area before. Champaign got it's start in the mid 1800's as a railroad town. Today it, along with it's connected neighbor, Urbana, are mostly known as college towns. The University of Illinois has parts of it's campus in both cities and Champaign is home to Park College, a private university. Between the two cities they have about 100,000 population. We drove around downtown and the UofI campus for a while, and toured some neighborhoods, before heading back to the coach. We had a nice pot roast cooking in the crockpot which we had for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, June 23^rd, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching and more exploring. We were able to get twelve new finds, and no DNFs, in a couple of hours. We then decided to visit the Champaign-Urbana Elks Lodge. The lodge is actually located in a suburb called Savoy, south of Champaign. We had a couple of cocktails, and got a lodge pin, and had a nice conversation with one of the members, who happened to be a Past Exalted Ruler of the lodge. The Urbana Lodge was actually chartered in 1906. In the 1950's it ended up folding and in the late 50's the Champaign Lodge was chartered and also took in the Urbana members. Usually when two lodges merge they maintain the older lodge number, but the PER was unsure of the reason why they didn't in this case. After the lodge visit we stopped at Walmart for supplies, then headed back home for the rest of the night.

Saturday, June 24^th, another travel day. We were on the road by about 10:30, heading about a hundred miles further northeast to the little town of Remington, Indiana. We arrived at the Caboose Lake RV park around 2:00 local time, having lost another hour moving into Eastern Time. Most of Indiana is on Eastern Time, but several counties in the northwest corner are considered part of the Chicago metro area, and stay on Central Time. Several counties in the southwest corner also stay on Eastern Time, mostly because they want to. Time zones and observance of Daylight Savings has been a big issue in Indiana for the past 25 years with changes occurring every couple of years. Even now it is not standard as Jasper County, which is the county Remington is in, is “legally” on Central Time, Remington, which is in the far southeast corner of the county chooses to observe Eastern Time. It works out for us, I guess, because we will now be on Eastern Time for the rest of the summer. We got settled into a very nice site right in the shore of Caboose Lake, a small private lake around which the RV park is built. We will be here for three nights. After we got set up we stayed in the rest of the day, did a few chores and relaxed.

Sunday, June 25^th, I went out and got a Sunday paper and we had a relaxing morning. About 12:30 we went out to have lunch and do some exploring and caching. We drove to a neighboring small town, Reynolds, Indiana and found a local cafe open. Jackie had an omelet for breakfast and I had a fish sandwich. The food was quite good, although Jackie was not happy they left the broccoli out of her omelet. After lunch we did some caching, getting nine new finds and no DNFs. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Monday we decided to have a stay at home day. We got several major chores done, including a couple of light repair jobs I have been putting off for a while.

Tomorrow will be a travel day and will start a period of about three weeks when we will be visiting with some family and then going to several RV rallies and enjoying time with friends. Since we have been about three weeks on this chapter, it is a good point to close this out and get it published. Until next time, ponder the words of author Len Holman. “We have become a nation of thoughtless rushers, intent on doing before thinking, and hoping what we do magically works out. If it doesn’t, we rush to do something else, something also not well thought-out, and then hope for more magic.” Slow down, look around and enjoy the world. See ya soon.

Starting Across the Heartland

Hi there, good to see you back. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, May 19^th, when we arrived in Amarillo, Texas. Saturday we left the coach after lunch and did a badly needed Walmart run. We also got one geocache because it was in the Walmart parking lot. After shopping we went back to the coach, put stuff away and then did a few chores. We spent the rest of the day in the coach.

Sunday, May 21^st, we got a Sunday paper and had a relaxing morning. After lunch we went out to do some geocaching. We were able to get 13 new finds, along with 3 DNFs, for the afternoon. In the midst of our caching we also did some shopping at Kohls. About 5:30 we went to the World Famous Big Texan restaurant for dinner. We have been to Amarillo on two other occasions and gone to the Big Texan both times. Although we enjoyed the last two trips, this one was a little disappointing. Jackie's steak was not done to her liking as it was the last two times. The service was awful, they even ran out of butter. The place if most famous for it's “Free” 72 oz steak. Free if you eat it, along with a baked potato and salad, in one hour. Today was the first time we actually saw someone up on the platform trying the challenge. He was a big guy, but when we left he had less than 30 minutes, was about half way through the steak and hadn't touched the potato or salad. He may have ended up paying the $80 or $90 tab they charge if you fail. After dinner we drove back home and relaxed the rest of the night.

Monday, May 22^nd, was forecast to be on and off rain all day. Only a chance of severe storms in the late afternoon, but mostly just rainy spells. We left the coach after lunch and went out to do our laundry. After laundry we went back home, put everything away, and just relaxed the rest of the day. We never really got any serious rain, just a sprinkle here and there. The radar showed it all passing to the south of us. Tuesday the weather was still iffy and it was quite cool. After lunch we headed over to the theater to see a movie for first time since we left Yuma. We saw Snatched, with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn. Schumer is dumped by her boyfriend just before a planned trip to Ecuador and, since the trip was non-refundable, she convinces her very paranoid mother to go with her. They get kidnapped by bandits and taken into the jungles of Columbia where the hilarity ensues as they attempt to escape and get back to civilization. Not an academy award winner, but very funny and entertaining. We like these kinds of movies, and we enjoyed this one. After the movie we went to Sams Club for some shopping, then back home where we stayed in the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, May 24^th, we left the park after lunch and went out to do some geocaching. We had a great afternoon, getting 18 new finds, and 2 DNFs. One of the finds took us to another Amarillo public art display, along the lines of, but not nearly as famous as, the Cadillac Ranch display along Interstate 40. The work was called Ozymandias on the Plains and was created by philanthropist, millionaire, and artist Stanley Marsh, who is also responsible for Cadillac Ranch and several other odd public art displays in the area. It is basically a pair of broken off feet and lower legs, meant to invoke the image of a vandalized or destroyed larger statue. Like the cars in Cadillac Ranch, it is frequently “vandalized” with various colors of paint, although the most prevalent painting issue for this work is that local “painters” keep painting socks on the legs, which were intended by the artist to be bare. After caching we stopped again at both Sams Club and Kohls because we had some discount coupons that were going to expire. We then went home and I made a batch of stuffed green peppers for dinner. We stayed in the rest of the night.

Thursday, May 25^th, we went out about noon and had lunch at a local Mexican place not too far from the old route 66 downtown area. It was at the edge of a barrio and seemed pretty old school Mexican. We were the only non-Hispanics in the place. The food was very tasty and quite authentic. We had a great lunch, with good service. We are getting pretty good at finding authentic old style true Mexican restaurants in towns we visit. After lunch we headed out for some more geocaching, getting 13 finds in a few hours. It was pretty windy and getting hot, so we quit about 3:30 and went back to the coach where we stayed in the rest of the night.

Friday, May 26^th, moving day. Today we continued east, going 156 miles on Interstate 40 to Elk City, Oklahoma. It was a pretty easy trip, with a stop for fuel and lunch along the way. We arrived at the RV park about 2:30 and got moved in for a four day stay. We will be here for the long Memorial Day weekend. Elk City was hit by a tornado about a week and a half ago. It tore through a neighborhood just a mile south of the RV park, just the other side of the freeway. The weather looks pretty good for our stay here, we have our fingers crossed. After we got set up we just stayed in and relaxed for the remainder of the day.

Saturday, May 27^th, we awoke to another beautiful morning. We left the coach after lunch and went to the Walmart here in town. After we dropped the groceries back off at the coach, we went out to do some geocaching in Elk City. Elk City was founded in 1901 as a railroad town and was so named because it was built at the head of Elk Creek. Today's population is a little over 12,000. There were not a lot of caches in town, but we were able to get eight new finds, along with one DNF, in a few hours. The last cache of the day was another milestone for us, cache find number 8,600. When we finished our caching we did some sightseeing, including a brief visit to the area where the EF2 tornado went through a week and a half ago. It was only a couple of miles south of the RV park we are in. The tornado first touched down in a fairly new country club neighborhood where it destroyed the clubhouse and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes. It then wiped out a smaller, older neighborhood across the road, along with several businesses. The tornado hit just before 7:00 p.m., but there were only two fatalities, one in the country club and one out a more rural area. Although in our travels over the last 12 years we have seen isolated instances of tornado damaged buildings, this was the first time that we saw first hand an entire area of recent damage. Driving through the neighborhood, we saw typical tornado effects, a house completely leveled and the one across the street with minor roof damage. It was very devastating to see.

We went back to the coach and relaxed for an hour or so, and got cleaned up from caching. A little after 5:00 we left again and went to the Elk City Elks Lodge for cocktails and dinner. The place was very busy because they had a wedding reception being held there. However, the Lodge does have 540 members, which is pretty good for a small town like Elk City. We had a couple of drinks and got our lodge pin, then we went to a table for dinner. The Lodge has full menu dinners three nights a week. Jackie had chicken livers and I had fried jumbo shrimp. Both of our meals were excellent. The chicken livers were big, well cooked and very tasty. They were way better than the place in Yuma where Jackie has gotten chicken livers several times in the past, a place that is “famous” for it's livers. This Elks puts that place to shame. We had a great dinner, a nice visit and were back home by 7:30 where we stayed in the rest of the evening.

Sunday, May 28^th, I went out and got the Sunday paper and we had a relaxing morning. After lunch we went out for a day of caching. It was a nice, clear day with temps expected in the low 80's, just a nice day. Since we had done all of the caches in Elk City yesterday we had to go out in the rural areas today. We ended up making a big circle, going about 30 miles south and then 20 miles east, catching caches along the way. Many of them were cemetery caches, so we visited a number of small, community cemeteries. Because it was Memorial Day weekend we found a lot of
people visiting in the cemeteries. Among our cache finds today were a couple near a small town called Burns Flat. It turned out that they were on the site of an old military base with quite a history. In the early days of WW-II the Navy bought up a bunch of farm land 15 miles south of Clinton, Oklahoma and built Clinton Naval Air Station as a training base for Navy pilots. After the war the base was closed and turned over to civilian authorities. In the early 1950's the government came back, re-aquired the rights to the property and opened Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base. The property was greatly expanded, including improving the runways to be very wide and 13,500 feet long, over two and a half miles. The base became a SAC base with several squadrons of nuclear armed B-52 bombers as well as their aerial refueling squadrons operating out of it. The base was again closed in 1969 and returned to civilian control. Because of the long runway, one of the longest and widest in the country, the Oklahoma authorities have been promoting it as a “Spacebase”, a location for the horizontal launching and recovery of space vehicles. So far that effort hasn't accomplished much more than some buzz and a few signs, and the air field is mostly just used for local companies as a regional airport. Most of the hangers are still up and being used, as well as the control tower and a few other buildings. The military barracks are gone, but the old base housing area has been turned into a neighborhood of mostly well maintained private homes. We had a good afternoon of caching, getting 14 new finds and one DNF. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday, May 29^th, Memorial Day. We decided we needed a day off, so we just stayed in the coach for the day, except for a quick trip in the afternoon to Walmart for some coleslaw to go with the BBQ pork we are making in the crock pot tomorrow. We did a few little chores, watched a movie on TV and just enjoyed the day. Tuesday was another travel day. It was an easy 105 mile trip to Oklahoma City. We left Elk City about 10:30 and got into the Rockwell RV park in southwest OKC about 12:15. We were quickly parked and set up for our five day stay here in the capitol city.

Since we got here early we decided to go out and just do a little exploring in the afternoon. We spent a couple of hours doing a driving tour of the state capitol campus, the downtown area and the business area near where the RV park is. We did stop to get one geocache near the state capitol, in one of the little parks. A very pretty capitol building with oil wells in several locations around the building, including
one very large oil derrick right in front of the front steps. This is the only state capitol with active oil wells on the campus. It seems they built it right over a large sandstone oil deposit. After driving around for a while we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the night. We enjoyed our yummy pulled pork for dinner.

Wednesday, May 31^st, we left the coach after lunch and went out for a day of adventure. We spent most of the afternoon geocaching, getting 24 new finds, and two DNFs, mostly in the southwestern part of town, not too far from where we are parked. About 4:30 we drove up to the northeastern part of the metro area to the town of Edmond, Oklahoma and visited the Elks Lodge there. Edmond is a bedroom community of OKC, and is also the home to Central Oklahoma University, one of Oklahoma's public universities. The lodge was in a very pretty rural area and was quite large. It was also one of the friendliest lodges we have visited in a long time. Although the lodge only has a little over 100 members, they were very busy and everyone who came in came over and said hi and talked to us. We had a couple of drinks and got a lodge pin, stayed for an hour or so and then left to go visit the Oklahoma City Lodge, which is the “mother lodge” of Oklahoma, the first Elks lodge in the state. The last time we were in Oklahoma City was back in 2006 and when we visited the OKC lodge they were in an older building near downtown. About four years ago they sold that building and land and built a new place in the southwestern part of town, only about eight miles from where the coach is parked. There were only a handful of people in this lodge, but the bar manager was a past Exalted Ruler and very friendly so she sat and talked to us until we left after about 45 minutes. Their new building was very nice, but they too only have about 150 members and are struggling. We got a new lodge pin before leaving. We stopped at a nearby Applebee's for a quick, late dinner, then headed back to the coach. We didn't get home until about 8:30 after a very busy and enjoyable day.

Thursday, June 1^st, a new month begins. We left the coach after lunch and went to get Jackie a haircut. After the haircut we did four geocaches that were close by and then stopped at Home Depot for some plexiglass. I am going to try and make a shield for the counter, next to the stove, to keep our old cat Smokey off of the counter and sink area. In his old age, pretty much blind and deaf, he has gotten into the habit of going up on the counter every chance he gets. We don't like his constant visits, so we hope that a splash guard will block his path from the couch. After Home Depot we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon there. We did a few chores and watched a movie on TV. Mid afternoon we had some storm clouds move through, got a lot of wind for about a half hour, but no rain. It is supposed to be this way for the next few days.

Friday, June 2^nd, the weather was still very iffy. We did our exercise walk in the morning and after lunch we did a quick Walmart run. Other than that, it was a stay at home day. Did a few chores and watched a movie on TV. We did get about two hours of pretty good rain in the mid afternoon, but it cleared up after that. Saturday was more of the same weatherwise. About noon we went to a nearby restaurant called Trappers for lunch with some RVing friends. A few days ago Jackie found out that Bob and Diana Beatty were going to be in Oklahoma City fo
r a couple of the days we were here. Their coach was actually parked at an RV park a mile west of where we are, but they had gone off on a three week car trip back east. They were going to be back on Thursday, so we made arrangements to have lunch on Saturday, our last day here in OKC. We met Bob and Diana several years ago at a rally and have had contact with them on and off since.

Trappers is a Louisiana themed fish restaurant with a very interesting decor and menu. Very “old bayou” kind of place. The food was quite good, although Jackie said her salmon was a little overdone. I had seared peppered ahi and it was wonderful. We also had an alligator appetizer, half fried and half blackened and grilled, and it was quite good too. We had a two hour lunch and really enjoyed visiting with Bob and Diana. We had last seen them in Chandler in March at the FMCA rally, but we didn't get to spend any time with them there. After lunch we ran some errands. One was to take the plexiglass I bought back to home depot since I got up this morning and Smokey was on the counter despite the plexiglass blocking the way from the couch. Not sure if he jumped up from the floor, or figured out a way around it, but I didn't see the need to go through all the trouble of trimming and securing a shield that wasn't going to do what we wanted it to do. We also drove around in the on and off rain doing a little more sight-seeing in OKC. About 4:00 we were back in the coach for the rest of the night.

Sunday, June 4^th, the 12^th anniversary of our full timing adventure. June 4^th, 2005 was when we closed on the house in Indio and bought our coach. Yea us, still going strong and loving the life. Today was moving day, despite the fact that the weather was going to stick around for one more day. We got out about 10:00 and started north and east on Interstate 44, heading for the northeast corner of Oklahoma and a resort on the Grand Lake of the Cherokee, near Grove, Oklahoma. Grand lake is a 43,000 acre lake formed by the building of Pensacola dam on the Grand River in 1935. We arrived at the Eagle's Landing Resort, which is right on the north shore of the lake, about 2:00, after driving through on and off rain the whole 200 miles from OKC. We got checked in and the basics set up in the rain and then just relaxed the remainder of the day. Our arrival here for a week long stay marks a good place to close this chapter and get it published. Until next time, remember that age is a very high price to pay for maturity. See ya soon.