Getting Ready to Move

We are heading to Omaha Friday so I can go to the Berkshire-Hathway stockholder meeting. I enjoy going, not to hear Buffet but to see all the things his companies bring in to show the attendees. So with the departure utmost on Sarah’s mind we went into cleaning mode this morning. I have to admit I like the look of the camper after we get done. I dust and clean the counter tops with a cleaner we have and Sarah vacuums and double checks what I do. I still need to take some wood cleaner and go over all the wood in the place but if you have ever been in a camper there is a lot of wood to cover. I’ll have to see what the summer brings.

We haven’t done a whole lot since the last blog. We have been out to eat a lot with family and friends, I need to walk more. Sarah does get me out some but I need to do more, I just can’t get motivated, I suppose I need to get my MP3 player out and listen to music in one ear and Sarah in the other ear and then I would probably walk more. It isn’t that I don’t like walking with Sarah or walking period, I just need to feel like I am accomplishing something. Although, most of the time we do cover a lot of topics in our walks.

Last Friday Sarah and Cynthia, her sister, were going shopping, I was going to stay home but before Cynthia got out here Sarah cut her middle finger on her right hand and we tried for 45 minutes to get it to stop bleeding before we decided to go to the doctor. She has two stiches in the finger and next week I get to take the out. Now it isn’t that big of a deal to remove stiches, I did it as a medic in the service. Of course that was forty some years ago but I believe I will be able to do it with no adverse effects.

Here’s my bridefeeling very little pain. Of course the doctor numbed the finger and then, as you can see, she has one of several glasses of wine in her hand. So, yours truly, reverted back to the role of man slave and I took care of her for the next couple days until the pain went away. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t mind being at her beck and call, it gives me a chance to do all those things she does daily and won’t let me do. Anyway she is feeling better and so I let her do the vacuuming today. I believe we have the inside of the camper ready to roll, I have a few things to get done this afternoon and tomorrow but no hurry.

Stay tuned for our adventures this summer we will be going to Omaha, Rapid City, SD; Mitchell, SD; Sioux Falls, SD: Centerville, IA; Des Moines; Omaha; Kansas City; Centerville; Mt Pleasant, IA; Elkhart, IN; Chicago: Milton, WI; Green Bay, WI; Des Moines; Omaha and then head south to AZ. It will be a busy summer with our longest stay at anyone time will be in WI where Robert lives. With all this traveling I should be able to come up with a few pictures and things to write about. I guess we’ll see.

We have winds of 15 mph with gusts to 35 mph, so I may not get all of my chores done outside today. There is always tomorrow.

Till later – Dreams Do Come True

Today is windy, I need to reinstall the tire pressure monitors, Pressure Pro,

Rainy Day

It is raining here and the wind is blowing with gusts up to 35 mph, just a miserable day outside, but a perfect day to be inside and work on my to do list.

We went to Beloit, WI last Thursday to visit Robert, Sarah, Mason and Madyson, it was a lot of fun. The kids told us all about their trip to Disney World and showed us their picture albums. We sure enjoyed hearing about their trip. Friday Robert took off work so we were able to spend time with Madyson and him, then in the afternoon went and picked up Mason from kindergarten. I had a ball playing with the kids however I found out quickly I can’t play very long before they have me tuckered out. Of course if I would lose 50 lbs. I might be able to go a bit longer but I don’t have the energy or stamina I use to have. Must be old age.

Saturday we went to Madison, Sarah wanted some items from the beauty supply place. We picked up those items and then went to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse, Sarah and I split the pork chop dinner. I was impressed the chops had a very good flavor and were very tender. After eating we went over to the mall, I wanted to go to the Apple store to get a IPad but they were out. I expected as much but I figure I will keep checking and eventually I will be in the right place at the right time and get one, unless someone comes out with a tablet for the same price that will get my gmail the way I can on my laptop.

A couple of weeks ago I called around to find the best price I could on a set of four Michelin tires for the truck and the local Ford dealer had the best price on them. Then last week I took the truck in for an oil change and was told the transmission, transfer case, differentials and the power steering was not checked at the 30,000 mile check. Since we pull a heavy camper I wanted those items done, so today the truck is getting new tires and the other items serviced also. Sarah and I discussed it and decided we wanted to maintain a preventative maintenance routine on the truck to hopefully prevent as many mishaps on the road as possible.

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Beloit;

Madyson is the one in the black, she is at dancing, they are tapping. No, that isn’t a real tiger, but it is a big one. Ah swimming with dad. Robert and the kids came over to the hotel to swim.Coloring eggs for Easter.

That is all for now, remember Dreams Do Come True.

Griff’s RV Park, Altoona, IA

I can see out of the back window, we washed the camper on Wednesday the 5th. It took us about two hours, me using the brush and rinsing and Sarah washed the windows. The only problem we had  was I couldn’t reach high enough on the front of the camper to get all of the bugs off because I only had a four foot ladder, I have since bought an eight foot ladder. The other problem for the day was the wind, I was quite wet when we finished but we got it done and the camper really looks nice.

I took the Motorola Xoom back to Costco for a refund. It didn’t handle the Google email like I wanted it to and Sarah wasn’t liking it for that either, plus it was quite heavy. So I believe I will get an I Pad sometime this summer.

I rented a car for a trip to see my mother in Centerville. We were going to only go down for the day on Thursday but my sister, Colleen from AZ, wanted us to come down on Friday, spend the night at my other sister Tara’s house. So that is what we did and we had a great time.

Paul, Tara’s husband, Tara, me, Colleen and mother, Sarah took the picture.

We all went over to Tara’s Friday night and had pizza and played a game of Sequence. Since there was five of us one sat out while the other played. After a dozen or so games it turned out that Sarah was on the winning team each and every game, best of three. I told her to buy a lottery ticket.

Saturday we took Colleen back to the airport and Sarah’s sister Cynthia met us there. We had lunch and visited a bit. Then it was time to bid adieu to Colleen and we left her at the airport. I haven’t heard from her but I am guessing she got home or her husband would have been calling wanting to know where she was.

Sunday and Monday were breezy days with tornados in the NW part of the state. We had gusts up to 50 mph, it did shake up the camper a bit and I had the satellite dish down, luckily we can get the local channels on our regular TV.

Monday was a day for a couple of appointments, one was a dental appt for me. I was very happy to see my teeth have had no change since the last cleaning.

Tuesday, Sarah had a dental appt in the morning. We killed a bunch of time running errands and then I had an appt at the VA for my CPAP. I wanted to make sure I had the correct mask since I had gotten a new one. I was a bit early but was able to get right in. Larry, the VA person, tested my machine and asked me if I wanted a new one. My machine was 4 or 5 years old and losing some of it’s gusto. I told him sure I would take a new one, it is smaller and fits better by the bed. He asked if I wanted to keep the old machine for a spare because he was just going to throw it away. I said sure and left with two CPAPs. I used the new one last night and I did notice a difference in the performance of the machine. I am glad I went to see about the CPAP/.

Last night we went out to eat with good friends, Norma & Orren. We went to a new Mexican restaurant, well we had never been to it, and the food was very good and the portions were very generous. I don’t remember the name of it but it was good.

Today I took the truck into get the oil changed and a couple of other things checked on it. The dealer said I should get the transmission serviced, the power steering system checked, and the transfer case and differential all serviced, it would total a little over $600 dollars. So I have to make the decision if we want to get this done now or wait a while.

Tomorrow we rented a car and are going to WI to see Robert, Sarah and the kids. I am looking forward to having the kids tell me about their trip to Disney World. That will be fun.

For now, Dreams Do Come True.

Return to Des Moines

We left Salina, KS about 10 am on Sunday, Mar 27th, and had an uneventful trip to Smith Center, KS. I had been watching the weather and as often happens the snow, sleet and rain they forecasted did not materialize during our trip. We did get a dusting of snow Sunday night with a light covering of ice but all of it was gone by mid morning.

We backed up to one of the bay doors of the Excel service center and unhitched the truck and plugged in the camper. As you may recall from our last visit here the technicians pull the camper into the shop at 6:30 am so I had to have everything buttoned up before then.

I won’t go into all the details of what work was done on the camper, the removing of the old dryer vent and the fiber glassing over the hole was the major issue to be taken care of and Jim, the technician, did a magnificent job of filling in the hole. All the items on my list were taken care of with the same professionalism we experienced in our visit last November. Thank you Jack and your crew.

We left Smith Center last Thursday, yes I know Sarah it was only suppose to be a two day visit and you wanted to get to Omaha to see the grandkids. We had a rainy trip to Omaha but we did finally get to the KOA in Gretna a bit after noon, unhooked, set up the camper and headed for the kids house. Of course our main goal was to see the grandkids, especially Eli to see how big he has become.

This picture rivals any picture I have ever seen taken by a professional photographer. This picture was taken by Eli’s mother Marie, who I believe could be a professional photographer, she is that good.

We had a great visit with the kids. Emily and Isabel are getting big also. Emily reminds me of my grandmother Ertz, because were playing Chutes and Ladders and Emily cheats just like grandma did at cards. It was funny and Isabel copies what Emily did so I didn’t stand a chance of winning, but I had a lot of fun.

I did buy Sarah a Motorola Xoom tablet pc at Costco, it is a neat item but it won’t let you access your gmail contacts in conjunction with gmail so I am going to take it back today and look for an alternative to it. I want Sarah to have something she can easily use and be able to do her emails, web browsing and read her books so we are going searching today.

We are back at Griff’s RV Park in Bondurant, IA on the NE side of Des Moines. We will be here for the month of April and then we are on the road again. We do have a couple of side trips while we are here and I am renting a car for them. A trip to see my mother in Centerville and a trip to Wisconsin to see the grandkids up there. So our only full weekend we spend here in April will be Easter weekend.

As I am writing this I look out the back window and can’t see anything for all the dirt on them. I guess I will have to get out and wash the windows. This week and next are for doctor appointments etc. and some reacquainting with friends.

So until later – Dreams Do Come True