West Omaha KOA, Gretna, NE

We made it to Omaha after getting the brakes on the camper fixed in Des Moines. As you may remember we lost the brakes on the camper going to Green Bay, WI. After several phone calls I found a camper dealer in Appleton who said they would look at the problem and see what they could do. We set the appointment time for 9 am on Monday the 12th. We arrived before nine and I spoke with the service manager and gave him our information. We went to sit in the waiting area, they had wi-fi which was a plus, twenty minutes later the service manager came and told us they wouldn’t be able to fix the brakes because they didn’t know anything about disc brakes.

We got back in the truck and called Camping World in Madison, WI. They told me they could work us in that afternoon, I told him we would be there by noon. I was a bit worried because we had been there before and their parking lot is very crowded and I was concerned about getting in there and not being able to get out. However, as always my concerns were unfounded. When we arrived I went into the service desk and explained what I needed and was told by them that morning. It turns out they were trying to work four other campers in that afternoon and wouldn’t be able to get to us. We then made the decision to continue on to Iowa City and see what we could do later in the week to get the brakes fixed. I knew the truck could stop us without trailer brakes and I knew we had no BIG hills in our path. However, I forgot about the hill on Hwy 151/61 going south out of Dubuque. We crested the hill at about 40 mph and then I saw the stopped vehicles at the bottom of the hill, it looked like a 10% downhill grade, all I know is the truck worked well and we were able to go down the hill slowly so as not to run into anything at the bottom.

We arrived at Colony Country RV Park about four and got set up. The site we had wasn’t too bad. I had a small hill to back up on but the camper sat on level ground. In fact it was probably one of the most level sites we have been on and it was a gravel site. We had good satellite coverage and the site was quite roomy, at a bigger site than we had in De Pere.

I made some phone calls to get the camper brakes fixed and on a suggestion from Jason at Bob & Joe’s RV I called Mid-State Truck & Auto Center in Des Moines. They could get us in on Monday the 19th, I told them we’d be there.

We spent the rest of the week visiting with Carl & Merilee, Amy, Clancy, Maverick, Lilly and Kayla. We had a great time. Of course I ate too much but it was great. On Sunday Bob & Judy and Cynthia stopped by Carl & Merilee’s and we go to visit with them.

Before we knew it we were getting the camper ready to move out again. We got on the road at our usual time 8:30 and after an uneventful trip arrived in Des Moines at 10:30. Mid-States were able to get us in right away, so after backing the camper into an empty bay the technician got under the camper and quickly diagnosed the problem, a broken fitting on the brake line. They had NAPA come over to get the broken line and take it back to their place to make a new line. The service manager told us it would be about two before the camper would be done so we unhooked the camper and left. We went to the mall and walked around and had lunch. When we got back to Mid-States I got the bad news, NAPA made the line with the wrong connection on one end, it didn’t work. They had to take it back and redo it, so we didn’t leave Des Moines until 4:30 which put us in Omaha at 7:15.  The good news is the camper has brakes again and we are set up in Gretna, NE.

Wednesday was Eli’s first birthday,he is a cutie. Actually his birthday is today but his party is Saturday.

As we found in Wisconsin with Madyson and Mason, the little ones here, Emily, Isabel and Eli are not so little anymore. We are enjoying being with them.

Today we went out to eat with my uncle and aunt, Ernie & Shirley, to Stella’s, http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/248/1151124/restaurant/Omaha/Stellas-Hamburgers-Bellevue, the hamburger we had was one of the best I have ever had and it was huge. If you are ever in the Omaha area  you have to go there and have a burger.

Well, that is all for now. More to come later.

Remember, Dreams Do Come True.