Megan and Paige visit for a week.

We are back in Texas. We had Megan and Paige stay with us for a week at Tyler State Park, a very nice park with a lake, trails, swimmning beach etc. It was 100 degrees or more every day so it was too hot to do a lot outdoors but we did go swimming in the lake almost every evening. We still managed to do some fun things and I think they had a good time with us. By the end of the week though Megan had determined that our internet connection wasn't good enough to play her games so she was ready to go home.

There is a big cat sanctuary near Tyler that has rescued about 40 Tigers and Lions so far. We visited with a couple of famous safariers.


The girls have gone home and we will be moving about 25 miles south to Whitehouse in the next day or two.

Showboat

After everyone else went home we moved back to our slightly smaller house for a few days. Yesterday we went to the Branson Belle Showboat for a dinner cruise. There is only about 100 other shows in town, I don't think we can make them all so we'll be heading back towards Tyler, TX tomorrow.

Family fun in Branson

Everyone from Illinois and Texas showed up and we all moved in to our rented house for a week. We just made a couple of the shows here, the Titanic exhibit and took the kids to the Dixie Stampede one day. The rest of the group went to those and other shows, Silver Dollar City, etc. but we had the most fun just staying at the house visiting with everyone. Each night a different family cooked their "specialty" for the whole group. I think we ate better than anyone in town. Tonya did a fantastic job of finding a great house in Branson for the whole family and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Here is the front room on a typical day.

The whole gang.

Back row: Grannie, Leah, Sonja (trying to hide behind Stephen), James, Grandma Bonnie, Terry, Nick.
Front row: Paige, Megan, Stephen, baby Zack, Carrie, baby Christian, Kaleigh, Kearstyn, Tonya, Nathan.

More fun than walking.

Before everyone got here we learned how to ride Segways while touring beautiful Dogwood Canyon just south of Branson.

Branson

We have meandered our way to Branson, MO. On the way we stayed a couple of days in Cuba, MO and went on a 6 mile float trip in a rubber raft. We are doing a little recon of Branson before our families arrive on Saturday from Texas and Illinois when we will move in to our rented house for a week of fun and visiting. Next week will be sure to create lots of blog fodder.

Drivers, Start Your Engines!

Last weekend Tonya stayed in Carrollton while I went back to Normal so I could go to the NASCAR races at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL. with old friends. While we don't go much any more, Tonya and I went to the Indianapolis 500 time trials for more than 20 years with these guys in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. They have continued going to the Indy 500 as well as several other Indy car and NASCAR races every year. Friday night was the Nationwide Series 300 mile race and Saturday night was a Sprint Cup 400 mile race. Lots of fun with guys I don't see very often.

Jerry, Dewey, and Rod. It occurs to me the term "old friends" is starting to have a whole new meaning.


Getting the green flag after a yellow light late in the race. Turn your volume up.


We will be in Greenfield until Friday.

4th of July Parade

Made it back to Indiana and got the slide fixed. Actually found a local machine shop that could make the broken shaft before the place I ordered the whole unit got around to sending it. From there we went to Greenfield, Illinois, where we stay when we are visiting Tonya's mom in Carrollton. We made it for the 4th of July parade where Grannie's Model A roadster drove through under it's own power. Her mechanic has it running like a sewing machine. We will be here another few days.
Typical traffic in Amish Country (from previous post)

Aunt Maralee and Uncle Dude at the "Hardt Farm"

Proof that the Model A is running. Clancy was driving and Alice and two of their grandkids rode in the rumble seat.

Is this Normal?

When I grew up near, and went to college in, a town called Normal the name seemed, well, "normal". After moving away for 30 years and being all over the country seeing other towns named Lexington, Bloomington, and Carrollton but no others named Normal I am beginning to realize the name Normal may not be normal after all. Anyway that's where we are, Normal, Illinois, where I grew up and went to school.
From Detroit we went to Shipshewana, Indiana. Shipshewana is Amish country famous for Amish people riding their horse drawn carriages down the country roads, a big flea market and an antique auction on Wednesday with several auctioneers calling at the same time. We were their Monday and Tuesday and made it to the flea market. Our RV was built a short distance from here so we have been to Shipshewana a few times before while our house was being built and during some repair trips to the factory after that.
We then went a few hours south to the farm of my aunt Maralee and uncle Merritt "Dude" Hardt in Flora, Indiana. We parked right at their machine shed and had a great visit for a couple of days. When we got ready to leave we found the bedroom slide power head had sheared a shaft. I had to order a new one and it is going to be next week before it arrives so we left the house there and went on to Normal, Illinois where we are now staying with my step mother Bonnie. Friday Tonya saw the eye doctor about her Glaucoma and found that after a year and a half her eye pressure is finally down to where they were trying to get it.
My brother Jeff has been having some trouble with pain in his arm that has kept him from working or playing the guitar for the last three months. The problem is with vertebrae in his neck which doctors think they can fix with three months of intense therapy. He doesn't have health insurance so his friends and fans (he is the best "rocker" lead guitar player in the area and has lots of fans) were having a benefit for him all day yesterday. He didn't know we were coming to town so when we showed up he was really surprised. There was a motorcycle Poker Run, band, food, 50/50 drawings, door prizes, and an auction of lots of donated items. All of that along with a good turnout meant it was a big success. One of the main money raisers was a raffle for a Les Paul guitar, $1,000 value. The owner of the bar won the raffle and immediately gave the guitar to Jeff with the stipulation that he play at the bar when he recovered. We'll be here a couple of more days visiting friends and family.

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

From Cedar Point we went just around the corner of Lake Erie to a state park near Detroit. We wanted to go to Deerfield, MI see the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, an entire community of businesses, such as a jeweler watch maker, hat maker, silkworm maker, blacksmith etc. circa 1929 that Henry Ford either moved there or duplicated then maintained in original condition. The museum has everything from doll houses to enormous steam powered generators. The rocking chair Abe Lincoln was sitting in when assassinated, the bus Rosa Parks did not move to the back of, and Kennedy's presidential limousine are some examples of things this museum has. It is like the Smithsonian of the Midwest.
We spent so much time in the museum we didn't get to see many of the buildings in the village before they closed at five. But, as luck would have it, they were having their annual car show that day with 500 beautifully restored cars from the 20's to the 70's on the grounds. We watched several pull up to the review stand where two vintage car experts explained how and why each was designed the way it was. Then there was a live band replicating a USO show from 1945, complete with dancers dressed in clothes of the period.
There is also a factory tour and other things to do on the grounds so if you ever come here allow a couple of days and be prepared to walk several miles.

I can Cross Cedar Point off

my "Bucket List". Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio is "The Roller Coaster capital of the world". I didn't go on all 17 coasters but I made a few. The first one I went on was the Millennium Force, 310 feet tall with speeds of 93 mph. Here I am before the ride.

Here I am after the ride.

I next rode the Magnum XL 200. It was the first roller coaster to top 200' when it was built in 1989. After that I rode the Gemini, a wood frame that runs two coasters at a time, side by side. One would think that was enough but I decided to try one more.
Here I am before the ride. Notice the sign that says "Height, 420 feet" and "Speed, 120 mph". Notice the three other guys in the picture whose combined age is probably less than mine. What is wrong with this picture?

This shows the ride (Not the one I was on, I was screaming a lot louder than the girls on this trip).

Checking the fun meter after the ride.

This is more my speed.

Photo finish, I won by a nose!

Tonya was smart enough not to do any roller coasters but found some other rides she liked, there's plenty to do there. Cedar Point is a great place. I recommend you add it to your bucket list.

Niagara Falls

Friday we went to Niagara Falls. Fortunately we had previously got some advice from the Evans' that the best place to see the falls is from the Canadian side, so that's where we went first and they were right. I'll just pass that tip on to you free of charge. We were going to stretch it over a couple of days but ended up staying all day, watched them light up the falls at night and saw the fireworks at 10:00 pm before we left. Hung around Buffalo, NY Saturday and moved down the road this afternoon.

Tonya with her fancy rain gear on the "Maid of the Mist". We needed it, they really get close.

There must be a pot of gold at the bottom of the falls, I just don't know how you get to it.

This is a level 6 rapids downriver from the falls. I didn't see a "No Swimming" sign anywhere.

Sightseeing in NY

On Tuesday we went to Corning, NY which at one time was the home of 55 different glass makers. It is where Corning Glass is still made and where Corning has a Museum of Glass. The museum has examples of just about every kind of glass ever made and an amazing collection of art glass. It is hard to imagine the art objects that can be made from glass unless you see the stuff here. Amazingly enough Tonya was fascinated by a scene made of glass miniatures. Many other things like a 7' cut glass candle holder and an apparent autopsy replica. We also saw a demonstration of glass blowing as a guy made a vase right before our very eyes.. Wednesday it rained all day so we went to an earth history museum in Ithaca where they had what was left of a fish I caught earlier this year. We then went to the Cornell University ornithology (bird watching) lab but the rain meant we mostly just watched the ducks. Left Ithaca this morning and are staying just down the road from Niagara Falls tonight.

Worth The Trip!

The wedding, and recovery from same, is now over. It may have been the most fun wedding we have ever been to. Starting with the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. It was great food at a beautiful setting, and did I mention "open bar". We got to meet all the parents and wedding party as well as see a slideshow of the history of Mike and Sarah. The wedding on Saturday was at the Stratford Hotel, which is right in the middle of the Cornell University campus. Odd to have a hotel on campus I thought, until I found out Cornell has a world famous school of Hotel Administration which the hotel is part of. Mike and Sarah didn't want the wedding to be too conventional and it certainly wasn't as it started with Kate, Mike's sister, explaining how the two had met and what they had been doing in the last 9 1/2 years besides answering the question "When are you guys going to get married?. Then the bride and groom gave the reasons they wanted to marry each other. Mike's consisted of a Top Ten List. Sarah's mother, who is an ordained minister in Nevada (also legal in New York), performed the marriage ceremony. The vows were also unconventional but beautiful, she finished by saying "Mike, you may now kiss my daughter." The reception was a delicious sit down dinner with more silverware than I have ever seen at one setting. Mike played another slide/video show of how a cheerleader fell in love with him, the high school quarterback (actually a trombone playing geek). There was a fun DJ, dancing, and an open bar from 5:00 pm until midnight. The next morning breakfast was provided at the hotel for the people staying there and any other guests that wanted to attend.
We spent yesterday recuperating and walking a steep but beautiful 2 mile state park trail along several waterfalls just a couple of miles from where we are staying. All rested up today and going sightseeing in Corning.

Made it to the church on time.

It took all day to find the valve stems I wanted so we were delayed a day in Erie, but we made it to Ithaca in time to go to the rehearsal dinner last night, great fun. Very steep hills here which is putting the truck transmission to the test. The wedding is this evening, will keep you posted.

It's Erie.

The name of the Lake, name of the city, name of the campground. Erie isn't it.

I'll tell you what's eerie. We were going to leave Whitehouse last Saturday. Had some things to do so changed our plan to leave on Sunday. While going to the hardware store on Saturday one of the truck tire sensors showed a tire losing pressure. I got back home before it went flat, took off the tire, threw it in the trunk of the car and took it to the tire store. Found out it was the rubber valve stem. Had it changed to a solid bolted on valve stem just before closing time. The other tires all have the same rubber valve stem so I knew I was going to change them too when I got a chance. Didn't have time on Saturday, didn't figure I would get it done on the holiday weekend so I would just have them changed when we got to our destination, (they had been on there for couple of years). After getting rigged up here today I ran in to town to get a pizza. On the way home another tire started losing air, I was able to make it home where I found the same problem with anther rubber valve stem. Will get the remaining three valve stems changed tomorrow morning. In the last 4 days all of my driving time has been with the truck loaded. Why did these two failures happen with the truck empty just a few blocks from home? Now that's eerie.

O"hi"o

Made it just past Cincinnati today. Last night we stayed near Nashville in a small RV park full of junky little trailers in a site we could barely get in and out of. Tonight we are in a state park that is probably 400 acres and we have about 100 acres all to ourselves. Traveling in an RV is like a box of chocolates. Drove through Kentucky today. It is the "Bluegrass State" but:

We looked and looked
All over the place
We looked until we were
Blue in the face.
But I did not see any grass that was blue
Not one blade, not two.

What do you do

when it gets to hot in Texas. Go north of course, and that's where we are headed. Took off today for Ithaca, New York where we are going to attend the wedding of our friends, Bob and Kathy Temkow's, daughter. Why? you ask would we go all the way to New York for a wedding. Two words "Open Bar". Besides it's north of Texas, might as well go there, we've got to be somewhere. Made it to just this side of Little Rock, AR today.

While Mom's away. . . . . .

Have had an interesting couple of weeks since getting back to Whitehouse. Last week Tonya started having trouble with her hip replacement. She couldn't put any weight on it without pain. Good thing we still had the scooter and were able to borrow a walker from Tim Gill, who recently had his hip replaced, so she could get around at all. We got her surgeon in LA to send us a prescription to get an x-ray but we couldn't see anything wrong and neither could our regular doctor who we were seeing for our semiannual checkups. He was going to get us in to see a local orthopedic surgeon but that night Tonya rolled over a different way, felt something pop, and when she got up could walk again. A miracle, or her hip just popped back in to place, or something else I am sure the doctors would have been baffled by. At any rate we were good to go to Carrie's the next day and keep Zack for a week while she went on vacation.


This is what Zack thought of me feeding him breakfast for the first time.

We stayed at Carrie's over the weekend, where I had a flu like illness for a couple of days, then brought Zack up to Whitehouse for the week. The first night here we went to Leah's Zumbatomics class for kids at the Y to watch her, Megan, and Paige. Zack loved it and was boogieing down to every song. So, the first night his parents aren't around it seems the Z'ster is out dancing at a CLUB until well past his bedtime. Whatever you do, don't tell mom!


Got the beat.

Megan and mom in matching Zumba pants.

Never missed a step.


Whew! I'm wore out.

The second day I took Zack up to the pool hall and introduced him to the "regulars" that are in there every day. I told him to remember these guys so that in about 12 years he can come back and win back his money that I have let them use temporarily. They all thought he was the E-trade baby. Otherwise he has been having fun playing with his cousins and hanging out with Nana and Papa, although for the last couple of days him and I have been mostly staying at Leah's since Nana has about the same flu I had at Carrie's. She will need to rest today and should be close to normal tomorrow, probably 100% by the time we head back to Carrie's on Saturday.

Whitehouse

Made it to Whitehouse, TX. We have already invited ourselves over to Leah's house for supper a couple of nights and made some Doctor's appointments. Lots to do before heading to Pearland next week.

Be there today.

We are in no danger, stopped in Ranger. We stayed in Midland Sunday night and went out to eat with Jim and Nita Evans at a very nice Mexican restaurant. Will be in Whitehouse this afternoon.

Looking for Rosa's Cantina

We are Here. EDA in Whitehouse - Tuesday.

On the Road Again

Willie's Version

After a day and half delay due to the wind we finally are heading east. Only made it few hours today before stopping at an Escapee park that offers free boondocking. Thought I would just use the regualar TV antennae for tonight but it looks like if you don't speak spanish, want a sermon, or want to buy something TV is going to be pretty sparce here. Oh well, we can only run the generator until 7:00 pm anyway, then the question will be "What did the pioneers do?"

I feel the earth move. . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoHuxpa4h48

If you have been reading or hearing about the earthquake in Mexico yesterday and wondering if we felt it here the answer is we definitely did. The center was 60 kilometers south of Mexicali. As you can see on our map, that's not that far away from Yuma. We were playing in the weekly Sunday afternoon pool tournament at "Crazy Earl's", a bar in town, when things started rocking and rolling. We have experienced some earthquakes in past years in Yuma but this was the strongest one we have felt. It didn't take long for us to be standing out in the parking lot watching parked cars and light poles shake around. If you haven't been in an earthquake it is a very weird feeling for sure. We didn't incur any damage from it, nor was there any damage reported in Yuma, but I could tell it wouldn't have to get much stronger for some damage to start. There have been many aftershocks since the original event but they aren't as strong. We feel pretty good about our house during an earthquake, after all it goes through the same thing every time we pull it down the road. I only worry about the front jacks, but they can stand a lot of movement (such as being run in to by a reckless driver).

Otherwise there has been a mass exodus from the park. Only a handful of pool players left and very few scheduled activities. People will continue to leave throughout the month until only the ones that stay all year remain. Actually that's good news for us since now we can get to work on all the projects we brought with us but haven't had time to work on.


Even the desert blooms in the spring, including the cactus on our lot.

POPP p p p f f f f f f f f f f t t.

I haven't posted for a few weeks so I thought I had better let anyone interested get caught up. We have been busy participating in park activities, playing pool, and the usual stuff we do here. The Oak Ridge Boys performed two shows in our park's ballroom a week ago. We didn't go because we had seen them a few years ago in Branson, Mo but they sold out both shows (840 seats each). Jim and Donna Skolek from Ottawa, IL had a grandson graduate from Marine Corps basic training in San Diego, so on their way to the ceremonies they stayed in Yuma for several days to visit with us. We had been to their place last summer (see one of the posts in July). It's great having more company come by to help us enjoy the sunshine. Actually, it has been raining here much more than normal. It's amazing how fast the brown desert turns green with just a little rain. In a couple of months it will all be dead and become a fire hazard. We are on our way home from a pool tournament in Phoenix, it's raining on us right now and we're only about 10 miles outside of Yuma.

The Desert Classic Tour holds a tournament every month somewhere in Arizona, usually Phoenix or Tucson, and I have decided to play in them while I'm here. Since these tournaments draw the top players in the state it is my chance to make sure my head doesn't get overinflated just because I'm one of the best players in our park and the Billiard Club President and all. Nothing like having a player named Susan beat you by one game in a race to 8 games of bar table 8-ball to let the air out of your balloon. Actually she is an excellent player and I didn't mind losing to her as much as the next match I lost to a less skilled guy. Last month I at least won two matches before getting knocked out even though I have only played one of the top players that participate. Anyway my ego has been reset to the appropriate level and we are headed home, Tonya's driving and I'm typing.

We are only a couple of weeks away from the weather getting warmer to what I consider really nice and the Canadians here consider too hot. By the end of this month they will almost all be gone and things will slow down here dramatically. We plan on staying on into April like we did a couple of years ago. All the activities are nice bet we also like being here when things slow down. I'll be reporting back in before then.

Tonya strikes Gold and Silver, Terry digs for Bronze.

We entered the pool events of the Yuma city wide Senior Games last week. I guess we found out who the real pool shooter is. Tonya won a silver medal in the singles event and a gold medal in the doubles event while I settled for a bronze in both singles and doubles (that means I lost to the first loser and will be uttering the loser's mantra "There's always next year"). The singles event is held at our park's pool room since it is the biggest and nicest in town.

Tonya and the Gold Medalist.


Gold Medal presentation. Tonya's partner Marcia is on her right.





My Bronze medal pictures from singles and doubles. My partner Al is on my right, in his 80's but still plays pretty sporty.

Other than the tournament we have been to a western dinner show, a park produced play, chicken dinner, fish dinner, and USA/Canada day (an excuse to drink and dance at 1:00 in the afternoon), all in the park's ballroom. All of these events are BYOB and most involve music and dancing.

So it goes this time of year here, hard to keep up, but we do the best we can. Will have a couple more months at this pace before things slow down in April.

Hail to the Chief!

I have officially became President of the park's 96 member Billiard Club. I became a member board of directors for the club this year and was elected to the office by the board at yesterday's meeting. A brilliant campaign promising free health care for all Billiard Club members, which I said I would get the Tennis Club to pay for, and the fact that I was unopposed, led to a unanimous vote. When I was approached last week about seeking the office I asked the present president what the duties entailed. She said she would only tell me after I was elected. Either she was afraid I wouldn't accept or I will be finding out what goes on in "Area 51" and get the nuke codes pretty soon. It also means we will be coming back for the next few years since the board membership is a three year term and I suspect officers keep their position unless they absolutely refuse to continue.

The pool room during the Wednesday night mixed doubles tournament.


Tonya shooting during the Wednesday night tournment.

Otherwise, since the last post, we have been busy with park activities and taking care of some home projects. We have also made several trips to Mexico getting our annual dental work done, we should be done with that. Tonya has enrolled in the local community college, taking the pool class that is taught by one of guys I compete against (and usually get beat by)at the local weekly tournaments. Have yet to get going on dance lessons and poker playing.

We have heard about all the cold weather occurring across the country in the last couple of weeks. In case you were worrying about us, our high's have been hovering around 70 degrees, and of course the sun shines every day here.

Happy New Year!

Time for the holiday and end of year report. It's been a little cool here (highs in the 60's) but Grannie and Becky thought it was great compared to where they came from. They have been to several dances, Bingo, and pinochle games. Grannie won $100 at the Tuesday night Bingo game. We met a couple from northern Illinois and ended up going to their house for a Christmas Eve party. I think the guy, Gale, an antique car buff, is after Grannie's Model A, he also mentioned he knew about the Bingo winnings. We had the catered Christmas dinner in the Ballroom and met lots of new interesting people at both events. Carrie and Zack came to visit for 4 days right after Christmas and we had a great time with them. Everyone but Grannie and Zack went to see the movie "It's Complicated". I'm pretty sure it was funny since I was afraid Becky was going to get arrested for uncontrolled laughter in a public place. They have all gone back home now and we were left to go the New Year's Eve party by ourselves. The park Ballroom, where the party was, is only about 100 steps from our door so we were able to negotiate the trip ok.


Grannie and Becky in front of their holiday home.


Zack was his usual little monstrous self.


Carrie and Zack stayed at Grannie's house.


Grannie and Becky (on the right) getting ready to board the plane. They said they would be back same time next year. Notice the jacket on the left of the picture, those Zumba people are everywhere.