Threshing Days!

We are spending this weekend at Albany, MN at their Pioneer Days.  It’s pretty much as it says – threshing, old machinery, saw mills, music, food, flea market, ladies activities, etc..  Pulled up here Wednesday evening to get a good spot for the four units.  The kids brought their trailer up and will be back late Friday afternoon after work.  Fred and Shirley brought theirs up and also will be back Friday after work.   Bob and Joni got here early Thursday morning.  I would guess there are already 400+ campers in and the show really doesn’t start until 10:00 today.  Yesterday we drove down to Hutchinson for another visit with our financial guy – looks like we are ready to roll with him – he says we can retire without starving so that’s good.

Bethany is dropping the boys off on her way to work this morning, we will be watching them today.  On Fridays she works at the hospital here in Albany.  Darin will be coming after work.

Had a hard freeze here Wednesday night – looks like the crops are done growing for this year, will be interesting to see how the yields turn out.  We are boondocking so was a little cool in the 5er Thursday morning till we turned the furnace on and got the generator running.

Hope to add some pictures later today.

Whow!!! where has time gone!!

The summer has nearly passed us by.  Working our four days a week and doing the normal activities for the month of August pretty much took care of it.

We did make the big decision to formally retire from our 4-day a week jobs – that will be 12/27.  Our original plan was to do it sometime over the summer once the house sold in May but just never got around to name the date.   Living in the 5er for the summer has worked our pretty well too.  Just knew that before we headed back to TX for the winter we knew we didn’t want to be working from there again.  It worked our well for 8 years but just decided it was time to call it quits.We both will keep our little side jobs – still fun to be involved in those organizations and the $$’s are nice too.

For the past week we’ve been on the run – spent a week in St. Cloud visiting kids and grandkids, catching up with some old neighbors and friends and took in a couple of golf events.  Finished up the holiday weekend with 10 other couples camping near New Ulm, MN – toured  the Schell’s Brewery, enjoyed a refreshment at the famous B & L Bar, visited a winery and enjoyed the chicken at Carl’s Corner in Essig, MN on Sunday night.

Back to work this week for a couple days, heading up to Ottertail Lake area next weekend, followed by Pioneer Days in Albany the following weekend.   Will be in Denver for a week at the end of the month.  Driving down to TX on 10/13, flying back on the 25th will finish up work, wait for the birth of our fourth grandchild around the middle of November, enjoy a few holiday parties and the holidays with family and then fly back to TX on 12/28 – just in time for our first New Years eve in TX.

Guess that’s more of what we are going to be doing rather than what we’ve been up to but the heat the last couple weeks of July and 1st part of August kept us pretty close to home. 

Till later!!

Thought the heat was gone!!

Boy has it been a hot couple weeks in MN!!!  Broke all records in the heat index category – think western MN had a heat index of nearly 125 about a week ago.  We did get a break for a couple days middle part of this week but today the heat index is on the rise again.  Watch out all you people east of here – we are sending you another round!!

Pretty uneventful week – just work!  Last weekend we celebrated Bob’s sister and her husband 40th wedding anniversary.  Was a great party.  The entire wedding party and the original band that played for their wedding dance – all were there.   Got to see a lot of cousins and people we hadn’t seen in years.

We boondocked in the parking lot of the reception center – sure glad we had the generator – it ran for 13 straight hours keeping the 5er cool.

Bob is going to a farm show in Hutchinson with Darin and the boys tomorrow – Vicky will be hanging out with the girls from the park at New London’s Water Days parade followed by bingo and a street dance.  Will be fun to see the grandsons again – it’s close to a month since we’ve seen them.

Sunday we have a birthday party for our grand daughter Rya – she will be two.   That will be lunch and lounging around with our feed in the pool if it’s warm.  Just a couple miles down the road so it’s close.

Not much else going on.  Got set up with Google+ with some fellow RVer’s – been interesting.  Never did the facebook thing so a whole new concept for me.

Till Later.

Pancakes and Storms

		Lions July 4th Pancake Feed VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After our stormy weekend in Bird Island we returned to our lot in Spicer.  Bob helped with the Lions 4th of July pancake feed on the 4th – mixing pancake batter from 7-11 am for nearly 500 people.  Spicer is known in the area for having a big July 4th celebration – flea market, beach parties, dance, parade, pancake breakfast, etc.

On the 6th we headed over to Ellsworth, WI for our annual venture.  Ellsworth has a big polka fest and city wide garage sale.  Vicky loves this town for the sales and so it’s always a mission to find as much as we can for the grandkids and with another on the way it met more intense shopping.  We found lotsa good clothes for the kids so was a success again.   Of course we meet up with a bunch of MN and TX friends for some good conversation, laughs and of course a few refreshments.  And it can’t be Ellsworth without heat and a few storms.  The heat moved in on Friday and Saturday – keeping the dancing to a minimum and water intake high.  Sunday morning we were awakened by a whaling storm siren at 5:00AM!!  Just got a gust of wind and heavy rain so all was well.   Got back to Spicer in the early afternoon – got set up again and was looking forward to a quiet Sunday evening until the weather radio went off again at 8 pm.  So down to the storm shelter till about 9, again just wind and heavy rain.

Worked 4 days this week.  Vicky took Kari to St Cloud for her follow up after her back surgery.  She is doing very well – no pain and feeling back in her leg and foot.  She will need to be very careful, any further damage and they will fuse her lower back.

This morning the weather radio went off again at 5 – severe thunderstorm.  Just got heavy rain again.  Today we pull over to Benson, Bob’s sister is celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary party Saturday – should be a could time.  Then on Sunday pulling up to Elbow Lake, MN for a winter Texan get together.  S’pose to be a HOT weekend with heat index in the low 100’s all weekend – hope all the AC’s are working!!

Got to share these pics of 2 year old grandson Grant – holding his newest cousin and trying to fix his car that has a dead battery.

ALMOST BLEW A WAY!

Well we escaped another one last night – 80 MPH winds and all 50 RV’s are still on their wheels!  Hug storm came thru Bird Island around 4:30 and blew hard for about 40 minutes – lots of  trees down in town, a few lawn chairs and mats missing, one fifth wheel rocked so hard the dishes and glassware fell from the cupboards and broke.  We had a lap tip over and fall behind a chair and a roof vent that got twisted a bit.  But over all we are in good shape.

Power went out but we set up 3 generators – one for the bands and 2 for the bar and kitchen and kept everything going till midnight.  Power was back about five this morning.

Ready for another day – blue skies and sunshine!

Time to Catch up!!!!

Not sure where the last month has gone but we’ve been busy as usual – work, happy hours with the new neighbors, going out to eat with the old neighbors and camper repairs again.

Before the house sold we had made reservations at Sibley State Park to go camping with Bob’s sister Barb and Reid and some other friends from Benson the weekend of the 16th and 17th.  We couldn’t get a site for Saturday night so we took Thursday and Friday. 

On the way to our site in the park we snagged a low hanging cedar tree and did a job on our antenna – put in back to together somewhat so it would work but knew it would need more extensive repairs.  Then while working around the camper Friday I happened to look at the underside and noticed our fresh water tank had come loose on one end and was resting on the axle!!  What else could happen – first time we’ve had any issues with our campers and now it’s one thing after another.  Called the dealer and since we were living in the 5er and heading to ND on Wednesday we were somewhat frantic about getting it fixed.  They said get it there by Monday and they would have it fixed by Monday afternoon.  Thanks Dave at Rebel Camper – you always come thru!!

Friday night we got about 3 inches of rain and we knew we would not get back into our rented site without making some big ruts and then pull out Sunday again in the mud to get to Clara City  so we called Dave to see if he had an open rv site on the lot.  He did so we headed to Clara City Saturday afternoon.  Got set up and then went to Kegger’s Bar for a refreshment and sandwich.

Sunday we headed into St Cloud for Father’s Day BarBQ at Darin and Bethany’s.  Everyone was there except for Kari, Bryan and Rya – Kari had back surgery the week before and so traveling wasn’t on the agenda yet.  Kari and Rya had come out to Sibley on Friday so we got to see them then.

Back to Clara City to sleep Sunday night, work on Monday and then we met Bill and Mavis (friends from TX who were in MN for grand daughters graduation) for supper in Litchfield.  They were doing very well and we got caught up on news since we had last seen them in TX in March.

Back to Clara City to sleep again – had got a call from Dave and the camper was finished so we took it to work with us on Tuesday.  Well another hard rain on Tuesday so didn’t want to tear up the lot again so we boondocked in our church parking lot.  We were heading to ND early Wednesday morning anyway so that made for an easy departure.

Headed out about 6:45 Wednesday morning, met Gary and Marjorie in Elrosa and off to Stump Lake we were.  Arrived there about 1:30, drove in hard rain and wind the whole way so was ready to relax.  Myron and Jean got up there Tuesday so they were all set and and waiting for us.  We made supper together, played a game of Social Security and were all ready for bed early.

Thursday we just relaxed, watch the other campers arrive and get set up.  Talked about the high water in Stump and Devils Lake – water is up over 40’ in the last 10 – 15 years and if it rises another 3-4’ most of Stump Lake Campground, ballroom and store will be under water.  Sure hope they find a solution to the water issue before that happens.  Had a great time catching up with TX friends and dancing – headed home Sunday – or should say back to the lot – arrived about 2:00, no rain so we got backed in and set up.  Was another early night to bed.  Monday night we got caught up on laundry, Tuesday we went our for pizza with the Nest Lake (old neighbors) group, got back to the camper and joined the new neighbors for a short happy hour.  It was close to 8 and they hadn’t had supper yet – so they headed home.

Tonight we are watching Rya so Kari and Bryan could take in a movie.  Kari’s is feeling much better after surgery and was ready to get out of the house.

Heading to Bird Island tomorrow after work to meet up with Myron and Jean and Lloyd and Gail for the weekend.  Lloyd and Gail just arrived here in MN from TX so will be fun seeing them.   Will be doing a lot of dancing I imagine too.

Monday being the 4th, our Lions club always puts on a pancake and sausage feed just before the parade in Spicer so will be frying pancakes for a couple hours.  Not much else planned for the rest of the day – probably will need some rest.

Will be heading to Ellsworth, WI on Wednesday evening for the weekend and then that’s about it for our plans for a few weeks.  Bob’s sister Linda and Terry are celebrating their 40th on the 16th in Benson so will pull the trailer down there for the night.   Might head up to Elbow Lake on the 17th for a TX get together.

So we keep busy but it’s been fun – no lawn to mow, gardens to weed, etc., just rest up get ready for the next rendezvous!!

Till next time – take care.

Life in the RV - Moving on with Life

Somewhat over a week since we've closed on the house and two weeks living in the 5er and all is well. No big fights, haven't had to use the bathroom at the same time - just feeling good about our decision. Finally relaxing after a month of packing and moving stuff around every extra minute we've had.
Our first weekend was spent with friends in Clarissa - boon docked in the ballroom parking lot from Wednesday to Monday - visiting, dancing and just having a lot of fun. Got back to New London about 10:30 Memorial Day and got the rig parked for the first time in the spot we'll be for most of the summer. Off to the grocery store and laundromat and then had 11 people over for mid afternoon meal of grilled pork loin and the fixins. Vicky's brother was home from Chicago so we had them and Vicky's sister and her family her for the afternoon.
Bob spent Wednesday with Caleb in Sauk Rapids as he was sick and couldn't go to daycare. We spent the rest of the week working at the bank.
Went to Benson Saturday afternoon to check on Bob's mom - she's about the same - was sleeping when we got there, we woke her after a bit - not sure if she knew us or not - and then back to sleep.
Stopped by Bob's sister Linda and Terry for a short visit before we headed back to the trailer.
Saturday was back to Sauk Rapids to watch the boys while D & B went to a wedding. Stayed overnight and took them to church - interesting - very normal 3 & 2 yr old boys full of energy. In the afternoon we went out to Bob and Joni's for cards, refreshments, a meal and lotsa laughs. Our 30 year friendship has been great - so many experiences to look back on and have a good laugh.
So this week is back to work, Bob has a meeting in St Paul on Thursday. We will be cooking hamburgers at the local grocery store for a church fundraiser on Friday and Saturday.
Kari is back surgery Friday so we will be watching Rya Friday and overnight then will take her to the other grandparents Saturday morning. No plans for Sunday but I'm sure something will come up.
So next time - take care.