Homework

Dear All,
We have another beautiful day in AZ.  It is hard to get use to.  Every day is the same a little breeze, sunshine, and warm temperature.  Nothing like Iowa where every day is something different.
Each day more units pull in and I would guess after the first of the year more will come.  We met another couple from Iowa today.  They are off 35 between Ames and Ankeney.  It's fun to watch the units pull in and watch how they back up and sit up.  We have decided we don't do too bad.

White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Sliding down the White Sand Dunes

AZ Sunrise

Blooming Sage Bush on our space

Office

Home Sweet Home

Blooming Cactus

Purple Cactus

St. Xavior Mission, South of Tucson

Picking Cotton

Casa Grande Ruins, AZ

Alice and Kay

Polly, Barbara, Jack

Ken 

Kay

Barbara and Jack

A lady up the row from us was a computer teacher, she gave me a lesson in down loading pictures and an assignment to write a blog so I'll give it a try.
The cotton picking was about 3 miles from our RV Park.
The purple and blooming cactus was at the mission.
It is a metal roof over the main building of the ruins.  It was put up in 1939 for weather protection.  This was a very interesting National Historic Park to visit.
Pictures of Alice, Kay, Barbara, Jack, Ken and Polly were taken at Kay and Ken's home.  We had met for lunch and than went to their house for desert.
Jack will retire Dec. 14th and is so very anxious to be done.
Love Mother

Back again

Good Morning Dear Ones,
We are in Eloy, AZ.  It is a little town 8 miles South of Casa Grande, AZ.  It is a farm community that has been mostly forgotten.  It was founded in 1902 and most of the buildings are original. 
There are cotton fields around us and cotton harvest will be finished in December.  It was pretty interesting to see the cotton pickers and the huge bales of cotton in the fields.  The bales are now being hauled to the cotton gins.  There is a tour the middle of December but we will be in Iowa.  Sorry, to miss it.
We have small mountains on the East and West of our campground.  So, I get to watch the sun rise and set.  It is amazing how different each sunrise and sunset is.  It is one of my most treasured events each day.  I think one of the best things about retirement is the time I have to enjoy this wonderful gift God gives to us each day.  It is more beautiful than any man made Church or place of worship.  This morning as I sit here and look out the window God is just starting His fantastic show.  The first orange of sunrise is coming up over the mountains, wispy gray clouds and the tall palm trees are in the fore ground.  As the orange increases the gray clouds turn a pinkish orange.  I enjoy this special time of morning so very much and a cup of tea makes it about perfect.  Everything in my world is at peace.
On our way to our winter home in AZ.  we stopped in Branson, Mo.  The fall colors were beautiful.  The trees covered so many hills.  We saw one valley that is called the New England of the Ozarks.  The trees were so pretty.  We missed the colors in New England but we were still able to enjoy the colors of the Ozarks.  How lucky we are.
We try to see Presidential Library's as we travel across this country.  LBJ's Library was closed to remodeling so we opted for the ranch.  We thoroughly enjoyed this stop in the Texas Hill Country.  The gentle rolling hills were very pretty.  There is more rain in this area so things were greener.  LBJ raised registered Hereford cattle on his ranch.  After his death part of the ranch was donated to the park service and it is now a National Park and the park service maintains a herd of registered Hereford cattle descended from LBJ breeding program.  It was interesting and it was nice to see cattle grazing on the land.  Gene made the comment that it was cattle like his Dad bought for his feed lots.  We both remembered all the pictures of cattle that we sorted through when we cleaned out their house in Marcus.
On our way to the Hill Country we stayed in Fredericksburg, TX.  When we pulled in on Friday afternoon the town was full of people and a wine tasting party was going on.  This little town of 10,000 has an activity or celebration every weekend.  They have found their secret to survival.  The town is full of tourist, shops, hotels and restaurants.  The thing I noticed about the town was the extra wide main street.  I commented as we pulled our unit down the main street " Boy, we have enough room to turn around on this street".  Later, we found out that when the town was established in the "1800"  the teams of oxen's and wagons needed a lot of room to turn around.  Today, this is appreciated by all the drivers of motor homes and RV's that come to town for a visit.  A perfect example of History repeating itself.
The sun is just about to break over the mountains.  It is a brilliant burst of light.  I hope some of my neighbors are also enjoying this show, but the units all look pretty quiet.  No dogs are walking their masters yet.
Yesterday, one of our neighbors asked me if we knew where Decorah, IA was.  She was so excited about the Eagle cam.  She was a teacher in St. Louis and has watched the Eagles for a number of years.  How small the world is.
There is a stirring in the bedroom so Dad and Bailey are waking up.  We get to start another wonderful day of retirement.  Love Mother

8-6-12

Good Monday Morning,
When I was writing the last post I couldn't remember if I had shared our time in Mass. with you.  It was a Senior moment or I was having trouble remembering where we are.
We spent 6 days in Mass. We did a trolly tour of Boston.  We had a great time along with the other 100,000 tourists.  It was busy, what I noticed at first was all the noise.  The fire trucks, police, ambulances and just traffic.  As we walked the streets sightseeing the side walks were full.  No one made eye contact and everyone was in a hurry.  I decided I would never make it in a city.  That time of my life has passed.  Give me a lawn chair in the sun where I can watch the world go by and the quiet of the country and the stars at night.  I just love the sunrises and sunsets and we have seen so many.
Back to Boston, the tours were great and we saw so much History.  The Freedom walk was nice and we saw so much.  The old cobbled streets, the old cemeterys (graves dating back to the 1600's.)  The city is very protective of all the History and I would definetly recommend it.  We took a tour of Fenway Park.  Alot of Baseball History and it was a great tour.  We did a lot of walking and stairs after stairs.  It was hot, perfect baseball weather.  It is the oldest baseball park still in use (they are celebrating 100 years this year).
We found an Irish Memorial dedicated to the immigrants.  It was very nice and peaceful.  It was right on Beacon Street.  People were sitting on the benches and enjoying the little park and the pigeons were enjoying the statues.  We had lunch at "Cheers" bar it was an experience and good lunch worth waiting for.
We spent a day on Cape Cod.  We really enjoyed that.  It was great to see the Atlantic Ocean and the rugged beaches.  The Atlantic coast line is alot of rocks, cliffs and a few beaches.  Every beach we saw was full of people.  If you have time, look up Greenbrier on Cape Cod.  Amanda told us about it, they had visited the place.  I had such a great time there.  It was full of gardens, bird houses, and resisdent bunnies and hedge hogs.  I met the most delightful 2 boys that were so willing to give us a tour and tell us all about the bunnies, bugs, butterflies and turtles.  They were young volunteers that took their jobs very seriously.  In an old house volunteers make jam and jellies the old fashioned way.  Our unit is getting full of maple syrup, maple spread, jam and jellies.
We also toured Kennedy's Library.  We enjoyed it very much. It was very peaceful on the ocean looking towards the Boston skyline.  Could see the Boston skyline and the old North Church steeple from the Kennedy Library (from Paul Revere's ride "two lanterns" in the Church steeple-the British are coming by sea.
We also saw the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston harbor.  It is the oldest sailing ship still in use.  It is considered very desirable duty for the Navy-very sought after by the sailors stationed there.  It dates back to battles of the War of 1812. It was nicknamed "old ironsides" by the opposing forces because their cannon balls couldn't breech the sides.  It wasn't actually made of iron, but the 12" oak beams that it was made of apparently were as tough as iron.
We also saw a replica of one of the ships from the "Boston Tea Party." That skirmish with the British was over taxes.  The British thought that the colonists liked their tea so well that they would pay the extra tax on the tea.  When all of the tea (from three sailing ships) ended up in Boston Harbor, the British found out that the colonists were a rather subborn group that were ready to fight for their beliefs.
Our housekeeping chores are about done and must get ready for the tour of the day.  Sometimes, it is only to the store.  Love you much, Mother.
(I think Mother has pretty well covered our Boston trip, however I have to add just one tidbit about Paul Revere that the trolly driver mentioned.  He said Paul Revere had 8 children by his first wife.  After his first wife died, he remarried and had another 8 children with his second wife.  "It woud appear that he didn't spend all of his time on horseback).
Love Dad.

8-6-12

Good Morning All,
We are in Rhrinebeck, NY.  We arrived here last Thursday and will be here until 8-9-12.  John (Christine's oldest) spent the weekend with us.  He came up Friday evening on the train from New York City.  He saw alot of trees, mountains and not many people.  We had such a great visit.  It is so good to see and visit with the grandchildren.  He is busy with his summer internship and his other two jobs.  He will move back into the dorms next week and soccer practice starts right after that.  He is at NYU Brooklyn and will graduate with digital media, and creative writing.  He told me alot more but I think that is his goal in a nutshell.  He his enjoying the huge city life. 
Our internet service is almost nill.  I am at the rec center where they have some.  Yesterday afternoon was none, but a heavy storm went thru last night so maybe that was part of the problem.  No cell phone service.  We feel a little out of touch.
Rhrinebeck sits on the Hudson River and at the foot of the catskills.  It is a pretty area and of course there are lots of trees.  Right here the Hudson River is a mile wide.  I don't know about the rest of it.  It reminds me of the Mississippi up in Winona, MN.
Today, after the maint. jobs we will tour Franklin Roosevelts home and Library.  Tomorrow we are off for a day tour of Conn.  We aren't very far from West Point so will see how it goes.  We are getting real good at drive bys.  Maybe, we are getting tired and it is time to point the truck West and start for Storm Lake. We still think of that as home.  We are proud to have the Iowa license plate.  Not too many people know where it is but that is ok.  We don't have alot of people which is great.  Do you suppose we are getting tired of traffic and people. 
At times my Midwest thinking shows.  I asked the desk clerk at our last campground outside of Boston how big the town of Bellingham, Mass. was.  It seemed about 3000 to me.  She said," It is 6 miles long and 2 miles wide"  She was dead serious and even thought about it for awhile.  Population never entered her mind.  At one of our stops I ordered a veggie burger.  In Iowa I would have gotten, hamb. lettuce, tomato and onion.  Here, we got a black bean veggie burger.  So when in East do as the Easterners do.  We have met so many wonderful people and have enjoyed all the sights, sounds and people of the East Coast.  Vermont and Maine are winning for the best spots.
Love Mother

Good Morning Loved Ones,
We are in Trenton, Maine.  It it very close to Bar Harbor.  Our campground is on Two Narrows which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  As I set here I can see the water.  The beach is rocky and a lot of sea gulls sit on the beach.
We arrived Thursday afternoon and it has been one beautiful day after another.  The air is cool and dry. The weather forecasters call it the cool Canada air flow.  There are units here from Florida, South Carolina, New York and Mass.  They spend the summer here out of the city heat.
We are 7 miles from the entrance to Acadia National Park.  It is beautiful.  As with every National Park I thank the foresight of people who saved this land for others to enjoy.  We have toured the different harbors that are in the park - Bar Harbor which is the deepest and accommodates large yachts, and cruise ships, Bass Harbor which has an operating light house and the only one that can be driven too.  It was really nice to walk the path leading up to the lighthouse.  It is maintained by an officer of the coast guard and the little house connected to the lighthouse is occupied by him and his family. It is an isolated spot out on a point high above the harbor.  A beautiful view of the ocean and I would guess they get very tired of all the tourists in the summer time.  I bet they can open up their curtains in the Winter and enjoy their privacy.
Saturday, we took a carriage ride on the "Rockefeller Carriage Roads".  There are 55 miles of carriage roads that cars are not allowed on.  Hikers, bicyclist, and the horse drawn wagons are allowed.  It is quite a story on how these bridges and roads were built, starting in 1913 thru 1932. 
On our tour there was a couple from Ohio, our driver asked them if they new where Holmes County was?  They didn't but we did.  Holmes County( home to one of the largest Amish communities in the US) is close to Christine and we stayed at a campground in Millersburg, OH (Holmes County)  The driver and her father own the horses that pull the carriages.  They have a contract with the parks department to provide this concession within the park.  They have a string of 35 draft horses that they purchased from the Amish in Millersburg.  Their horses cost about 3,000 and up.  Emily(drivers name) and her father take them up to Holton, Maine to their farm for the winter.  It was an interesting story and we enjoyed her and the ride.  It is so interesting to hear about these people and their jobs and their love of nature and how hard they work to keep the environment clean. 
The only things you can take from the park are pictures and 1 dry qt. of wild blueberries.  There are wild blueberries growing every where.  Now is the season for them and along the road are stands selling wild blueberries(smaller and juicier than the produced ones)  I bought some yesterday and made short bread, served the blueberries and whip cream on top.  A very delicious treat.  According to the official Maine recipe - 6 cups of wild blueberries, 6T of water, 3T of sugar, 1T of lime juice(or to your taste) cook this down until you have a syrup.  It was delicious.  Pat this is a note to you, I know how your family loves blueberries.  Right now in the restaurants they are serving, scones, popovers, pancakes, and short bread with wild blueberries.  It is quite the eating experience.
Dad and I have tried ice cream all along our journey.  Each state, town all acclaim the best ice cream.  We feel Ben and Jerry's at the factory in Vermont was the best but yesterday we stopped at a little roadside ice cream shop called Blueberry Hill (cute name)  it was painted white with flower boxes and outside picnic tables (how could we resist) it came in second with out a doubt.  Every one hoards their recipes and they should.  We have decided that ice cream is the number one treat.  There are shops all over the US.
The campgrounds is waking up.  I call it the parade of dogs.  The dogs all look good but their walkers have an interesting dress code: pj's, shirts and shorts, just shorts, bath robes, and jeans.  The dogs all look wide awake and peppy, the walkers are another story.
One of our neighbors just pulled out.  I like to watch a unit get ready to go.  It is a check list of things to do before you finally pull out.  I always wonder where they are headed and what their next adventure will be.  This unit left behind 2 nice lounge chairs, picnic table cloth and a bar b que and a yard mat.  I wonder when they will discover it is missing or if they will think about it before set up tonight.  The chairs are really nice.
I can't close this blog without telling you about sunrises.  I wanted a picture of the sunrise on the Atlantic (I have a picture of the sun setting on the Pacific).  In Acadia National Park, there is Cadillac Mountain where you can watch the sun come up over the Atlantic.  This was on my bucket list.  We drove up to Cadillac (named after an explorer) Mountain the first night we were here.  It was a switch back road all the way up.  The guard rails were boulders(medium size rocks, I thought) and at the peak was very jagged rocks and boulders not a nice place to sit and watch the sunrise.  Everywhere you go parking is a premium.  Like 100 spaces and a 1000 cars.  We asked the park ranger if it was busy and what day would be best to go.  He laughed and said,"Every one in this park is asking the same question.  The best way is to hike up to the top with a blanket.  Sun rises tomorrow morning at 5:08 and you best plan on being there at least a hour early and hope for the best.  I was so disappointed and it bothered me that I would not see the sun rise on the Atlantic.  From our campsite we can see the Narrows, that flow into the Atlantic and we can see Cadillac Mountain.  Friday morning we took our lawn chairs down to the beach about 4:45, we took our coffee and tea,  as we sat there we could see all the head lights crawling up the road to Cadillac Mountain,  we saw the most beautiful sun rise come up over the island in the Narrow, we saw the sea gulls fly out to sea when the sun rose and it became light.  We sat and held hands and sipped our coffee and tea and Bailey sat on my lap.  It was one of those moments that God provided for us.  To thank Him for our family, to ask Him to take care of our family and all extended family.  It was one of those moments when you realize the only thing that counts is family and love.  I adjusted my bucket list a little bit but God gave me so much more.
I must make this closing note.  The unit that left when I started writing and left their belongings just pulled back in.  I so pleased they remembered because those 2 chairs looked pretty lonely and now they will be used again at their next stop. 
Yesterday, at Mass we had a sister speak from Kenyon Africa, Their greeting in her tribe was - To the person you meet -God is Good, they answer All the Time, your both respond, God is Good.  Pretty neat.  So God is Good, All the Time, God is Good.
Love Mother

7-17-12

Dear Loved Ones,
We have left Vermont and are in a campground in New Boston, NH.  I am always looking for a campground out in the country in a not so populated area.  We are in the country surrounded by trees.  We have very poor cell phone reception and we had to buy internet service.  The Hot Spot on our phone didn't work.  That is the first time.  Maybe, I will have to consider being in a more civilized area.  It is has been very hot and muggy the last few days and not much breeze in campground.  All the trees must block the wind.
Today, we drove Portsmouth, NH.  It is close to the Atlantic Ocean.  We took a drive down the NH. coast.  I thought it was interesting the State parks were free but to park was 15.00 fee for access to the beaches.  The beaches were very crowded and all the resorts, rental houses were full.  Parking is at a premium wherever we go.  It is prime family vacation time.  There are alot of fish houses, lobster boils, choddar.  We must be in New England.
We were sorry to leave Vermont.  It was a beautiful with all the green mountains.  I really enjoyed talking to the maple sugar growers.  A sugar maple has to be 40 years old before it can be tapped.  They live up to 400 years.  That was a big surprise.  Sugar harvest last 5 or 6 weeks.  Fifty acres can have up to 1000 trees and they can support 2200 to 2500 sap pails.  Alot of the sugar groves are family operated and they sell from their front porches and their barns.  That's my History lesson for the day.
Thursday morning we leave for Maine.  We will have about 10 days in Maine split between two campgrounds.  The season is busy and we can't always get the sites we want or for the time we would like.  But it is exciting to hook up and see what the next one looks like and what we will find.  Every area we have been in has beauty and history.  The people have been great all along our travels.
After Maine we will go to Mass. for 5 days.  We are staying 30 minutes out of Boston.  The campgrounds is close to rail service into Boston.  We will pick up tours of Boston at the train station and there are kennels to board Bailey in the town where the campground is located.  So hope all the reservations go as we planned. 
We plan on being back in Iowa the last week of August.  Hope to be in Scott County Park near Bob. 
It always good to come back to the unit after a day of bumming and sight seeing,We had one couple tell us that being retired and traveling is a full time job.  They work very hard at it and I guess we are the same.  We are tired each evening and feel we have worked hard and it is so good to come into our unit and take our shoes off.
Tomorrow, we are going to do a little shopping.  We are looking for a tire gauge, hydraullic jack and small air compressor.  Hope we find the right sizes, latest styles and that they fit.  I never thought I would be excited shopping for tools.  OH, how the priorties change.
Please, excuse the spelling, the spell check isn't working.  There is always some glitch to contend with.  Love to all, Mother

7-10-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am looking out our back window at a small lake.  We are camped about 100' from it.  The sun is shining on it and mist is floating across the surface.  It is a very beautiful, peaceful area.  It is 41 degrees out this morning.  I turned the fireplace on to take the chill off.  After the heat of Ohio I hate to admit it is cool.  They have had more rain here it is green.  As I sit here and write I am waiting for a deer or some animal to come down to the lake for an early morning drink.  It is that quiet and peaceful.  
We are in outside of Williamstown, VT.  We got in yesterday about noon.  We had to cross Lake Champlain to get to VT. from the area we were at in New York.  We had planned to drive up to the Canadian boarder until someone told us to take the ferry across.  It was kind of scary driving the truck and unit onto the ferry but they take big rigs across all the time.  It took 12 minutes to cross the lake and saved us 150 miles of driving. 
We are in the North Central part of the state, 75 miles in all directions and we can cover the state.  The mountains are covered with trees.  I can see why there is such a tourist attraction in the fall.  If all of these trees put on a color show it would be spectacular.  We will be here a week and see what Vermont has to show us.
In New York we were 10 miles north of Lake Placid.  It was a very wooded campsite but they had big rig sites and we got in with no trouble.  We had to check Bailey after each walk for ticks.Lake Placid has memories of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics but it is mostly a ski resort in the winter and a very upscale shopping and restaurant business in the summer.  The place was so crowded.  The main street winds through the town, it is narrow and parking is a premium.  It reminded me of Aspen, Breckenridge, Durango and Vail, Colorado.  It is a happening place.  Lake Placid will host the Iron man race  in 2 weeks so there were a lot of bicyclists training.  The narrow, winding roads with all the bicycles made driving slow going.  Lake Placid is called the High Peaks area.  The mountains are 4500 to 5000 feet this is high compared to the smaller ones where David is working.  We were about 65 miles from David's base camp.  We were able to pick him up on Saturday morning and he stayed Saturday night with us and took him back Sunday morning.  He is crew leader on this 8 day hitch in the wilderness.  He was responsible for planning the meals and what tools would be needed for the project they are working on.  It was so interesting to hear him talk about his work and how they accomplish the jobs without power equipment.  This 8 day hitch they are making a new trail ( 3 1/2 miles up the mountain).  They will clear the area and make the trail 6' wide and make walking steps out of the dirt and rocks.  Their work allows visitors to the State Park to hike and enjoy the beautiful scenery in remote areas.  They only take a gas powered chain saw all the rest of the tools are manual.  He is getting a hard work out without having to pay the price of a fitness center.  He is looking very "Buff".  I think that is a good word to explain his physical condition.  They have a unique way to sleep to keep the mosquitoes and deer flies off of their face;  wear a baseball cap, insert ear plugs and put mosquito netting over you.  The bill of the baseball cap keeps the netting raised from your face and the ear plugs keeps you from hearing the buzzing and it also helps if the guy next to you snores.  Pretty smart.
We talked to Pat this week and he was telling us about Landon's summer job.  There grape vines have been infested with Japanese Beetles and Pat didn't want to use any chemicals on the vines.  Soooo, Landon is in charge of picking off the bugs and dropping them in a dish of water and liquid soap. ( Dawn dish washing soap mixed with water.  When the bugs hit the water the soap disperses and the bug sinks and drowns.)  I hope he is getting paid for this important job.  Grandma thinks at least a penny a bug would be fair.  It would give him an incentive to bug hunt.
We are grounded in camp today.  When we leveled our unit yesterday we noticed the back wheel on the drivers side wobbled, Dad thought for sure it was loose lug nuts but they were tight.  A Good Sam service tech is coming today so hopefully he can fix it or tell us where to have it fixed.  The Lord takes such good care of us.  We could have had trouble out on the road.  Love to all, Mother
PS:  Joleen, I can't get the pictures to insert into the blog.  I will send you a picture of David and us.  Sorry.  

7-5-12
Dear Children, Grandchildren and family,
We are in Watkins Glen, NY.  We are camped across the street from Seneca Lake, the biggest lake in the Finger Lake region of upper New York State.  It 36 miles long and over 600' deep.  So it is a little bigger than Storm Lake.  The sail boats on the lake were beautiful this afternoon.  It is so dry here all the grass in the campground is brown.  The campground looks kind of rough.  It is busy with alot of families vacationing.
We left Christine's area at 5:30 this morning and were here by 1:30.  It was close to 400 miles.  We have about 360 miles tomorrow and that will put us in the Lake Placid area.  Our campsite is about 70 miles from David.  He gets back into camp Friday at 5:00.  We will call and check out when we can see him.
It is exciting to be on our way to the New England States and the East Coast.  We have wanted to do this for a long time.  We always planned on the trip the first fall after Gene retired but most of the campgrounds close by October 1st.  So we came now. 
We drove through the Allegany Mountains today.  They are covered with trees.  We saw a Bear Crossing sign along the Interstate.  We don't see that every day.  They would have a hard time hiding in the corn fields. 
There is a real nice breeze off the lake.  We are across the road and the 3rd unit down.  So hope we can shut off the air conditioner and open the windows tonight.  It has been hot in Ohio, just like the rest of the Midwest. 
Mike had a great 50th birthday.  The kids delighted in telling him he was older than a number of things:  Cell phones, lap pads, Iphones, Ipads, Zip codes, and almost older than McDonalds.  They opened in 1961.  Mary had a party for him on his birthday and his sister Kelley and family surprised him.  John was able to come home over the weekend but had to be back at work on Monday.  So Mike was able to celebrate a good 5 days.  His office staff surprised him with 50 bottles of beer on his desk and computer stand.  50 different brands.  He was able to bring them all home and we know he will enjoy.
Just a little note to keep you posted on our journey.  Love Mother

P.S.

Will add just a couple of things to Mother's blog.

Dianne starts a new job with Aetna next Monday.  Mother talked to Dianne and she is looking forward to her new job.  Bob had lasic surgery this week.  He is getting along fine.  He is looking forward to no glasses or contacts-will be especially nice when he is swimming.  John Harrington leaves for Germany July 10th or 11th - an internship through school-working with Google Maps.  He is excited about his upcoming trip.  Joleen & Ann are working hard on their summer tans-they are working checking seed corn fields after the detasslers have gone through.  They are really excited about their summer jobs.  Love Dad. 

6.28.12
Good Morning All,
I am watching the sun come up.  It has a promise of a beautiful morning.  The campground is very quiet.  It is mostly retired people here.  They are in Amish country for the shopping and the food.  Lots of family styled restaurants, home made pies and fresh veg. and in season fruit stands.  The buggies start going down the road at day break. 
A group of Amish men were shocking oats the other day and yesterday one farmer and his team were mowing hay.  They take put their life on the line every time they venture out on the highways.  The traffic goes whizzing by the horse and buggy.  Trotters pull the buggies and beautiful Belgins ( looks like Belgins to me) pull the farm equipment.  They have an auction every Wednesday and from what little I know the horses look stunning.  The gardens are huge and wash hang out on the lines every day.  Sunday is a day of rest.  Everything shuts down.  When we get off the main highway and go back on the gravel roads, their places are neat, houses painted white and barns red.  It is beautiful to see this against the green hills and trees of Ohio.  It is peaceful and quiet.
Today, we are cleaning out a few more things for another trip to the Goodwill.  If I buy something, something else has to go.  We have a few more maintenance jobs to do also.  Than we are of to lunch with Christine and Mike.
We have really enjoyed out time here.  It is great to see and visit and be a part of their daily routine.  Work and soccer pretty much take up their time.  Mike is coaching Peter's team and they have practice and open fields. Elizabeth and Emma are playing in a summer league to keep up their skills for fall soccer.  Mike is helping with that.  Both girls will play on the highschool team in the fall.
We are getting our trip planned to New England.  Yesterday, we booked a campsite an hour North of New York City.  They offer tours from the campsite into the city.  So we have that lined up and they have a service available for pet sitting.  They will come to your unit, let your pet out for a short walk and feed them or there is kennels in the area.  We will be there August 9th thru August 16th.  We will visit John on the 11th and 12th.  We will be able to take a train in.  We do this all through the camping books and the internet.  Hopefully, it works out and it's not a complete bust.  We have found that you can't believe all the pictures on the Internet. ( The campsites seem to show the best ones, can you believe that).  It's ok because everytime we walk into the unit we are home.  We can always shut the door and pull the blinds.  Really, we have had great stays where ever we are.  The people are wonderful, the sunrises and sunsets are outstanding. 
Yesterday, we took Peter and a friend to " Fun Acres".  It wasn't crowded and it was a great park.  Christine was able to go along too.  We were able to purchase 2 hour wrist bands:  go carts, water boats, laser tag, and mini golf.  Since it wasn't real busy the boys had a great time.  When they got hot on the go carts, they would go to the boats which had squirt guns on them and get soaked.  Peter has been feeling left out.  Emma is in Myrtle Beach with a friend and Elizabeth is in Chicago with Grandma Harrington.
Elizabeth sent Mike a picture of her trying on $160.00 heels in a store on Michigan Ave.  She wanted to know if she could bring them home.  Elizabeth and Mary will be home Saturday night and Emma comes home on Sunday.  Anyway, Peter is enjoying the individual attention.
Peter and Ganon (Peter's friend) spent Tuesday night with us.  We had a fire and did smores and popcorn..  The stars were beautiful as we sat around the fire.  Not many lights out here in Amish country so the night sky puts on a great show.
A few pictures of the fun day we had yesterday.  Dad and Bailey are up so we will start another day of fun.  Love Mother

Dad had the slowest car

Ready to go

Peter had the fastest

Peter gunning for Ganon

Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am up early, a gentle storm rolled over the mountains.  Thunder of in the distance and rain on the roof top woke me up.  Sounded like a good rain.  They can always use rain here, the pastures were getting dry.  Putting up hay on a steep hill must be quite the challenge.
Yesterday afternoon we took a drive to a covered bridge (one of four in TN.) and a farmer was baleing (spelling) hay.  It was about 85 degrees and so very humid.  Not surprised it rained during the night.  The bridge was neat and orginally built by a farmer so he could cross the creek with his horse and wagons.  It is now a piece of history.  A wooden bridge was covered to protect the structure and floor from the elements.  So it was not just for looks or romance.
Dad played golf in the morning.  He played early to beat the heat, Bailey and I rode along.  The course is about 1/4 mile from our campsite, it sure was reasonable 16.00 for all of us.  It was very hilly and steep.  Not quite as bad as the " Highlands" in Redwing, MN. but close.  Lots of trees, creek, rocks but no sand traps.  It was a good time.
Tuesday, we visited Andrew Johnson's birth place in Greenville, TN.  He became President after Lincoln.  He took over at a very uneasy time in American History.  The Union was split and torn apart, the South was in ruin and it was his job to lead the restoration.  He was impeached by the House and acquited by the Senate.  He finished out his term and later was twice elected governor of Tenn.  It was a time of unrest and upheavel in our country.  Johnson was followed by Grant and history tells us what a crooked Presidency he had.  Sounds like History repeats itself.
We also visited Davy Crocket's birth place and Historical Park.  It was a beautiful park with campground and a huge swimming pool.
We enjoyed reading about his life and the early frontier.  Of course we remembered watching " Disney's creation of Davey Crocket".  We remembered most of the Ballad;
"Davey, Davey Crocket born on a mountain top in Tennessee, kilt him a baar when he was only three".  He was a frontiersman, hunter of bears, nearly killed on a keel boat, a representative in Congress, and killed at the Alamo.  We had a fun day.
As I talk to all of you I hear a little family news, will share.
Eliazbeth was beat out of track at the regional level.  They moved up to Division 1 this year and the competition was really stiff competing against the bigger schools.  She remained healthy throughout all the season.
Emma will be graduating from 8th grade.  They are done with school as of today.  All looking forward to summer vacation.
John would like a batch of cinn. rolls while we visit there.
Megan will have a little celebration ending middle school and going to 8th grade.  I think they get out of school the 6th.  Could be wrong on that.
Marrissa will also graduate from 8th grade.  Pat is busy at work and they did hire a intern for the summer so he is also teaching her.  He was wishing for a trained employee.
I think Matt has there pool up or was putting it up over Memorial weekend.  I know he had to work on Saturday.
Amanda and Trevor had a great time in San Antonio.  The time went too fast as vacations always do.
Maggie is recovering from her attack.  The stitches were removed and the vet said, " It was a miracle she survived and no infection set in".  She's a tough old dog.
I don't know if Jim's have heard from David after he arrived in New York.  He flew into Albany and a van picked him up and off they went to the campsite.  Hopefully, he remembers where home is and updates the family.
Our Little House on Wheels is doing fine.  It is keeping us comfortable and safe and no matter where we are, when we walk in " We are home". 
Take care of each other and we love you so very much.  Mother 

5-30-12
Dear Loved Ones,
We left Jackson, TN area yesterday morning.  It was very hot the whole time we were there. Sunday it reached 103.  Thank goodness everything worked in the unit.  The place we stayed at was very crowded for the Memorial weekend.  Didn't have any water pressure Monday morning.  Too many campers trying to take showers and stay cool ( I guess)  We survived and decided we won't tour the South in the late Spring and summer time.  It was very dry.  The hay ground was brown and the leaves on the corn were curling. 
Aunt Bev's party was a great success.  She was really surprised.  They told her she was going to a grandsons birthday party.  She walked in the door carrying the gift and when the surprise registered she said, "What am I suppose to do with this?"
Steven did the cooking, we had pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, cabbage slaw and potato salad bar be que hamb and hot dogs.  It was a bowling theme with decorated cup cakes and cake.  The hall was decorated so nice.  Joy had put together a slide show.  It was great.  We had a good visit with Aunt Bev and her family.  It was good to see Jan's family from Ohio.  Everyone is busy in there little part of the world:  working, raising there families and everyday routines.  It was so nice to have this little time and reconnect.  Jan told stories about helping Uncle Bob repair cars or things around the house.  She was the one that would have to go for parts. She said, "NO,NO, Dad not parts, let me do something else, not parts Dad"  No matter what parts I brought home they would be the wrong ones and I would have to listen to him get mad."  It was so funny listening to her and we all knew how Bob could get upset.
We all agreed Uncle Bob mellowed as he got older.
We are at a campsite in Baileyton, TN for a couple of days.  It is the Northeastern part of the state.  Hills, trees and pasture land.  The crop ground is gone.  Lots of rivers and recreational areas.  It rained during the night the moisture is very thick this morning.  I would call it fog, it looks like the haze over the Smokey Mountains.  It is cool.  We shut the air conditioneer of yesterday evening and opened up the windows.  It was great sleeping.
When Dad wakes up we will start our day and do some sight seeing around the area.
Greenville, Jonesborough, Kingsport.  President Andrew Johnson (17th President) has a museum, Davy Crocketts birth place, and the oldest town in Tenn. which is also the "Story Telling Capital".  The area is beautiful; with winding roads, streams, trees, rock bluffs and the people are so friendly.  "  You all enjoy your day and come back and see us".  I can understand why they move so slow and talk so slow it so hot and humid some days it would be an effort to get up and go.
We are camped next to a couple from Tampa, FL.  Born and raised there and lived their entire lives there.  They retired 31/2 years ago and have been touring the States looking for a place to retire.  They were tired of the city, people, and running the air conditioneer 11 months out of the year.  They want to experience Seasons with the winter not being too harsh.  They bought a house in Jonesborough, TN. on an acre of land.  The town is 5,000 people and a pasture with cows are behind them.  They have never owned a lawn mower and he was so excited about mowing his grass.  I hope their new adventure is everything they are looking for.  It is so neat to listen to people that have hopes and dreams.  We are never too old to try new adventures.  That should be a lesson for all of us. 
Our campsite has a driving range.  The owners made a driving range out of the pasture.  Dad will have to try it out tonight.  Last night there were a couple of guys with bucket of balls.  When we pulled in some one was out there picking up the balls with a golf picker.  We are pretty close to the golf area of Crossville, TN.  Jack Nicholas has designed some golf courses around here. There is enough room for a 3 hole course, maybe that will come with time.
We are in the Eastern time zone.  It is 9:00 and Dad and Bailey are still in bed.  I best start the coffee and see if I can stir up some life in the bedroom.  Love Mother 
 

5-23-12
Hello Everyone,
We left Davenport this morning at 8:00 and were sit up and drinking tea by 3:00pm in Effingham, Il.  It is about 1/2 way to our spot in Tenn.  "Hoss" did great today, we ave. 13 miles per gal.  It was flat and Interstate driving.  We had to take a little detour getting on to I 57 South.  A semi tractor and trailer had overturned on the on ramp to I 57.  They were closing it off just as we were ready to pull onto I57. " Miss Sassy" (our GPS system) got so confused we had to shut her off and dig out the old map.  We had to go about 10 miles around to find another on ramp for I 57.  Thank goodness Gene never leaves home with out maps, books and all navigation tools.
Our day sure went better than that semi driver's.
While we were at Bob's we made a side trip to Granddetour, IL.  That is the historical site for John Deere.  It is where his original home and blacksmith shop was and that is where he invented the stainless steel moleboard plow(1837).  He was from Vermont and followed alot of other settlers from Vermont to Granddetour, IL.  The farmers brought with them the cast iron plows (which worked wonderful in the sandy soil of the East)  The prairie sod was so heavy and rich that those plows would not scour clean when they tried to plow.  Alot of farmers quit and moved back to the East, saying " The prairie could not be farmed, it was worthless".  He remember his Mother polishing her stainless steel needles to sew.  He would help her polish them and than the needles would slip through the material cleaner and faster.
When he first arrived in Granddetour he befriended a saw mill operator.  He repaired his sawmill and got him up and running again.  The saw mill operater said, " If you ever need anything just ask".  John Deere listened to all the complaints about the cast iron plow and an idea formed.  He asked the sawmill operator for a broken steel saw blade and John Deere made is first steel moleboard plow.  The rest is history.  They found a bill of sale for 24.00 in 1837 for one plow.  That was alot of money so they figured a number of farmers went together to buy that first plow.  It was a very interesting tour, the 6 acres of the historical site was beautifully kept, and a black smith was giving demonstrations.  We really enjoyed it.  Dad remembers greasing the plow bottoms each evening with gun grease so they would not take on moisture and rust.  Rust would cause the soil to cling to the plow and what a pain to clean them off.  So much for my History lesson.  I don't know if you kids would know what I am talking about for sure the grandkids won't.
We are planning on going to The Cumberland Gap on our way to Christines.  It is located in the corner of Tenn. KY and Virginia.  It sounds like a lot of History took place there.
Supper is over and the dishes are done, so I am going to go sit in my chair on our front porch.  It is a lovely evening.  Love Mother