On The Road Again

 Hi all,
So we left out on Monday, plan was to head to Lake of the Ozarks for a few days but the drive Monday was to get us closer. We don't have a strict rule when traveling but do try and keep the drives to around 250 miles.
 Day one ended at Chapin, Ill. just west of Springfield. Wendy searches out Passport America parks and found Buena Vista Farms Campground on the list. We pulled in at about 2:30 so time for a few short strolls in the park and then guess what? They have private ponds so a little time to cast a line and relax. I did catch a few small bass and quite a few blue gill but kept nothing. While I did that Wendy spent her time on a couple pine needle baskets- ahhhh!- finally relaxing.
 Day two got us into Lake of The Ozarks State Park, we had not made a reservation and asked for a non reservable site. We scored nicely getting a site right on the lake. Lake of the Ozarks is a beautiful area and we were hitting it at almost peak fall colors. Not visually as grand as many areas it still boast pretty autumn shades and seeing the leaves drop into the water is a site.

 Weather was great and we got in some nice hikes in the park. A must do in the park is visiting the two swinging bridges that are still in use today.  The bridges became a necessity in 1931 due as the Bagwell Dam that created the Ozark Lake increased the streams crossing.
 The first bridge over Mill Creek spans 125 feet has had more recent repairs it is covered by corrugated steel panels causing quite a noisy  crossing. The second bridge, Au Glaize Bridge at 400 feet still contains the wooden planks, some looking to be in dire need of repair. 

 
 Another day we drove about the area and checked out a large outlet mall, we didn't spend much time doing that as the weather was to nice to be inside. I almost forgot we checked out Ozarks Distillery although they only do tours on Saturdays.
 Friday we made a trip to nearby Ha Ha Tonka State Park. This is a neat day use park that holds numerous unique geology features including a natural bridge, a steep sinkhole named the Coliseum, a couple caves, and Ha Ha Tonka Spring- discharging 48 million gallons of water daily.
 It also boast the remains of a huge castle, this was started in 1905 by wealthy businessman Robert M. Snyder. Construction halted a year later with Snyders untimely death, one of Missouri's first auto fatalities. Eventually his sons completed their fathers dream although not as elaborate as he had planned. The property eventually leased as a hotel until a fire erupted in 1942 from sparks from a chimney. It also destroyed a carriage house nearby, a water tower was later destroyed by a fire caused from vandals. Today only the stone remains are left to be seen.
 There are nice trails and boardwalks that make it easy for visitors to explore and views from bluff overlooks that gave awesome fall colors.

 Sunday we took a 1-1/2 mile hike along the lakefront then had supper at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the Packers get to 6-0. Sure is nice to get back on the road again!

Happy Halloween

Hi all,
So the countdown to lift off has begun, 7 days until departure.
 We continue with preparations getting both the truck and rv brakes checked and grease and filters. Brakes checked out okay after three years on the road that is pretty good, that Allison tranny doing the downshifting saves a bunch. Tires on the rv are three years old and show little wear. We replaced truck tires last year so things should be good for a while--knock on wood.
 I have two doctor appointments yet and Wendy has some blood work then that's it. We will make one more drive to visit with Wendy's parents for a couple days, a fish fry with the old high school friends and one last visit with the kids on Sunday then were are outta here!
 Wendy enjoyed lunch and catching up with the boss she had when she was cleaning houses. They worked together about 6-1/2 years before the owners sold the franchise.

Linda and Wendy

 We also got a chance to catch up with dear friends Rick and Rita. Rita's kids whom we camped with for years were having a going away party for them as they are relocating to Henderson , Nev. We were grateful to get a chance to see them all and see them off. Hopefully if things work out we will get a chance to see them in Nevada in the spring.

 We had a Halloween camp out with the kids this past weekend. We have done Halloweens campouts at Indian Trails Campground in Pardeeville for over 20 years. We didn't get to dressed up this year, just couldn't get motivated for that. But the kids did and we walked around with them getting adult treats.

daughter Colleen with Isaiah and Lukas

Grandson Noah(bunny)and his buddies in crime

We had a good time, sad part was this happened on the same weekend as our 40th high school reunion so we had to skip out on that, oh well.
 Weather has been getting chilly with highs in the 60s and lows dipping to 40. Fall colors are just beginning to change, overall fall is the best time of the year here but it is also a reminder that winter fast approaching.

Lukas and Isaiah

Busy Bees

Hi all,
 We have a pretty busy schedule trying to prepare for year four on the road to begin. I even made a list of to dos to get it done. We still have a couple doctor appointments, and get brake checks on both the truck and RV.
Wendy and I spent half day changing some strings on the day/night shades. We were saving this for a rainy day project but finally just went for it.
  I had read that 130 lb. test fishing line works good for this. The bad part of that is I could only find online on a 500 yard spool. We should have enough to do a couple hundred shades or find some buddies that need some. )

We're also getting in some nice family visits with the kids. We have a Halloween campout with them that we are looking forward to. We have also been running in to see my dad and have had a couple nice get togethers with some of my siblings.

Dad with a basket Wendy made him.

Dar, Diane, Corey, Me, and Russ

Me, Corey, and Russ

Russ and Mary

Dar and Dennis

 We have yet to get with our high school friends and schedules are making it difficult. We did get with Jake and Dawn for a fun night of cards and we have been invited to a going away party for dear friends Rita and Rick who are moving to Henderson, Nev.
  As of now we plan to leave out on Oct. 12, we start volunteering in AZ Nov.1. This should give us almost three weeks to slowly make our way there. Wendy is trying to plan a different route that will take us on untraveled (to us) roads.
 The campground here is in slowdown mode, very few campers during the week but busy on weekends. We had a group that call themselves Eggshellers in for a rally. It was quite neat to see 35 of the little buggers. They are not exclusive to a single manufacturer but are molded fiberglass units. Some of the units new and some were antique, some were even produced by UHaul that they rented out years ago.

Excel Fall Outting

Hi all,
 Spent a nice two weeks with Wendy's folks, we were glad to be able to help out while her mom recuperated from her surgery. She is doing pretty good, having way less pain, hopefully she won't push things to hard when we leave. Her dad was going back to work to help with the cranberry harvest. He has done this now for the past 6 or 7 years, although at 85 years old he really doesn't need to. He is just to stubborn to slow down, maybe that's a good thing.
 After we left we attended our Excel camping club fall outing. It was being held in Osseo, WI at Stoney Creek Campground. We had a pretty good turn out with 13 units. We had been exclusive to Excel rv's but due to the company closing we have allowed sobs (some other brands) to join.

 One former Excel owner had just bought a new class A motorhome and it was nice to have them continue as club members. They gave us all a nice tour of their rig, pretty spiffy although they had not owned it for a couple months and some high winds hit the building it was in doing quite a bit of damage. He was having to take it back to Indiana for repairs soon, awful sad but all looked repairable.
So what do we do at our outings, for one thing we sure don't miss a meal.) The highlight being dinner at the Norske Nook Restaurant and Bakery. A scrumptious dinner followed up with some of their prize winning pies. We had some good breakfasts, a nice pizza fest and lunch out a couple times. WE really need to get back to our normal eating habits, that or start wearing sweat pants everywhere.
 We also did a couple neat tours, a bit north is Leinenkugels Brewery one of the oldest breweries in the US. We did the tour then enjoyed a few tasty samples.

 Day two we headed for the Highground Veterans Memorial Park, although Wendy and I had just done this a week or so earlier we opted to hang with the group and do it again. We were glad we did as we stopped at the Silver Dome, a ballroom listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Built in 1933 it is a one of a kind structure featuring a complete oval trussed roof, most buildings like this were made with squared ends. It still houses the circular bar with original cash registers and a walk in cooler in the middle. The floor is narrow hardwood slats that is worn down to nails in some areas.
 The Silver Dome is a real blast from the past holding posters of previous talents there from the big band era, to country western, and even some heavy metal to round things off. As a country fan I was amazed to read that Johnny Cash and George Jones performed on the same stage with Johnny Paycheck in the band.

 The dome is still used today and we were lucky to tour as a group was decorating it up for a benefit party later today.

Highground Veterans Memorial Park

Hi all,
 Decided to take a drive the other day as Wendy's mom was getting antsy sitting at home. She is doing well recovering from her surgery but still pretty limited on what she can do.
 They had read about a Veterans Memorial Park that was not to far and after losing Wendy's brother to cancer in February and him being a Vietnam vet they wanted to see about getting a stone placed honoring him.
 The Highground Memorial Park is located near Neillsville, WI.  A 146 acre park placed there as a central location to all of Wisconsin. The location high on a hill offers spectacular views of woodland and glacial moraines.
 In 1965 Tom Miller was holding his mortally wounded friend on a Vietnam battle field and vowed his death will not be forgotten. In 1984 Miller and others began what was to be a Vietnam  War Memorial but has since expanded the mission to honor human courage and sacrifice wherever it is displayed. The memorial now features 17 different tributes honoring persons in past and present conflicts. There are also plans for a new tribute to the military working dog.
 The project is not funded by any state or federal monies and exist due to hundreds of volunteers and donations.
 We picked a beautiful day for the drive and enjoyed using the free audio tour that explained each memorial. We are planning to have a stone added to honor Wendy's brother in a ceremony next June.

Tribute honoring Native American

Korean Tribute

Meditation Garden area

WWII Women Pilots(WASP) tribute

Gold Star honoring those families who lost a loved one

The Registry creates the true legacy

Replica Liberty Bell visitors encouraged to Let Freedom Ring