Where has the time gone. When I last wrote we were on our way to Door County Wisconsin, and now we are in Tucson, Az!.
Our Wisconsin destination was Egg Harbor, in the Door County peninsula. We had our grandson Zach with us for about 10 days. We also visited with a friend from Morris Kathy Ryder Cecil and her husband Dave. They live full time in Fish Creek, burrrrrrrr!
Besides all our touring around to the various tourist attractions, Zach and I went for a kayak tour on Lake Michigan .
It was a litle bit windy, but a beautiful day to be on the water! Zach did a great job in getting folks linked up to wait for a couple that had capsized and was having a hard time getting back in. Later he coordinated the separation of all the kayaks holding on to each other, so no one ran into another and capsize. Way to go Zach!
One nice thing about being in Door County…. a store actually had .22lr ammunition! Hide and Side in Fish Creek got daily shipments in and I was able to get about 4000 rounds. (some for family and friends) This store is family run and very friendly. Zach wanted to by a new hatchet. He began talking with a young man about his age, who was the son of the owner. Both he and Zach were very knowledgeable about the product. Loretta and I were impressed! Yes he got the hatchet!
Soon our time in Wisconsin came to an end. It had been enjoyable and we will go back someday. Now it is time to head back to Illinois for our 50th class reunion. But first we stopped in Union, Illinois for a couple of days to visit with some friends. Then on to our daughters house in Verona Illinois.
Our class reunion was great! Many had returned, some for the first time. Friday evening was spent at a local establishment for some finger food, conversation and drink. Saturday night was the dinner and of course reminiscing with old friends! What a great time! 3 weeks after the reunion, we lost one of our classmates to cancer. Sue McNabb gave a great testimonial at the reunion. We will miss her, but we know she has a new body and is with her Savior Jesus Christ.
After the reunion, we left Verona and headed to Havana, Illinois to visit with friends there. we stayed in the Baptist Church parking lot. Thanks Daniel Swihart! had a great time with the Jacksons. Our next stop and visit was in Aurora, Kentucky to visit the Webers and the Arrastias. Both couples we had not seen in 2 years. It was great to see them again. The next stop would be the Nashville area, to visit the Stanley family. Cassandra Stanley was a gospel singer that came to our church in Woodstock to perform and we put them up in our home. We became friends and have followed them via FB for a long time. She no longer performs professionally but has embarked on a new adventure, making and selling different bath and beauty products. We had a great time visiting Nashville with the Stanleys and hope to see them again in the future. So ended our friend and family tour. we now are headed to Lake City Colorado.
Our first stop on our journey to Colorado, just had to be Sikeston, Missouri! Home of Lambert’s restaurant, where they throw the rolls! This is the 2nd Lambert’s we have visited. Our first visit was in Foley, Alabama. The next day we had to take Brody to the vet. He was throwing up and had diarrhea again. A quick fluid infusion, some antibiotics and probiotics and he was as good as new in a couple of hours.
A must stop for us was Carthage ,Missouri, the home of the Precious Moments Chapel My mom and dad had visited there several times and enjoyed it very much, especially after their granddaughter, Michaela, died in a pool accident. They saw a figure in one of the
paintings that looked just like Michaela. This brought them a lot of comfort and they even wrote to Mr. Butcher about that. It was a very pretty, interesting and emotional place. I would encourage everyone to visit.
Now the trip gets interesting! Our next planned stop was in Ablene, KS. I had forgotten that the rv park I chose to stop at was one we stopped at last year, when we discovered our refrigerator needed replacing. Hmm is this a bad omen? Yep! Got into the site and started to unhook the car, when I discovered the car was covered with oil! My first thought was they had overfilled my oil pan, when I had the oil changed in Bloomington, Illinois. After checking the slobber tube ( a tube that hangs down to expel oil etc) I confirmed that that was where the oil was coming from.
I got the car unhooked and then proceeded to check my invoice for the work that was done. To my surprise I had paid for 29 qts of oil! I called the shop to confirm this and the answer was yes, but 4 qts were for the generator. That still left 24-25 qts put in the engine. I told him what happened and he said must be something wrong with the engine! I said thank you and hung up and called Cat. They said I had a shallow pan and that it takes 19 qts including filter. All CAT engines put in the Freightliner chassis had shallow pans. Next I called Freightliner and they told me the same answer. My next move was to schedule with a Freightliner dealer an appointment to have my oil changed, dip stick calibrated, the radiator steam cleaned and the slobber tube lengthened. The service man said yes I did have a shallow pan and that it should have taken only 19 qts including the filter. So all the work was done and we were on our way again.
I found the email for the District manager of the Bloomington shop and wrote him an email about what happened, along with documents from CAT and an estimate of what I expected to be reimbursed. I got an immediate response, indication that should not have happened, and thanking me for the CAT documents (there are a Cummings dealer) and that they would reimburse me for my cost and inconvenience. The next day the service manager of the Bloomington shop called and apologized and told me they were going to refund my money plus money that I paid to have the car washed and the steam cleaning of the radiator. I am quite pleased and will use the same shop if ever in Bloomington Illinois again.
Our next stop to visit friends was Salida, Colorado. This time we got 2 for one! John and Leora Meadows and Rod and Rhonda Plinsky. Both couples we had met at Guadalupe River Rv Resort in Kerrville, Texas. We had not seen Rod and Rhonda for several years. A little golfing for the boys and later lunch out with all. It was good to see old friends again.
Our final destination, at least for a while, was Lake City, Colorado. As it was late August when we got there. Ron and Loretta and Victor and Charlotte were already there. These are folks we also winter with in Tucson. Our atv was already there as I had dropped it off in May. I went on several rides as Loretta was having trouble adjusting to the altitude.
Our time in Lake City only lasted a month. Loretta still was not adjusting well, so we decided to head to Tucson on September 26th. During that month I only captured a bear on video twice, both times on the patio of Victor and Charlotte’s space. Hmmm what attracts them to that area????
Our journey back to Tucson took us to Alamosa, Co Walmart for the first nite, then on to Elephant Butte, NM for 4 nites. We stayed at Cedar Cove RV park and really liked it. As we were towing the car and atv, it had huge sites.
Nearby is Truth or Consequences, NM. Originally named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to Truth or Consequences, the title of a popular NBC Radio program. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs won the honor. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event was called “Fiesta” and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May.
Lots of things to see on do in T&C and around the area. Museums, ghost towns, the Space port, and of course Elephant Butte lake. Geronimo Springs Museum in town is both interesting and well done. several rooms, a cabin and a whole room devoted to Ralph Edwards and changing the name of the town. another attraction, although it was not open when we went there is the Spaceport America. Spaceport America is the home to Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnight Two and SpaceShip Two, and also home to SpaceX’s Falcon 9R and host numerous other suborbital launches . There are tours available from Elephant Butte.
Our next excursion from Elephant Butte was a ride to visit a couple of ghost towns. Winston and Chloride. Winston is small, but it does have a general store that is interesting to visit.
Chloride
is even more interesting. Most of the town is owned by one family, who are restore the buildings and preserving the heritage and historical fabric of the town. Be sure to stop at the museum. If closed go next door to an artisans shop and see the owner. She is full of knowledge of the town.
We are now in Tucson. we arrived on the 3rd, got set up and relaxed for the rest of the day. Not many here yet. October 15th is the target day to open facilities, although the rally room, laundry and exercise room were all open.
Loretta and I talked about selling the Bumblebeast and or trading it for a Can Am Spyder. So one day after a eye doctor appointment, we went to a Spyder dealer to see what they had. Well one thing led to another and the following week we took the Bumblebeast in to get a trade in value on a Spyder. They appraised our machine and said it was very well taken care of and gave us top dollar for it. (Just above the price I was going to sell it for.) After some negotiating, we finally settled on a 2014 White RT-S 
with a semi auto transmission. Paddle shifting just like the sports cars! It was delivered last Thursday and I road it around the park to get used to how things work. I had gone to the DMV earlier in the week to get an Arizona drivers license and an instruction permit, so I could drive legally. It wasn’t to bad, took an hour and I had to take a written test for the motorcycle permit. The test was 25 questions. The give you one practice question…. I missed it! That sure set the tone for the test! I passed with 83 % not bad for not studying!
We went on our first ride on Saturday, to Green Valley. As I am restricted to highways, not interstates, we took the back roads. First we stopped in Saharita for lunch and then into GV. Nice ride of about 55 miles. Sunday we rode it to church. It is a hoot to drive and I am still getting used to being in the open with nothing around me! Someone called it a 3 wheeled convertible! Looking forward to some rides with the new motorcycle group here at the park and of course some rides of our own to some of the areas we have not been to, like the Observatory at Kitt Peak, Tombstone, and several others. My best friend Ray Corlew and his wife Pat also have a Spyder. They live in Sun Lakes about 2 hours from us. We hope to meet them and ride with them as well.
So that has been our 2014 travels, from Tucson to Illinois to Wisconsin(see Illinois and Beyond) back to illinois.
A total of 4558.4 miles.
Well that was our summer. What was you summer like? We are already planning for next summer. We will be Hosting at 3 State Parks in Oregon next summer. Stub Stewert for May and June, Hopefully Honeyman in July and August and Ainsworth in September. In addition to the hosting we will be able to see our son and his wife, David and Kim Todd as well as the 2 college kids, TJ and Branden.
Have a great winter and keep in touch!
Happy Trails!