And on the 7th day we rested!

May 31 – After 3 days of driving, 2 of sightseeing and visiting, a day of  driving, parking,

Our spot 

taking a train and sitting in the sun watching baseball, this was resting day!  No rush to get up and go anywhere.  No big breakfast!  Once we did start to liven up, we got showered and drove over to Elyria, OH where there’s a Wal-mart.  Bill realized he didn’t bring a supply of allergy shot syringes so thought we better get them while they were on our minds.  I had a short list of things to get also.

It’s about 9 miles there and they also had a Dollar Tree, which I find hard to pass up.  I needed a couple more pairs of magnifying eyewear and that’s where I get them.  After Wal-mart I promised Bill lunch at Panera so we enjoyed lunch out today.  Trying to make up for him having fish for dinner!

The office called that my package arrived and I was anxious to make sure it was the correct charger for my laptop.  Yippee, it was!  We had quick showers on and off most of the afternoon, followed by blazing sunshine!  A couple of new RV’s pulled in.  I baked my rhubarb crisp and tried to fix my stove, but might need a new burner.  Crap!  Spent some time paying bills and adding up the bills on the rental house, super YIKES!  Bill needs new hearing aides and we have to pay for this house remodel first!

Bill took a nap and I worked on photos and blogging.  When he got up he had to do a little repair on a part outside near the sewer compartment that was coming loose.  A couple left 2 spaces over and left behind a pad that goes under the leveling legs and ours are all in bad shape so Bill snapped it up. 

Swimming area

After our delicious dinner of steelhead trout, asparagus and roasted potatoes (white for Bill, sweet for me) we took a long walk around the park.  We saw several of the 4 foot hard plastic balls and stopped a guy to ask what they are.  The campground has 5 years to install them underground and hook to gray water hookups.  The balls have a leak system and it will gradually soak in the ground.  Interesting!  We checked out where we parked the last time we were here and decided our current spot is better.  There has been so much rain it’s wet and muddy is a lot of spots but not where we are parked.  They have a lot of seasonal campers and weekenders here.  They have fishing areas and a pond dedicated to water games, slides etc.

We had our rhubarb crisp dessert when we got back.  Was missing the ice cream or whipped cream but still tasty.  Time to kick back and relax!

Day at the ballpark!

May 30 – I was up at 6:30 and Bill got up at 7:15.  I had put away the washed dishes and readied up as much as I could being very quiet.  We had cereal for breakfast to expedite heading out.  The goal was to be on the road by 8:30 and we made it.  We stopped on the way out to pay for our 3 nights and hitch up then got on I-77 and headed north towards Cleveland.

We arrived at American Wilderness Campground (we’d stayed here before) in Grafton, OH, which is the closest campground to Cleveland, around 10.  Our space was not vacated yet but they were able to put us on a different space so we could hook up to electric and turn the AC on for Molly.  As soon as we showered and I packed lunch (left over bakery bread sandwiches with ham and cheese for Bill and Lebanon bologna and cheese for me) we hopped in the truck and headed for the RTA (Rapid Transit Authority) station at the airport where we left the truck and road the train into downtown Cleveland, about 3-4 blocks from the stadium.

The game was great, especially since Cleveland won 9-1 over the White Sox.  We had good seats although we were in the sun and it was hot, hot, hot.  Nice folks beside us and in front of us, so all in all the game was fun.  We enjoyed out lunch and saved a lot of money in the process.  I also took in bottled water, fruit and candy for dessert.

Guys in front of us, so funny!

We left early enough to miss the masses when re-boarding the train.  The truck was right  where we left it and the ride home was uneventful.  I had put a pork loin in the crockpot so we had bbq pulled pork and fresh asparagus AND fried pies for dinner.  Bill helped me clean and cut up the rhubarb and I put 5 pint bags in the freezer and the rest will become crisp I think.

Typing as fast as I can as I don’t have full battery power left and wanted to catch up.  The charger BETTER be here tomorrow so I can get these posted and download photos to back up everything I’d written!

Great day in Amish country!

May 29 – It was a busy day and we were tired puppies when we got home but it was a great

Original Ben Franklin Store

day!  The only bad part was I had to order a charger for my laptop from Amazon as Bill tripped on the cord and broke the plug to the laptop.  I had it sent to Grafton, OH where we are headed from here.  Then I put a load of laundry in to wash and off we headed to Carrollton, OH, which is a little east of Dover.  The Athletic Director of West Orange is from there and told Bill what nice town he was raised in and his mother runs an original Ben Franklin store there and his step-dad is the curator of the Ashton Home Museum.

It’s a little up and down hills with curves thrown in to get there but we made it.  I love the Ben Franklin store as it totally reminds me of going to town with my mom or grandmother to our 5 and 10 cent store.  They have some of everything, from fabric and yarn to rope and yard supplies.  I found a 1 inch cookie scoop that I’ve been looking for and a replacement egg cup as Bill broke the one in the RV the first day or so on the road.  We picked up a few other small items and Bill got to meet his friend’s mother.

Ashton House Museum

From there we went to the museum and had a personal tour and history of the house and museum.  The family owned numerous Ben Franklin stores but the father did very well with his investments and left a huge sum to a foundation that one of his grandsons oversees.  The novelty of the house is that they never got rid of anything.  It was always boxed up and put in the basement or other storage areas of the house.  Items on display are to show our children what we grew up with, like rotary telephones, tape recorders, adding machines,; things that kids will never see in stores or at their homes.  There were lots of historical papers, magazines, original children’s games.  We enjoyed revisiting our youth as well as learning about this extraordinary man.  Mr. Ashton.

Guggisberg Cheese Factory

From there we crossed back through Dover and headed into Amish country.  There are numerous towns but I kind of planned out a circle to hit my favorites, as well as the cheese makers along the way.  The first stop was for lunch.  It was supposed to be a “Dutch” as in Pennsylvania Dutch place and it was OK.  Bill had the buffet but I had the special, creamed chicken over biscuits.  It included mashed potatoes, so I carbed out and it kept me going all day!  On the way to our first town, Farmerstown, I spotted a sign along the road advertising log homes and the logs appeared to match mine at my house.  I’ve been searching for a place that makes the same cut as my logs and siding, so Bill turned around and we drove back in.  The owner is Mennonite and was very nice.  He showed me all the cuts he had and said several he could modify if I needed.  I left with a sample piece and really looks like my siding and his card and cell phone number.  I asked about shipping and delivery and he said it would give him a reason to make a trip to Florida this winter!  So I’ve got to check it with the profile of my siding and hopefully we have a match!

There was nothing of interest in Farmerstown but we did see lots of Amish buggys and farmers out in the fields gather hay and such.  In the town of Charm we stopped at the Guggisberg Cheese Factory and enjoyed some samples and our first cheese purchases of the day.  It was only the beginning!  We love cheese, I come from a family of cheese addicts! 

Further down the road we stopped at Hershbargers Farm and Bakery.  I think the bakery part sucked us in but actually there we found fried pies so Bill picked 3 and I picked 2 and I got a huge bag of rhubarb fresh picked for $1.99 a pound. If I can ever find it in Florida is $4 or more a pound.  I knew I didn’t have a lot of room in my freezer right now but bought a bunch and figured I’d deal with it later! 

Vats in Heini's

We went as far as Millersburg and turned and started heading back.  We ventured off the main drag to visit Heini’s Cheese Factory where you can watch them make cheese but it was late in the day and the vats were all

Just a part of the samples

empty and cleaned.  They offer the most samples though.  So we tried 15-20 kinds of cheese and “butters” and meats.  A great afternoon snack at no expense.  Well, we did buy some cheese.  You can never have too much GOOD cheese.

We stopped at Troyer’s Country Market in hopes that they would have better prices on the Troyer’s trail bologna, but is was only a few cents cheaper so I passed on it.  We did get some Lebanon bologna for me and ham for Bill for lunches.  We bought cheese ends for a great price too!

The last stop along the way heading back was the famous Little Switzerland town of Sugarcreek.  They

World famous Cuckoo Clock

used to have factory tours there but no more.  Too much government interference with visitors.  The town is VERY Swiss and has the world’s largest cuckoo clock.  It has dancing characters and chimes on the half hour.  We’ve been visiting that clock since I was a little girl and it’s still cool!

Once we got home and put away bags of cheese, rested a while, I made a unique dinner:  grilled cheese sandwichs with some of our Colby cheese and day old bakery bread.  YUMMY!  We followed up with fried pies.  The crust is the best part, full of shortning!    We were in a cheese coma and didn’t last long after dinner.

Happy Memorial Day!

May 28 – What a great day!  Happy Memorial Day! 

I started hearing voices just outside the RV around 7 this morning.  Turns out there was a 2k

Fun to watch from the RV

run for charity happening at the track on the fairgrounds.  They had a pretty good turnout but at 10 AM the place was deserted again.  Later I saw one sulky driver going around the track.  He has the peace and quiet of the entire track to himself.

Once we had a bit of breakfast Bill went out to clean the few bug splats off the front of the RV and I posted my first blog.  It was a rather relaxing morning.  We both got our showers and left for Wal-mart on our way to my cousin Becky’s place for Memorial Day with her siblings and all the kids and grandkids.  It was quite a crowd.  They said they were expecting 20 but I think there were 23 including us.  I can’t begin to remember the names but got to spent some quality time with my cousins Jeff and Gail.  Was really a fun afternoon that I won’t soon forget.

We left there at 5 as I promised my Aunt Donna we’d bring dinner and her favorite is a McChicken and a Mocha Frappe.  I ordered it exactly like her daughter told me to and she was happy to see us and her dinner.  I took the leftover strawberry shortcake from the earlier event and left it for her.  She could get 2 maybe 3 servings from it.  She, Bill and I sat at the kitchen table and had a nice chat about family, medical and life in general.  Such a wonderful lady.  She taught Bill a new singing ditty, hope he remembers it!  Strawberry shortcake, huckleberry pie, …..S-u-c-c-e-s-s

Dad's hometown, Dover, OH

May 27 – It wasn’t a bad night at all.  Since the spaces were too narrow to open the slides, Bill slept in the bed and I took the couch.  Of course, he also had Molly!

We left just before 9 this morning.  I will say the scenery this trip has been enjoyable.  Lots of green forests and fields and scattered towns along the way, not just city after city and heavy traffic.  I spotted a doe enjoying the same fresh greens.  Too bad for her 5 kin I also saw today who met with unfortunate ends.

We had showers again on and off and of course, Bill went to lie down just as we hit Charleston, WV and it literally poured from the moment I crossed the city line to the moment the highway split and I left the city.  It was like turning a faucet on and off, amazing.

We only stopped once today at the Ohio Welcome Center and had lunch then arrived in Dover, OH around 2 at the fairgrounds.  The spot we liked last time was taken, it’s a first come, first served kind of deal.  The second choice was also taken.  It’s not actually a campground so the layout is strange, it’s for fair booths.  The sewers are few and far between and the water and electric are just a bit better.  We went with levelness and think we can manage with our sewer tanks til we leave so will reposition and dump then.

My aunt and uncle live just outside the wall of the grounds and he came over while we were

Super Yummy!

setting up.  He invited us over and once we spent a while hunting Bill’s missing hearing aide, (which he found on the dash in the truck), and finished hooking up, we showered and went over to visit for about an hour.  I had called my Aunt Donna to see if we could take her to dinner but she’s not feeling so well so we ended up at a very good Mexican place.  The shrimp cocktail equals Servando’s in Winter Garden.  The menu offerings were quite extensive.  We were headed to Wal-mart when Bill spotted Aldi, so we stopped there instead.  The fridge was pretty bare!

Once I put things away I realized I forgot a cake mix to make shortcake for tomorrow’s gathering at my cousins so I went to the regular grocery that’s only ½ mile and it was very nice with a huge wine selection.  Too bad I wasn’t in the market for wine today.

I baked my short cake and then the AC stopped.  We had to make a change to the electric hook up and are hoping to manage with one AC unit.  At least it’s cooler at night!!!

Only the Second day on the road

May 26 – Can’t believe, well, yes I can, that I went to bed at 9:30 last night.  I was so totally

Nasty bit of weather

exhausted.  Slept well until about 6 this morning.  Left the campground at 9:15 and the day was pretty uneventful (for a change).  We had some rain on and off and road construction cutting down to one lane and TWO tunnels.  Ordinarily I love tunnels, but not in the motorhome.  I feel rather claustrophobic. 

2nd tunnel

We stopped twice, once for lunch (a delicious chicken salad I made over spring mix) and once for fuel.  It was drizzly out but timing was good that Bill didn’t get drenched.  Traffic has it’s moments and I guess they quit putting indicators on vehicles as no one uses them to change lanes anymore.  I can see myself road raging if I was driving a tank!!!

Yum!!!!

Once we hit West Virginia our stop for the night, Princeton Travel Plaza was at mile marker 18.  We parked with the truckers.  We got in with time to relax and I got a healthy start on a bottle of wine Kam gave me!  Maybe it will last 2 nights……

I made Bill a happy camper with mini pizzas I made.  I bought 3 thin crusts and had just enough left-over pasta sauce to make 3 pepperoni pizzas.  Not high on my list but Bill was pleased.  There’s one left for his lunch tomorrow.  Good thing we get to stop for 3 nights as the fridge is kinda empty.  I brought plenty of frozen food but we’re out of fruit and veggies!  (I do have 4-5 bottles of wine though)!

We walked in to the plaza and each had a scoop of moose tracks ice cream for our dessert.  Yum!  It’s open 24/7 but was pretty slow.  I debated between ice cream and Starbucks!

Nothing much on TV so I balanced by checkbook (some things don’t get a vacation), typed today’s journal and time to read a while.

Off and running ... another adventure underway!

Let’s start with a bit of catch up that will let you know the struggle for the first day to even begin.  Bill and I decided back in February to sell our rental house as we were tired of dealing with plumbing, roofing, gates and the whole works.  We rented his house out for the 30 years we’ve been married and it’s just too much to deal with when we’re gone all summer.  So we gave our tenant 60 days notice and figured getting it ready in a month would be no big deal.  Duh!  Well, it needed a lot more done than we expected and we were scheduled for a 4 day camping outing and I was working extra days to cover employee time off, so it really cut down on the time available.  Bill’s job was outside and with the rain, it was not getting done.  Inside, well, it’s been overwhelming.  After tearing out the carpet and kitchen, it’s kind of like starting over.  Thank goodness my son-in-law is between jobs and has been there.  He’s very handy and has a good eye for color and ideas.  I have spent most of my time off going to Lowes and other various building supplies places gathering cabinets, appliances, paint (lots of paint), bathroom mirrors, light fixtures, ceiling fans…and the list goes on.  The bottom line is it is not done and I’ve stressed over leaving.  Dan, my son-in-law, woefully agreed to deal with overseeing the carpet guy, the flooring guy, the yard guy while installing doors, painting (lots of painting) and just whatever items need attention. AND, we have still had so many issues with the leveling system on the RV that we contacted Lippert to send us to an authorized dealer and then they ordered the wrong leg and I had to go back YESTERDAY to get that done (we hope).  Now on to the first day…

May 25 – I was up at 6:30 and still packing up groceries.  I did a last load of dishes and cleaned up my kitchen.  The whole house had been neglected for a month!  Ugh!  With the RV in the shop, the fridge had been off so I couldn’t put cold stuff in until today.  Yesterday I took out bags of stuff and put that away but today the truck was FULL.  So by the time we had a bit of breakfast, Bill vacuumed his truck, loaded the bikes, disconnected the battery on my van, washed up the dishes, visited with our neighbor and Jared, emptied the fridge and some of the freezer, we didn’t get to the RV until close to 9.  Then it was unload and at least fill the fridge.  I had a bag of mom and apartment related things to give to my sister, so while with her got a call that the carpet guy couldn’t start because the rooms were full of cabinets.  CRAP!  I forgot all about that.  Poor Dan, I had to dump it on him.  At least the yard people got started until it started raining.  My goal was to have it ready to list in another week. 

Next was putting the refurbished mud flap (refer to last year in Roswell, NM) back on.  Of course one of the holes had to be re-drilled a little larger and then we got that on.  Then it was hook on the truck and by then it was 10:45 before we actually got on the road.  The drive was fine, a few showers here and there but no downpours.  I was tired before we started and Bill wasn’t much better.  We only made 2 stops, one for lunch and we waited until we got to lower fuel prices before we stopped to fill up. 

Arrived in Walterboro, SC at 5:45 and Bill washed the few love bugs off the front and after a rest he had a pot pie and I had leftover pasta and meat sauce.  I emptied 3 more bags of “stuff” as we didn’t open the slides this morning to get it done before we left.  Still have 2 bags to find homes for.  I don’t like to leave stuff home that might not be good by the time we get home so we’ll eat what we have before buying more!