Happy birthday Shiloh!

July 31 – Happy Birthday Shiloh!

This was a run around busy day after fueling up with a big breakfast of sausage, fruit and waffles!  I didn’t get to make them on Sunday so today was the day!

We did some laundry and cleaning that was badly needed before showering and heading out.  Bill had to have some bloodwork done and to pick up paperwork from a Dr. for an MRI so the Dr. was the first stop, then he had an appointment to get a haircut.  I waited in the car while he was doing his “thing”.  Then we went back to Quest and the sign on the door said closed.  Bill’s Dr is in the same complex so he went in to ask where he could go and while he was there I called Quest and the girl said she was still able to do his blood.  So I went in to the Dr’s and he was chatting away and as soon as I gave him the good word he went to Quest and got it done.  It’s required before his MRI can be done tomorrow.

So, with the doctoring out of the way for the day, we stopped at Panera for a late lunch and then to the movies to see “Mission Impossible”.  It was good, but they are always so far fetched!  I didn’t remember him being married!  Maybe I missed a movie along the way.

Then it was time for shopping!  Luckily the places we wanted to stop were all in the same plaza.  First was Lowes.  We have a sliding plastic piece in the RV door and Bill caught his pocket on the handle and broke the part.  Now we can’t leave the door open with just the screen door.  We thought Lowe’s might have at least the right thickness of plastic but no luck.  Then I went into Wal-mart for a short list and next door to Sam’s for an even shorter list.  I did manage to find 2 new wines to try! 

I had planned to grill dinner tonight but it was kinda late so we each did our own thing.  I had the fish I had thawed with some butternut squash and Bill had potato salad, fresh veggies and spam.  Needless to say, I had the better dinner!

We watched a bit of TV and called it a night!

Great food, great friends, great day!

July 30 – What a great day we had with Mike and Nancy in Lansing!  On the way out of Muskegon Bill showed me some itchy spots on his wrists and I told him I think it’s poison ivy or oak, so we made a quick stop at Wal-mart for some anti-itch cream and made our way to Lansing.

Mike and Nancy have been in their new home about a year and it’s gorgeous!  They had looked for a place for quite a while and finally found the house and pretty much only had to repaint the inside a color they could live with!  Nancy prepared a great lunch of homemade chicken salad and it was delicious!  We ate outside on the porch under the awning and the weather could not have been better.

Dinner on the porch

After lunch the men and women went to their respective corners and I cannot vouch for what the guys discussed but Nancy and I covered kids, jobs, decorating and we spent some time in a training session of how to get all of her photos organized in a safe place.  I’m no expert but I think I advised her in the right direction of an external drive or flash drive.  She had a flash drive so we did some practice and I told her to call me if she needed me. 

We had a tour of the house and the downstairs is where the guest rooms are due to the house structure into the land.  They have a huge great room with 2 bedrooms and a bath.  The perk is there’s a partial kitchen and an outside entrance which makes it a great set up to rent as an Airbnb.  They seem interested in the prospect, as least during football season at Michigan State which is just around the corner. 

Bill wanted to see the campus so we took a drive and then stopped at their Younkers to see what they still have versus the Muskegon store.  I got some great deals for the grandkids for Christmas!  We headed back to their place and Mike grilled the BEST steaks I’ve had in a long while!  Nancy topped it with off with huge baked potatoes, a Caesar salad, after whitch we were stuffed, BUT, there was dessert to follow:  brownies with ice cream!  I’ll need to walk a couple of miles to work that all off! 

We truly had a great visit and it was nice to get to know another of Bill’s high school friends and match a face to the name!  We didn’t get on the road home until after 9 and Bill drove most of the way til his leg started cramping then I took over for the final leg  (get it?)

We hope to at least get to meet somewhere in the middle for lunch one day in August.

Lunch out with friends!

July 29 – I was definitely bushed last night and didn’t wake until 9 this morning.  Way out of the norm for me.

Bill went for a bike ride while I made scones, bacon and fruit for breakfast.  After breakfast he loaded our cans, bottles and plastic in the truck and did some outside chores. Then we cleaned the floors of the RV and I did a load of laundry.  We showered, dressed and left at 1:00.  We stopped for gas and then met Rich and Diane at El Tapatio for lunch.  They live in Greenville, about 70 miles from us.  He has been Kerry’s and my tenant in the apartment for the last 8-9 years. 

It was great to see him and get to know Diane better.  It ended up being about a 2 hours lunch.  We are planning to meet over in their neck of the woods in August.  I think they are now leaning towards getting a small Florida place once she retires from developing software.

With a great lunch and visit behind us, we stopped at Younkers to check any price reductions!  I got FILA sneakers for $21 and we got some Christmas things for the kids.  It’s starting to look a lot emptier than our first stop there.  Bill wanted to stop in another store in the mall for a t-shirt and I just waited in the truck.  Time for our grocery stop at Wal-mart.  They have can recycle also and a longer line so Bill waited while I did the short list.  Timing was great as he finished just as I did.  Sadly, our total today says we didn’t work very hard this week.  Only $8.70.  It’s an incentive to do better next week!  We need some more beer drinkers who are not recyclers!

We forgot Sam’s closes at 6 on Sunday so we’ll try to catch it again later.  Just went home and put our purchases away.  The park looks super empty now.  I had a glass of wine and later Bill finished off the chicken noodle soup and I had the salad and some pasta casserole.  We shared the last of the gingerbread.

Tomorrow we are visiting a high school friend of Bill’s in Lansing area.

Long day....

July 28 - It was a long morning!  We worked 5 hours straight.  The other couple had taken part of the day off so it was just Bill and I as Shaun had to go to town for a list of things. Bill did wood deliveries once we did our cleaning for the morning and we did 2 cabin cleanings.  I did the 10:00 children’s activity, tile painting.  Only had 4 kids and their grandparents showed up so I really didn’t have to do much!  It was a tiring morning.

Bill made his lunch then I made mine.  He took a nap and I made gingerbread and a pasta and meatball casserole to share with everyone tonight.  I did some prep for the salad but saved the rest to  do until the last minute.  They order pizza and always include us, but I don’t ever have it.  Now that Bill has been a regular we need to reciprocate.

Once we went back to work the place was humming with guests and lots of kids.  There were more than 50 check ins today!  We did the rest rooms then spent most of our remaining time delivering wood, re-checking the restrooms and make trash runs.  I told the group when we got back this afternoon that we were providing dinner.  Kim and Paul had been invited to one of the camper’s place for burgers but Jean and Shaun were very appreciative of my salad, Italian meatball pasta casserole and gingerbread for dessert.  Shaun was especially pleased with the gingerbread.  He said he hadn’t had in 15 years since his grandmother died.  I might make a batch of my molasses ginger cookies next!  We had leftovers since I planned for 6 but that’s no problem for us!

We headed for home around 9:30 and we were both pooped.  I feel asleep with my book in my hands! 

I found .36 today for a new total of $1.88.

Crazy day, oh no, I broke a tooth!

July 27 – Out the door for our 8 AM bathroom cleaning!  Today I had Bill drop me at the Cadillac while he went to do the portolets and pick up bagged trash.  He went to mow after those jobs were completed and I cleaned the only open cabin and did trash runs.  When we took our morning break I made phone calls to find a dentist on my dental plan to work on my front tooth. 

The first number I called was a nursing home.  The second number allowed me to dial 1, then select 2, then sit on hold so I gave up and moved on to the 3 number on my list.  I had noted there were several dentists at that address so figured one should have time to see me.  Once she confirmed they were on my dental plan we moved forward with my life story and she told me to be there at 1:15 for my 1:30 appointment and one of 3 dentists would end up taking care of me.

Bill let them know I would be back later in the day when he left to go back.  Just over night my tongue was sore from hitting the jagged edges of my tooth.  I left early enough to stop at CVS to pick up my motion sickness prescription for our journey across Lake Michigan in a couple of weeks and enough for my trip to Ireland in September.  That was an ordeal as Walmart did not have any and could not get it.  Walgreens claimed they could get it but my insurance would not cover it and it’s $85.00.  So I called my Caremark coverage to see if it was covered and it doesn’t come in a generic so no.  I tried CVS and she had 3 single patches instead of the 4 that come in a box, I didn’t know that you could buy them individually.  I really only need 3 so she was calling Wal-Mart to transfer the script and I could pick them up later.

I left early for the dentist and stopped at CVS and picked up my script and was surprised it was $16 less than she had quoted me so that was nice.  There was some road construction on the way to the dentist and when I arrived I was surprised it was a large family health center.  From the forms I had to complete I gathered that it was a government run place.  I was a little nervous as the 2 dentist I saw when they took me back were pretty old!  I ended up with an old black gentleman who what just that, very gentle.  I was a little concerned when he asked the technician which tooth he was working on halfway through the process!!!!!  He barely said a word, just sat in the chair, asked what I needed done, and went to work.  I’m really happy with the results.  As I left I asked her do I see someone to check out and she said no, just go.  I asked about my co-pay, and a receipt and she asked did I need a receipt.  Well, if they weren’t asking for money I guess not.  Will see what happens!

Loading wood for delivery

Bill was working when I got home and he asked if I checked the bank about the closing money from the sale of our rental house.  I was so wrapped up in my tooth ordeal that I totally forgot.  I checked and the money was there so all is well with the final sale of 1405 Kimberly Street.  Yahoo!

We were pretty busy during the late evening delivering wood, helping RV’s get parked, keeping check on the restrooms.  We didn’t head for home until after 9:30 and I was more than ready.

Routine day

July 26 – We did our 8AM bathhouse duty and we did the Cadillac and the portolets and trash pick up.  That took about 1 ½ hours and we headed home.  We went back at 11 once the grass had dried from the torrential rains last night.  Bill was going to mow and I had one cabin to clean, trash pick up and then I cleaned the floors in the Cadillac.  I did one more check on the bathhouse before picking Bill up for our afternoon break at 1. 

We had our lunch then Bill took a nap and I made a blueberry crisp, unloaded the dryer and did some blog posts.  On our morning break I made ferry reservations to cross Lake Michigan to Milwaukee where we will stay 2 nights.  I was waiting until we made sure Jean would come in and feed Molly while we are gone.  We wanted to take her with us and we could have taken her in her carrier on the ferry but the littler box was the problem.  Jean loves cats so I think she will enjoy Molly since she doesn’t know a stranger!

We went back on duty at 4:30 and it was a pretty slow night.  We did have several arrivals and delivered firewood to their sites.  We did bathroom checks but they were in pretty good shape since we are currently on the low end of campers.  Jean and Shaun left at 5 to go motorycyling with friends and out to dinner.  They really deserve a night off.  Paul and Kim are in charge and I think we had 6 arrivals.  Two of them had a rough time getting into their spaces.  Once had to take a lot post out and then must have gone back and forth a dozen times before he finally gave in!  The other people said they didn’t fit in the site, their slideout was 4 feet deep and would hit the tree, the fire pit was too close to the RV….  We sent Paul to deal with him and he told him to park wherever he was comfortable for his slides and once he was settled Paul would come back and move the fire pit.  Bill and I drove by later and that slideout wasn’t even 3 feet!  But they were decorating their site and appeared to now be “happy campers”’. 

After a trash haul and final bathroom check for the night we headed for home about 9:30.  All was well with the campground and we watched some TV and I made a list of dentists to try and get in to tomorrow.  The bottom front tooth I had repaired in December, the repair fell out and I don’t want to chance cracking it over the weekend.

I found .11 today, making a total of $1.52.

What an up and down day!!!

July 25 - Bill had a Dr. appointment this morning that he OK’d with Shaun so we had a quick breakfast and headed down to clean the bath house.  We were just about done when Paul showed up and asked why we were cleaning.  Apparently there was a miscommunication as to what days we are going to be working.  Paul thought we were permanently on Thursday – Saturday but that’s not what we had been told.  So we finished up and went to check in with Shaun and found that Jean was back.  She was also a little confused but said they are much busier on the weekends than they ever thought they would be so asked if it was OK for us to finish out our time here Thursday – Saturday.  We’re fine with that!

Bill got showered and left for his doctor appointment and I was checking my email and received the water bill for our house and Kimberly Street.  It was $460.  I went into an immediate panic!  I called Cathy at the city of Ocoee and she looked it up and found the sprinklers have been running 3 times a day EVERY day for a while.  I asked if there was anything we could do to get the bill reduced and she said no.  CRAP!  I immediately left a message for the lawn guy to go over and turn the timer off and see what was going on.  In the mean time, I thought I’d have heard by then from our realtor that the inspection that was at 6 last night to follow up on the electrical panel replacement and some other small odds and ends was complete and that we were good to go to close Friday.  He said he had texted and called but had no word either!  Panic time???

I got to thinking maybe the water issue started when the inspector was there checking every

View from the back side of the lake of the beach on the
peninsular and the 2 giant water rafts in the swim area

faucet, etc so I contacted my realtor and asked him what day that was.  Thought maybe it would be his fault for leaving the wrong setting on the timer.  Nope!  I’m not that lucky!  Since I hadn’t heard from my lawn guy by 4:30 I asked my brother to stop on his way home and turn the sprinkler off.  An hour or so later my lawn guy called and said he’d been out on the lake all day.  HE set the sprinkler to water all the new plants and sod that was put in back in June and I had NO idea.  This is another reason I should have stuck to my guns and said no plants in the back yard.  Between the plants, the removal of the dead and overgrown stuff, rocks, mulch, WATER and labor, we spent a small fortune on landscaping that someone might not even want!  At least the mystery is solved.

The good news for the day was the call from the realtor that the inspection passed and the buyer is signing her papers Friday morning at 10 and the money should be in our account by 2.  Hallelujah!  At least I’ll have it in time to pay the water bill.  My final job is to call the city, Duke Energy and the insurance company and cancel them all on Monday. 

Bill’s appointment went well, the Dr. ordered some tests as he felt there could be more he can do for all of the twitches Bill is dealing with.  I sure hope so.  This evening he went to see a minor league baseball game in the area.  There was a player on one of the teams from Orlando and Bill’s teams had played him so he wanted to see the kid. 

I had chicken noodle soup for dinner.  It was delicious but think I’ll be eating it for days!  I set up Molly’s hut outside and she and I sat out for a while.  I moved from the chair to the lounger and took a rare nap!  I just can’t get moving once I take a nap. 

I made reservations at 2 places for our journey home in September.  It will be here before we know it!  I set up lunch with our annual winter tenant, Rich and his wife, for Sunday.  I think he lives about 30 minutes from here.  Will be good to see him.

Tomorrow we start our official new work schedule! 

Campground Cadillac

July 24 - Jean had to leave last night as her mother was in the hospital near Detroit.  We were asked if we could do the bathrooms this morning, which was no problem.  We did the big bathhouse and then Bill dropped me at the Cadillac while he took the golf cart and did the portolets and trash pick up.  Timing was perfect as all I had left was to put the rugs back

This is the "Cadillac"  his and her stalls and fully
air-conditioned.

while he bagged up the trash.  Just as we finished up the loan closer arrived for us to sign the papers on this end to sell the Kimberly house.  That took a while since there were lots of documents to review and sign.  The buyer should be doing her signing on Friday in Winter Garden.  So close to the end of the process!

Bill showered and left to see one of his former students who lives in a nearby town.  They were going out to lunch and he said he’d be back by 2 and I said it would be closer to 4.  I knew they would have a lot to catch up on and I was right.

I worked on the computer on and off, did a load of laundry, made a jello pie and a pot of chicken noodle soup.  Ended up being heavy on the noodles, but I love these thick german noodles!  I had a bowl of it for lunch.

Later in the day I sat out and read after doing what chores I had left inside.  Once Bill got home and told me about his visit he went for a bike ride and I grilled brats and microwaved corn on the cob and set out some store bought potato salad for Bill.  I started working on photos on the computer and with such a slow connection I got frustrated and called it a day. 

The weather has gotten nice again so hope it lasts for a while.  They really need the rain here.  It cools off pretty nicely in the evening and lots of the people sit outside and enjoy it while they can.

Shopping and lunch out

July 23 – For a minute there I couldn’t remember what we did all day.  No photos taken, no brochures picked up, but what I do have is receipts, quite a lot of receipts!  We showered and off we went to go shopping!

I was on a hunt for navy Bermudas so we started at Younkers (the one that’s going out of business).  No bermudas but I did get a bit dressy red jacket That was $64 and I paid $9.60!  We were to meet at JC Penney after Bill took our haul to the truck but on my walk there I crossed the food court and Bill had just asked what our plans were for lunch.  Perfect, and there was even a Righteous Cuisine, which Kam had given us a gift card to.  It’s an unusual spin on Mexican.  It’s Mexican with a healthy spin.  I had a pulled chicken salad with the fixings of a burrito and the salad was steamed kale.  I was so stuffed!  Bill found a more traditional quesadilla.  Very yummy, thank you Kam!

There was a Dick’s Sporting Goods on the way to Penney’s and I’m still looking for the perfect rain jacket in the perfect color.  Pretty much decided I don’t want navy or black as Melissa and I will be travelling together in September and last time we crossed the pond we both took navy and every photo looked like we never changed clothes.  Jeans and navy rain coats!  They had one in a green that I liked and it was on sale so I took it home to compare to the first one I bought.

Bill didn’t find anything of interest in Penneys but I did find a couple of things for Jude and Shiloh for Christmas.  We stopped at the local Starbucks for “dessert”.  Yum!  He wanted something caramel and I went with my standard Java Chocolate Chip.  He said next time that’s what he wants!

So we crossed the highway and gave Kohl’s a try.  It’s a bit late in the season for Bermudas and I did find one pair not on sale for $55, but that’s a pass!  Didn’t need/want them that bad.  Bill never got out of the truck, I guess he was already shopped out!

After he dropped me at the door of Aldi’s for a couple of things we headed in the direction of home. We stopped at Wal-mart as Bill needed distilled water for his cpap machine and I decided to get some brats and chorizo.  Then it was home to chill and read a while.

Playing tourists and other fun stuff...

July 22 – Day off!  Yeaaaaa.

Once we finally got moving today and a load of laundry out of the way, we headed into Muskegon with a loose plan in mind.  We finalized by starting at the Carousel Cinema.  We arrived just in time to catch the viewing of “Mama Mia”.  We really enjoyed it and there were not many people in the theatre for us to annoy with singing along.  The first one was better but this one we didn’t see much of Meryl Streep, which was good and Pierce Brosnan didn’t do a much singing! 

Firehouse exhibit

After checking the tour schedule of the Hume and Hackley

Depression house kitchen

Homes, we headed there next .  We did the quick tour on our own of the Fire House and a Depression Era house before going on the houses tour. From the outside the styles are very similar, but inside they are totally different.  Both were built from 1887 to 1889.  The interiors are very different.  The Hackley house interior inside has every kind of wood cut in the area with elaborate Victorian carvings extensively throughout the house.  Everything is hand carved.  The exterior has a coach drive where the Hackleys enter their carriage without walking far or getting wet.  Check out the photos in my album for these houses. 

Example of the wood carving in Hackley

The Hume house has more open rooms and space as it was designed for a family with 7 children.  It has much less elaborate carvings and we liked it much better.  There are 9 bedrooms, some for the extra live in help and the rest for family.  The 3^rd floor has 2 bedrooms and a huge playroom, complete with pool table for the kids.  Hume was a little less rich and with all the kids to plan for he was more conservative with his house.  

Behind the houses crossing both lots is the barn.

Hackley fireplace

  There is a dividing wall right on the property line so one half belonged to each family.  The men who cared for the horses and drove the families each had an apartment upstairs in the barn. 

The men made their fortunes in lumber.  When they realized they would eventually run out in Michigan they started mills out west. So the sons that worked for them moved west and gradually the number of descendants decreased and the homes were sold, the Hume house became a day care.  They have been perfectly renovated and it’s an ongoing project.  A worthwhile stop if you visit the area!

Hackley, barn, Hume and Bill's truck

By now we were pretty hungry and enjoyed a delicious lunch/dinner at the Handsome Hobo, compliments of Kam.  There are 2 restaurants next door to each other owned and run by the same people so we chose this one over The Hobo Tavern.  We each had a dinner combo, which was 2 meats and 2 sides.  I had lake perch and ribs and Bill had lake perch and a filet.  All VERY good!  I brought my ribs home for later.

Meijers was on the way home and we first fed our cans and bottles into the recycle machines and earned $15.70 this week for them.  We did our shopping, had an ice cream and headed home.

No further eating for me tonight as I stayed full.  Actually, I had a glass of wine and it wiped me out.  I fell asleep on the recliner and slept until 11, then I got up and ready for bed and read an hour.  I guess I really needed the sleep. 

Not much happening

July 21 – Not such a bad day on the job today, thanks to the rain!   We cleaned restrooms and the grounds between rains and picked up trash multiple times.  The dumpster doth runneth over as usual.  The weekends sure create a lot of garbage.

We got to take several breaks at home today when the rain was the worst.  That was nice.  It wasn’t the best day for the campers and some that came for the motorcycle rally left.  The weather reports have not been accurate since we got here.  We did have a few new campers come in so Bill and I had 2 cabins to clean and get ready.

We sorted out all the cans and bottles we collected this week.  Now it’s kind of a challenge to see if we can top last week.  I also found a dime today so my find is up to $1.51.

Lucky penny!

July 20 -   Today was much better than yesterday, but Bill wasn’t feeling well this morning so I headed out by myself to clean the bath/shower houses and Cadillac by myself.  I did some trash pick up and went home for a break.  I had some cereal for breakfast and Bill was feeling better after my break so we went back to work together.

One of the bikes in town for the Bike Time Rally

Bill mowed grass and I help Kim clean 4 cabins.  While mowing, bill called me to tell me there was a dead fish at one of the site he mowed and for me to come get it.  Well, that was NOT happening!  Shaun happened to be at the cabin we were cleaning and he was cleaning a grill and firepit.  I told him it was his turn to retrieve the dead fish.  He grinned and said no problem!

Once Bill was finished mowing we did some general trash pick up and cleaned some sites.  With the motorcycle rally we have about 40 RV’s coming in today.  It was threatening rain most of the day and people weren’t sure what to plan but we didn’t get

Another nice bike

even a drop until about 8:30 PM.  Clouds came and went as did the sunshine so it was not a hot day at all.

We made numerous rounds checking the bathrooms and I helped a new RV owner find his tank monitor and poor guy, discovered that the used RV he bought, the black tank was not emptied and he can’t get it to drain.   Hope he gets things worked out with the dealer that sold it to him.

Bill sat out by the firepit with Shaun that’s outside the office and I kinda roamed around.  We ended up not getting home til about 9:45.  Long day since I started at 7:45 at the bathhouse!

Today I only found a penny, but maybe it will bring me luck.

NOT a good day back at work!!!!!

July 19 – Today goes down as the worst day of camp hosting ever!  After Bill and I finished the restrooms we started on the showers.  I was on my last one and the rubber mat outside the shower had poop on it!  Geez!  I’m thinking it was a baby and was from a diaper taken off.  I called for Bill to take it outside and hose it and I worked on getting the rest out of the stall.  I brought in the giant bottle of Lysol and poured a cup or so in and swished it around with my broom and it smelled very clean, like Lysol!

Once Bill and I finished up the bathrooms he went with Shawn to pump RV’s and the portable toilets.  I was cleaning some outdoor rugs when I got the call to un-stop a toilet in the men’s bathroom!  Well, I’m pretty efficient with a plunger, but the toilet was to the brim with water and there were no cups or vessels to use to scoop out the water.  I found a small trash can in the storage room and started just removing 1 cup or so at a time.  Gradually I could remove more until I got it down low enough to risk putting the plunger in.  When I was ready to flush I was still not sure and I could not locate a shut off valve for the toilet.  The others each had a valve but this one was different.  There was a chrome end on the pipe that had a little wing on it, but it didn’t look like a turn off.  Well I decided to plunge some more before taking a chance of flooding the bathroom!  Eventually it cleared and that challenge was met!

Later in the afternoon I was doing a bag pick up along the campsites and I saw a guy setting up an awning over his picnic table.  He asked me to stop and I figured he needed help with holding a pole or something.  Well he asked me to get the dead fish out of his firepit!  I got my grabbers and my bucket thinking it was dried out and plopped it in my bucket.  I hadn’t gone far when the smell started.  I went as fast as I could to the dumpster.While trying to dump it in a plastic bag first so it wouldn’t reek so bad every time we put trash in the dumpster, I thought I was going to look my lunch!  Darn, where was Bill when I needed him?  I managed to get it in the dumpster and there was a muddy looking chunk still in my bucket so I put it on the back of my cart, as far from me as I could and drove like lightning, well for a golf cart, to the closest hose and filled my bucket and drove it out in the woods and dumped where I almost lost my lunch again!  I was ready to call it a day!

We were on firewood delivery for the evening and trash pick up.  The plan was to hook up the red cart to my golf cart and we put 15 bundles of wood in it.  Well earlier today I noticed there was a screw in one of the tires and I told Shaun, the owner, about it.  So Bill and I were on the back side of the lake checking the portolets and I told him something was wrong with the cart.  I said I think it’s a tire and got off to look at my left tire and Bill said the screw was in the right.  I said that’s not the problem and the left tire was FLAT and right was fine, still had the screw in it!  We called in that we were done and out on the back 40 so they sent another cart out that has a built on wagon back and we off loaded to her cart and we limped back to the garage.  What a day!  Thank goodness 9pm rolled around shortly we and headed for home and for a better day tomorrow!

The highlight of the day is I found .30, so my money bag is up to $1.40.

Last day off

July 18 – Last day off this week and it’s been a nice run!  No hurrying around this morning.  Light breakfast and showers and we left for a movie and errands.  We had to find a UPS location to drop off a return and a post office as a package we were mailing was over the mailbox weight limit.  Luckily the UPS Store could also take our mail.

We then checked the movie times and we had about an hour so we stopped at a Habitat for Humanity Restore but I only found a roll of gift wrap.  Once we made it to the street the theater was on I said maybe we should grab some lunch as the food in the theatres are always over priced.  There was a Drive-In place called Dogs-n-Suds and I’m not a hot dog person but it was convenient.  Well, they had burgers, dogs, salads and Lake Perch sandwiches, so we both got one.  It was very good and a pleasant surprise. 

We got to the movie and seated just as the previews started, so it was good timing.  We saw Skyscraper with The Rock.  It was OK.  I like The Rock better in comedies.  As a lot of movies are now a little far out of reality, Skyscraper was far out and I wouldn’t see it again, but it was OK.

On the way home we stopped for Bill to check on a part for his bug net on the truck.  We also stopped at Sam’s and then headed home.

Bill rode his bike some this afternoon and we both sat outside and read.  I think I saw him taking a little nap too!  I put some chicken on to stew and later made Chicken and dumplings for dinner and green beans.  There was peach crisp left for dessert. 

Time for some TV!

Didn't accomplish much!

July 17 -  No more leak!  No dampness anywhere so I put the cabinet cover back on and hope to not see another section of wet carpet!  We had eggs and fruit for breakfast and eventually Bill left to get his chest xray that was ordered 2 weeks ago.  I have him a short list for Meijers on the way home.

With such a slow internet connection, I’d get up a lot and do a chore here and there.  My chores included putting away stuff under the RV that accumulated, get a couple of cards ready to mail, clean the bathroom, start typing yesterday’s journal, do a load of wash and make a peach crisp to go with tonight’s grilled dinner.

Bill got back from his xray and shopping stops and later started cleaning the wheels on the truck.  He picked up our mail and checked on what’s going on in the campground.  He went and retrieved our cart and did a trash pick up. 

We have new neighbors that we understand are one of the t-shirt vendors at the big motorcycle rally this weekend.  Wonder what deals I can get!

Bill grilled marinated chicken and Italian sausage and I made corn on the cob (really hard to do) and some broccoli slaw.  We finished the last piece of peach jello pie and Bill had some peach crisp.  Now trying to plan out tomorrow!

Back on the lighthouse trail...

July 16 – Lighthouse Day!  The plan was to go south to the fartherest point and work our way back.   By the time we left traffic was pretty light as the workers were all at their jobs for the day.  We went to the little beach side town of St. Joseph. 

First St. Joseph Pier liight

All of these towns have nice downtowns that are mostly

Second one

tourist shops and eateries.  We stopped at the both of the gift shops on the main street for my passport stamp and found that each one was different.  I need to check with the Lighthouse Society to see if I can put both in my book.  So I had the first one stamped in the book and the second on a piece of paper.  Getting to the lighthouse is a small challenge and if we didn’t have directions I’m not sure we’d have found it.  The second gift shop had a hand drawn map and it was excellent and got us right there.  We had to pay $3 to park as it’s a beach area and that’s how they

Dredging vessel

take care of the area.  That was for an hour.  Bill hit the restroom and then we walked out to the end of the pier.  Nice walk for us to get some fresh air and exercise.  At first you only see the first lighthouse, which looks like a small house with a light on the top.  Once we did our photos there we decided to walk behind it to see the dredging going on out in the bay.  Well, then we saw the smaller lighthouse actually on the pier head.  Too bad there wasn’t a reasonable spot to get to and take a photo of them together.

Next stop was South Haven.  It’s larger than St. Joseph and again, set right on the water of Lake Michigan.  They all have bays and inlets and lots of expensive boats scattered along the many marinas.  Bill said his dad told him that boats were money pits, just like an RV.  I guess it’s chose your poison!

South Haven also has 2 passport stamps.  First we stopped at the Chamber of Commerce

South Haven Lighthouse

and got their stamp on paper as it’s HUGE!  We also got directions to the lighthouse and since you turn on the main drag to get there, there are also lots of good eateries to chose from.  We decided, well, Bill will say I decided on Phoenix Street Café which had good ratings.  Bill had the special, some big chicken sandwich with bacon, etc and a side of potato salad.  It was a tough decision for me as they had some interesting sandwich choices as well as salads.  Luckily they had a half and half so I had the apple, cranberry, walnut salad, which was LOADED with those items and a ton of feta cheese.  The lettuce was definitely in the minority.  I went with raspberry vinaigrette.  My sandwich was turkey, cream cheese, cranberries, havarti, lettuce on rye.  OMG!  I asked for extra dressing and that made it perfect!   I had to cut the half of sandwich in half.  Bill said the whole must have filled a plate!

We strolled the downtown and checked out a few shops but didn’t buy anything today.  The weather was perfect with sunshine and a light breeze.  The main street ends at the harbor so as we left we drove along the side of the harbor and “boom” there was the lighthouse.  It was closed today, so I could not go up but we got our photos. Before leaving town we stopped at the Maritime Museum where I got the second stamp and had it put in my book. 

Back on the road north, we stopped at a “dutch” farmer’s stand that had fresh veggies and fruits for sale.  They infer that it’s all grown there but we saw boxes from other places.  I thought the prices were high.  The best deal was u-pick blueberries but we opted out.  Inside the old building they have an ice cream parlor that also sells fresh baked goods.  Bill had a cookie with his ice cream but I was happy for just the ice cream.  We sat on the porch in old fashion metal yard chairs that motion forward and back.  Nice break!

We arrived in Holland, home of the USA tulips regalia.  Too bad it was before we arrived in

Holland Lightjouse

the area!  Another beautiful town, but larger and more retail areas than our first 2 stops.  Most of the big stores line US 31 so the downtown is still quaint.  According to my information the passport stamp was available at the museum that is open, but was not open!  Darn!  So we headed to the lighthouse anyway.  We had heard the best vantage point was in the state park and our directions took us right there.  There’s a charge to get in as once again, it’s on the beach.  Bill asked if we could circle around right in front of the entrance to take pictures and he told us we could.  The bay was lightly foggy and I was shooting into the sun so didn’t get a very good photo, but it was better than none. 

The plan was to stop in Grand Haven for dinner on the way home but it was too early for dinner after a big late lunch.  We headed on back to the campground with no delays.  The office was closed which surprised us, but it’s slow and a good chance for the owners to have a dinner without interruptions.  Molly was happy to see us as usual. 

Eventually we each heated up leftovers for dinner.  I had a salad and my alfredo lasagna.  I downloaded my photos from today and then we watched the season ender of a show Bill likes on WWII.

Before bed I tightened the leak just a little bit more!

Shopping, shopping, dinner and a movie

July 15 – I checked and tightened the water leak more.  I am gradually getting it to leak less!

Bill took a bike ride up to the office to see what happenings there were last night and reported all was quiet in the asylum!  Good deal for everyone!

I put a load of laundry in once showers were done and we finally left.  First stop was Dollar Tree for a over the door hanger that we read about in Motorhome magazine to use on the slide as a hanger for items on hangers.  Does that make sense?  Got it!  Across the road is the mall and we hit Younkers again and some things were another 5% off.  We got some Christmas gifts; I got a top, sox and another bra.  Bill got more sox and underwear.  All necessities!

Then we went to Bath & Body Works who happened to have the lotion Bill likes for half price AND I had a 20% off coupon.  Hope he got enough now to last til we get home. Time to split up, so I took Bed Bath and Beyond while be checked out 2 comic books stores and retrieved my BBY coupons from the car.  BBY had 20% off ALL coffee so with my coupons, I got at another 23% off.  Not bad!

We had gift cards so decided to have late lunch/early dinner at Olive Garden in the parking lot of the mall.  We rarely eat there as home as our Olive Garden is not in the best neighborhood.  I had Alfredo Lasagna with chicken and after having salad and a breadstick, I only ate half.  Great leftovers.  Bill had spaghetti and meatballs and also had leftovers.  I think he regretted not getting the same dish as I did.

A few miles up the road was the movie theater that had more than 2 screens.  We went to the Jurassic World movie.  It was just as good as the prior ones and we both enjoyed it! We found out Tuesdays is deal day so we will plan our future movies for Tuesday!

We managed to squeeze into Ollies just before closing time.  Just picked up a couple of snacks.  They didn’t have the fried corn that they had at home.  Sunday everything in the area closes at 6. 

Shopping is tiring!  Then we had to unload it and find places for everything.  Then time to chill and read.

Restful day off!

July 14 – Heard the rain in the early morning and it was light rains on and off most of the morning.  Planned today as a rest day and get things done kind of day.  Bill slept in and we neither one wanted a big breakfast so just had fruit.  The rain did it’s thing on and off while I made a pasta salad to go with steaks and asparagus on the grill for dinner.  Later I made 2 small rhubarb crisps, one of us and one for Jean and Shaun.  I tightened the connection where the water leak is coming from, just a little at a time and it’s really slowed down so  will leave the front panel off until tomorrow and make sure it’s cured.  Might need to take it apart and get a washer for it.  Bill swept and once he shaved and dressed, he took the trash up to the dumpster on his bike and really wanted to just go see what’s happening on the home front!

We made a run to Meijers for more rhubarb to put in the freezer and get a battery for Bill’s watch.  I have at least 10 battery sizes but of course, not the one he needs.  The rhubarb was no longer on sale, so had to pass but I did buy some sweet cherries for us to snack on.

We checked out theatre locations and may go to a movie tomorrow and a couple of specialty stores.

The battery worked but we can’t get it to stop blinking once we set the time.  This is why I use a regular old watch!

Got some reading in today and relaxation!  Nice, oh so nice!  Dinner was good all the way around!

Three tiring work days

July 11 - Back to work!  Nothing exciting going on!  I have found .79 so far during my hard

At least the golf cart is fun!

working efforts to make this the cleanest campground in the state!  There are 3 things that should be banned from campgrounds:  cigarettes and the jerks that can’t find an ash tray and juice boxes with cellophane covered straws!  Guess you can tell I see a lot of those items on the ground.  Since we are not nearly full it was a good time to try and clean all of the open sites.  It was hard and tiring, and luckily not so hot out, but I got them all done.  Bill was on the riding mower in the morning and in the afternoon he was getting some real exercise pushing a mower along the edge of the lake.  He was a tired puppy but it was good for him!

During our break I wanted to drop 2 packages off at the post office so googled what was close and when I arrived it was a Meijer’s store.  From the truck I called in and made sure and they said I can drop off packages at Customer Service.  So I quickly too them in and there’s a Wendy’s in the parking lot so I got us each a Frosty.  It’s not 5 minutes from the campground so that’s nice to know. 

July 12 – We spent our morning cleaning the bathhouse and 5 cabins.  The inside of the cabins isn’t bad but sometimes the outside has lots of tiny trash!  It was brisk out this morning and we experienced our high of 82 this evening at 8.  Strange!

On break today I wrote some postcards, took a short nap and did a load of laundry.  Then I sat out and read a while til I fell asleep in my chair.  We did our duty til 9 and were both pretty zonked when we got home. 

July 13 – Jean asked us to clean the bathrooms at 8 then take off and come back in around 10.  We ended up needing 1:15 to clean the bathhouse, the Cadillac and the 3 portalets.  So we went back in at 10:15.  Found out we missed the action last night.  A 17 year old girl was in one of the cabins with her boyfriend and the boyfriend’s parents and siblings and the girl got in a fight with the guy and it got physical and the owners called the police.  The group was 2 hours from home and the girl’s parents refused to come get her and the parents here didn’t want to be responsible for another outbreak so the police took her to a shelter for the night.  The ordeal didn’t end until 2 AM.  We felt bad for the owners being up half the night! 

This is a cacida that just exited it's cocoon

I was cleaning cabins this morning and was hoping to find something out of whack that the owner could justify holding some or part of their deposit for the inconvenience but it was left in good condition and nothing broken or missing.  I did the cabins and 2 sites while Bill finished mowing and weed eating around the rest of the lake.  It sure looks nice now with no high grass along the edge. 

Up close and personal

The other host couple made bbq for sandwiches for everyone’s lunch and that was nice.  Then we took our afternoon long break.   We decided to get our grocery shopping out of the way and also had a short list for the campground that I offered to get, so we went to Meijers, just 2.5 miles away.  We have been collecting cans, glass and plastic bottles as the Wal-marts and Meijers have recycle areas.  You hand feed each bottle or can and if it’s not acceptable it rejects.  We had not idea how much it paid but we had one bag of mostly beer cans and 6-8 glass bottles.  It prints out a ticket that you use against your purchase.  We were quite pleased and surprised that we ended up with $12 in credit.  We now will continue to gather cans if they’re not all nasty mixed in with food stuff.

They had a good produce sale on and some clearance that Bill took advantage of.  It’s not laid out at all like Wal-mart so I was all over the place trying to locate stuff.  We may go to Sam’s on Sunday or Monday to replenish our meat supply.

On the way home we stopped at Wendy’s for an afternoon snack of Frosty and only had about 45 minutes until work time.

We’ve been battling water leakage from somewhere in the RV, so I took the face off the water heater cabinet and discovered the leak from the hot water line to the sink faucet.  Thought if Bill didn’t use that sink  the leak might stop, but no!  I called a mobile RV guy and left a message but didn’t hear back from him.  We put fans on the carpet again and another facing inside the cabinet and a towel where the water was pooling.  Will see if I hear from the guy or have to figure something out.

The evening was busy for check-in’s, over 40 but we mostly delivered wood to sites and kept check on the bathrooms.  Glad it is not our days to clean on Saturday and Sunday! 

The other hosts also ordered in pizzas and fried shrimp to share with all of us as well as one couple who are seasonal that he helps out a lot with major fix it jobs.  Not being a pizza person I passed on that and had 5-6 shrimp.  Bill enjoyed the pizza and even liked the shrimp.  Bill thanked them and said next time it was our turn to provide the food.  Not sure what that’s going to be????

Again we were bushed when our day was over!  At least we didn’t have to worry about a meal, but I did make some popcorn that we shared, me with wine and Bill with water!  Nothing much on TV so we both read until we couldn’t last any longer!

Oh, and I only found 1 penny today, so my total so far is $1.10.