We found them (70's)

 After spending too much time in KY and TN where it has been an unusually hot summer we left headed north. The first stop was the KY Horse Park because it was starting to rain, and after just washing the rig there was no way I was driving in rain if I could avoid it.

 We had just left our friends Sue and Niel, Jim and Chris, Wanda and Wallace, and a few others at the Raccoon Valley SKP Park. That was a short stay at Raccoon Valley, just long enough to take care of some banking and to get the rig washed, but we were happy that we did get to see them all even though it was only a short visit.

 At the horse park we pulled into the primitive electric area since we had water and was only staying long enough to avoid the rain and to make a trip to Woodford Reserve Distillery to get our last stamp on our Bourbon Tour Passport.

 Well after dark we had an unexpected visitor, we were watching TV when Marcia jumped up saying "there is someone out there, trying to get in".  As I looked toward the door I could see a small light being waved around as if they were looking for the door handle. After all was said and done it was the lady that was camping a few sites down from where we had parked. She was very apologetic and said she should have realized she was at the wrong rig because ours is a class A and theirs is a class C.

 Thursday AM we got up and drove to the Woodford Reserve Distillery where we got our last stamp. We chose not to do either of their three tours. They are the only distillery that charges a fee to take their tour, and really I have never heard of that brand of bourbon.

 We rushed back to the rig so we could continue or journey north. The lady that disturbed us the night before came up to us as we were hooking up the jeep to the Kountry Star and apologized again, and again. She was really embarrassed about it.

 After a call to our friends Phil and Linda in Lancaster OH we decided we would head towards MI instead of spending a few days in OH. I-75 is a road we have traveled many times, but it is also the quickest way out of KY so that is the road we took. Once in OH we started looking for back roads, even though we still had no ideal where we were going except the U P of MI.

 We chose 127 and hit it in Eaton OH. We stopped in Van Wert OH at a Wal-Mart to spend the night, where we were once again startled while watching TV. Some kids had decided to scare us by slapping the door with their hand. By the time we got to the door they were long gone. Maybe we should quit watching TV at night.

 Friday Am we drove to Heartland Woods RV resort near Jackson MI where we met up with our friends Walt and Donna. Walt and Donna was the first couple we met after we moved the mattress out of the house and into the Santara back in 2007. They are headed east and we will continue north come Sunday AM, but it is good to meet up with friends all over the country.

 The best news I have heard was today on the local TV station. The weather forecast is for highs to be in the upper    S E V E N T I E S  today.That is right where I like it, lower 80's, upper 70's life is good when you can just drive your home a few hundred miles to be in the perfect weather.......

Which way to turn at the next red light?

 We are really enjoying our time here on the farm, we have started calling it "Shepard's RV Park", but the time is coming to roll the wheels again. The thoughts of WI and the U P of MI have run across the etch-a-sketch, but then so has the BRP, (Blue Ridge Parkway) and Natches Trace!

 With the high humidity and unusually high temperatures we need to find cooler weather. I never thought I would be saying that here in KY/TN, but I am. The upper 90's combined with high humidity has me sitting inside a lot more than I want to be, and then add the shock of coming into the AC from outside or leaving the AC and stepping into the oven and I ask myself WHY, we have wheels under the house.

 Marcia and Sheila have had too many laughs (which is good) and John has been so much help lending tools and expertise, we really thank them both! We have started making plans for an "all inclusive" vacation to Mexico with the four of us. That will be a very interesting trip if it all pans out.

We had the privilege of meeting John's son Dustin, and his wife Lindsy, they are expecting their first baby in a couple weeks. We wish the young couple the very best.

 Tomorrow AM we will pack everything up and start out, and sometime between now and the first red light we come to I will have to decide which way to turn. It really is nice to be in a position that my major decision is going to be which way to turn at the next red light. Check back to see which way it was, and which way we turn at the light after that......

Down on the Farm

 

OK  I have to re-learn blogspot! Things have changed since my last update so all my pictures are in reverse order tonight. Oh well since I am not going to delete and re post the pictures I'll tell the story then explain the pictures.

We left Bledsoe Creek State Park Sunday morning headed to our friends Shelia and John Shepard's new farm. Shelia always liked and wanted horses so after their young-ens moved out they moved too. (maybe so their kids couldn't find them) They bought a large horse farm, minus the horses. They have a beautiful house, plenty of room, a horse barn, and Sheila even has an office on the farm. (and now an RV park for one)

When we arrived I found it a bit tricky getting the Kountry Star backed into an area between the pond and the barn. After a lot of help from Marcia and John I managed to get the rig parked, and only tore off one of the air horns in the process. (it was an easy fix to replace it)

We had a terrific meal, Shelia and Marcia worked hard at preparing the feast for us. Afterwards we finished the best of three games of cornhole!  It was a close game but the Shepard's found themselves trying to keep up with the Jones'.

Monday John took a trip to Home Depot and picked up everything needed to run 50 amp service for us. (Shelia better hang on to that guy cause he is a keeper for sure)  Marcia and myself picked up some laminate to re-do the floors in the Kountry Star. Something about camping and carpet don't mix, and I'm happy to see the RV industry starting to do away with the carpet in RVs.

John and I started laying the laminate after Marcia and I pulled the carpet and got the MH ready for the change. It was hard getting started because of the slideout, but after much deliberating we got the first few pieces down before we quit to eat again. (we do eat a lot)

John and Shelia went to WO** (dirty four letter word) today and

Marcia and I played with the laminate. We had it laid except for the last four pieces when John got home, so we let him cut the last four pieces, and we even let him put three of them in. (I'm saving the LAST piece for ME) When Sheila finally returned from wo** (I'll have to wash my mouth and fingers out with soap for using those dirty 4 letter words) the girls went to the big house to fix a special supper for us all. Fresh green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers we picked up from a roadside stand. I think Shelia could be pregnant because she was craving pasta so she made that to go with the other stuff. What a meal!

Tomorrow I'll pickup the needed trim work to finish off the flooring job, Marcia will get to clean up the mess, John will go to the dirty four letter word, and Sheila has some job thing that will take her out of town for a couple days. I'm not sure when we will leave the great hospitality of the Shepard's, but rest assured when ever it is we will already be looking forward to returning to the farm.

The new floor!

A nice picture from across the pond of the Kountry Star.

That is Shelia's office to the left of the MH

 

John and Shelia's new house!

       

This is one of the many deer that allowed us to sit and watch them while we spent time at Bledsoe Creek. 

I'm sorry this wasn't told with the pictures inserted in the story, but you do get to see them and read the summery of our last couple of days. More to come later.......................

Moving ON

We are at Bledso Creek State Park near Nashville TN tonight. Plan on a couple days here because it is nice, we have 50 amp electric, a lake near by and it is only $15 a night. May stay here for two weeks.

Yesterday we had visitors, Jay and Fay Carter, another full timing couple from the "class of 2007". It was great catching up and planning new things. (Maybe a 5 year reunion in Q)

We will wait to see where we park the rig next, but as of right now the only plans are to pick dad up sometime in the middle of Aug and take him to OH to visit his sister, and we will head to Goshen IN for the Gypsy Journal Rally, and then back track dropping dad off in Ky before heading to Tampa to catch the boat to Cosmel....

Where to next?

I finished my doctors appointments yesterday, I won't know the results until the VA calls or sends me a letter. The CT Scan went like all the others except I thought it was at 12 PM and it wasn't until 1PM so we had a longer wait than expected.

Corey came up to visit us and he brought Miss Jaelynn so after the scan we had several hours to kill before I had the sleep-study. We did the park thing and Jaelynn had a great time playing, and we had a gr8 time watching her.

After a dinner at Denny's we parted ways, I went to the VA Hospital, and Marcia Corey and Miss Jaelynn went back to the rig. I had a terrible night trying to sleep with all those wires attached, topped off by over doing it all day while "hanging" around waiting.

Today I did catch a couple naps and I think my body is back on track. Tomorrow we will be leaving Bardstown, but as I write this we still don't know which way we will be turning at the next red light......

When Things just go RIGHT.

We left Middlesboro yesterday, leaving dad, Scott, Corey, and Miss Jaelynn at Long John Silver's seafood. We left pulling the jeep behind the Kountry Star. I thought the jeep was a bit harder to pull than the tracker had been, until I adjusted my seat. After sitting at Raccoon Valley for several weeks I had moved my seat around, it was right for using the computer,but not for driving.

Once the seat was adjusted I could hardly tell the jeep was in tow. I am happy that we have a rear-view camera so I can watch it as we drive a long life's highways. We found the Wall-Mart in Bardstowns KY and parked the rig there for the night. We had ran the gen set all day to keep the rig cool, and was able to cut it off around 9PM.

Today we drove on to My Old KY Home Campground. A nice CG surrounded by a golf course. This is a state park and since I am in the system as a KY resident, and the new law allowing 100% disabled vets free camping, (3 nights) we are staying on the state for three nights.

I wasn't sure we were going to stay here because the CG is covered by large oak trees. Trees are nice but they prevent satellite reception, and we really enjoy our TV at times. We worked it out with the camp host to try it for one night, I figured that would give me time to check out the commercial campgrounds in the area.

We were assigned site #1, I thought I might be able to get the external dish out and find a hole in the trees enough to get reception for the TV. Marcia guided me into the site, we leveled up the rig. (amongst all the trees)



A lot of trees around this part of the country.




I decided to "hit the button" on the track vision. No way did I expect it to find a signal, let alone find satellite 101 on the very first try. But when things are meant to be they just work out. We got 87% reception on the first try. And with the three free nights we will hang out here until after my doctors appointments next week.

Last year at Raccoon Valley we saw a neat idea for catching the water running off the roof from the AC, so I copied it!




The rig we saw with this set-up last year had a clothespin attached to the downspout, as you can see I used a clip that we use to close potato chip bags.



As the string gets wet the water running off the roof follows the string to the attached bucket. From around 11:30 AM until 7:30 PM today we collected 5 gallons of water. Marcia used it to water the flowers around one of the signs here at the CG.

We will spend the next few days exploring the area from My Old Kentucky Home State Park, Monday we will drive the jeep to Lexington for my appointments, and "the etch-a-sketch" shows us moving on sometime next week.......

Another week has passed.

It has been a week since my last update. Hard to beleive time flys by so quickly. We have enjoyed some family time, and that is priceless, but it is time to move on. The on;y problem is the Forth of July is this weekend, and everyone knows all the weekend worriers will be out in force.
I am happy the working people get the chance to enjoy what we enjoy every day, but it does cause us to "plan" to be parked for the weekend. So we will stick around here until after the "holiday weekend".
We are also getting the oppertunity to spend some time with our rv families, David and Kathy (of the Class of 2007) are here at Raccoon Valley along with Billy and Kay, Wanda and Wallace, and a few others that we have spent time with over the past few years. It sure is nice to have so many freinds and family around.
After the 4th we will try to see some of the area around where we grew up that we havewn't seen. I'm amazed that there is so much around that we never took the time to explore when we lived so close..............

Everyone enjoy the fourth, and I hope we all get to celerbrate it with the fifth, (of July)................