Friday October 12, 2007 Sedalia, MO

Today was just a wind down day and get set to move tomorrow. We did laundry and washed the truck. I spent the afternoon watching for the B2 with no luck. We said goodbye to several friends who were pulling out. There's a good chance we'll see some in the Branson area later this month as our paths will be crossing again. We went to Cole Camp, MO for pizza this evening with Ron and Lois and Bill and Judy Teeze, good pizza. We played euchre with Ron and Lois for awhile. The guys won 2 to 1.

Thursday October 11, 2007 Sedalia, MO

Getting cold....it was 42 this morning when we got up. We had the heat pump on last night and set at 68. Beautiful morning, Judy walked over to the rally site for coffee and sit in on the planning of the 2008 HitchHiker trips that are being organized. This is the last day, Judy went to a red hat luncheon and I went to the greasy hat luncheon where the guys checked out several new trucks brought in by dealerships. We had beans and brats for lunch, guy food. We spent a beautiful afternoon outside talking with friends and neighbors while I waited for B2 to fly over for a picture, bummer, none. I feel a little better as Bill Teetz, retired air force, visited Whitman AFB and didn't see any either, they were concealed. We had a farewell supper at 5:30, closing ceremonies, and a ragtime band to end the evening. It's time to say farewell, this has been the most social of all the rallies we have attended and for that reason very enjoyable. There were over 200 HitchHikers here, their largest rally. If you look real close you can see the B2 in the picture I got yesterday after I rushed to get my camera. Remember the B2 is stealth so your not suppose to see it! I'll have one more chance tomorrow.

Wednesday October 10, 2007 Sedalia, MO

Last night we went out for a BBQ supper with Ron and Lois and Lloyd and Terry, we had so much fun we almost couldn't stop laughing long enough to eat. When we returned to the fairgrounds we attended a concert by the American Kids. They were 9 to 16 years old and did a great job singing and dancing. This morning we had breakfast with all the other RVs and the service manager from HitchHiker (RV is really his initials and that's what he goes by) showed up at our trailer and replaced 2 window blinds and the bathroom door latch. We also talked with him to better understand several things about our home. I spent today attending a few presentations and we made BLTs for lunch. Judy and I volunteered to assist handing out ice cream this afternoon, several friends gathered here for a couple drinks and seven of us went back to the same BBQ restaurant , Dickey Doos BBQ, where we ate last night. We returned at 7:30 to play bingo for an hour and a half. It was niffty, when we walked back to our site after bingo we heard over 50 diesels fire up, smelled them, and drive past us as we walked. It's getting cold....48 right now and the heat pump is doing it's thing. We saw the B2 fly over again this afternoon so I'll be ready tomorrow with my camera.

Monday & Tuesday October 8 & 9, 2007 Sedalia, MO

We are having fun. It rained quite a bit this morning after a pretty sunrise but cleared up early in the afternoon. Monday afternoon was the intro for new rally attendees and the opening ceremony was at 7:30. We attended both and went to a nice Mexican restaurant with 2 other couples from the NuWa Owners Forum. Good food and talk. We came home at 9:15 while more socializing was going on at the auditorium. We also checked out the 12 or 13 new HitchHikers that are inside the buildings. There are about a dozen vendors but all we bought, so far, was a shirt for Judy and a hat for me. Guess what NuWa gave out? A hat.

Cooler Tuesday, it was 50 when we got up at 7am. So far Tuesday we attended the opening, a SkyMed presentation (emergency get ya to a hospital and wherever else you and your RV gotta go when you are sick on the road), and the NuWa forum. Judy and Susy went to Curves and the post office. This afternoon I'll attend one more presentation and skiped another couple. We are playing beanbag baseball this afternoon. I have to say we are getting weird.....last night's entertainment was 2 ladies whistling. Weird but OK. One was the national woman's whistling champ in 1996 & 1997. She was good! This rally is not as well organized and professional as the Life on Wheels or Escapade was. It is A LOT more social! Tonight several of us are going out for BBQ.

WOW, we were told that Whitman Air Force Base is 15 miles out of town and they are the home of the 509 Bomb Wing and the B2 stealth bomber. One just flew over about 2000 feet up, that was IMPRESSIVE!!! I wish I had my camera!!

Sunday October 7, 2007 Sedalia, MO

I was up early and got some sunrise pictures of the row of trailers we are in, we also went to a local grocery store and restocked our supplies. I washed the bugs off the front of the trailer also. The trailers have continued arriving one or two at a time and groups of five or six as a group so they stay together. There must be almost 200 in here now. We are having a relaxing afternoon, I'm watching the race at Talladega while Judy reads the paper outside. We just talked with Devyn, she's excited about spending yesterday at Cedar Point and riding the real roller coasters! We are meeting a group at 6:30 for a social evening, they are all members of the NuWa Owners Forum that I've been communicating with since last Christmas. The rally officially starts Monday afternoon and we have been doing what we wanted to since we arrived......socialize!

Saturday October 6, 2007 Sedalia, MO

Judy and I were leaving for some local sightseeing with Suzy and Steve but we ended up meeting Dave and Trish Wood. They are NuWa Owners Forum members and this is the first we have been able to meet them in person. Dave has a nice chopper he carries on the back hitch of his trailer, maybe something I should consider. We talked with them and others for almost two hours before we left again for Bothwell Lodge, a local 31 room mansion built between the late 1890s and the mid 1920s. It sits on a 120 foot bluff overlooking farmland and the stones used to build the home were taken from the bluff. I got a picture of Judy and Suzy rocking on one of the breezeways, Judy and the boiler in the basement, and the "modern" electrical power system. Off to lunch, then we registered for the rally and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting with several new friends until 9pm. We emptied 1 wine bottle and 1 rum bottle.

Friday October 5, 2007 Sedalia, MO

We made the 70 mile trip to the Missouri State Fairgrounds in a little over an hour arriving at 12:15pm. We spent the morning in Columbia chatting with new friends, Ron and Lois, who also own a HitchHiker and are from Grand Rapids. It's hot, high 80s. When we finished setting up we noticed our neighbors one trailer over....Ron and Lois. Suzy and Steve Billings (from KC), who we met at Life on Wheels in Bowling Green, called and we went out to supper with them to catch up on what's happened since May. I'd estimate there are 50 HitchHikers here so far and they are steadily arriving all afternoon.