In April 2007 we had sold our home in Michigan and moved into our new fifth wheel trailer to start our adventure of full timing and exploring in our RV. We started our blog so family and friends can track us and see what we are up to. You can double clink any picture to enlarge it.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

New large slide floor

Back on August 2nd I posted 2 pictures of the separation of a slide wall and floor so here we are in Chanute, KS getting it repaired. The first thing service did was remove the slide then the slide floor.


Below you can see the rotten wood that was damaged by water. The service techs think it may have come in from the window above it so they removed it and resealed it.
While the slide was removed it was a good time to replace all the downstairs carpet.  There was no mold or water damage but after 10 years and the HitchHiker apart now was a good time.
The second day the slide floor was replaced and carpeted along with the rest of the downstairs so it was time to reinstall the slide.


Now it's time to replace all the trim and caulk everything.  We are having a couple other things done while we are here so it should be done Thursday (tomorrow) after lunch.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Elkhart with the Ancient Mariner

We spent 2 nights at Elkhart Campground visiting with RV friends Greg and JoAnn.  He's a retired Master Chief and his NuWa Owners Forum name is Ancient Mariner, I call JoAnn the Admiral for obvious reasons.  We had a great time visiting with them, it's been 2 or 3 years since we last saw them.  We're westbound for Chanute RV service and they are eastbound after renewing their SD drivers licenses.  We had the chance to watch him play with his new toy......
  


Besides playing with his drone we caught up on the last few years. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Bye bye Devyn & Randy & Michigan

Our 3 months summer in Michigan with Randy & Lisa, Devyn and Dan is over.  When we saw this we started to think the time has come....................
We have seen two snowmobiles roadside for sale, we understand what's coming.  We have gone to a couple more of Devyn's soccer games.........

We went to our last soccer game Monday evening when Devyn's Rush team had a skirmish game against Indiana Tech, Rush won 1-0 in the rain.
Here we are on one of our last Gator rides in the back pasture on a sunny evening.  I cut the grass one last time Monday and finished just before the rain started.  I made 4 batches of popcorn before we
left so we took a big bag with us.
                              
Mo and I spent some time watching the Olympics too.
Saturday was Lisa's birthday so Randy BBQed for Lisa's two kids and their boy & girl friends and Devyn & Dan and Judy & I.  The kids all played several games of cornhole.  
It was a little rainy but Randy made sure the cookout went on as scheduled, no beef got wet on flintstone......that's the name he gave the grill.   
Tuesday was a rainy morning but we wanted to leave for Elkhart to spent some time with RV friends as we head west to our 8/22 appointment in Chanute, KS for our slide repair.  We got wet and waited for the worst of the rain to pass but we were on the road about noon for the short 120 mile tow to Elkhart. 

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Mel & Dee, Bremen, new closet

We made two trips to Bremen, IN to have our slide closet made into drawers and shelves since we lost storage space when the washer/dryer was installed.  The Amish woodworker (Carlyle at Focal Wood Products in Napanee) wasn't ready the first time, he called us when we were already at Pla Mor CG the morning of the scheduled install, so we went home.  Rescheduled 2 weeks later we returned.  This time Mel and Dee were at Pla Mor so we spent an extra day there visiting with them. 
                       How about this Amish portable generator!
                       Here's Mel & Dee at a Amish flower quilt.
                               Here's Judy at the same quilt.
                                 Here's our new slide closet.
Even though it took two trips to get it installed we are very pleased with Carlyle's work.
Well, we were happy until we returned to Onsted and noticed our home has a problem, the large slide floor is separating from the slide wall about an inch............


So, we have cancelled our trip to the Tall Ships rally in Two Harbors, MN later this month.  Bummer, we will miss seeing our RV friends and Judy was the organizer so she's turned over her plans to Paul & Denny.  Instead of MN we are going to Chanute, KS to have NuWa repair our slide on 8/22.  Into every life some rain must fall....but we don't want it inside our home.  We were in Chanute in May having the washer/dryer installed and we do enjoy Chanute but this means a motel which we do not enjoy.  Oh well. 

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Kipf wedding in Frankenmuth

Pat & Diana's son Nick was married in Frankenmuth so Clayton & Pat along with Judy, I & Jean went up to a campground in Birch Run for the weekend to attend the wedding.  Here's a game of Michigan rummy in Clayton's motor home. 
              Mary Lou, Jean, Judy and Clayton; two thirds of the siblings.
Clayton's sons Scott and Mark are in Monroe so we all got together at the Michigan Bar for lunch. 

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Soccer and cakes

Devyn had a soccer tournament in Kalamazoo and the Rush team won all three games coming in first place.....so D got a Champs cake!
When the subject of cakes came up the decision was made to make the red cake.  Devyn and Dan went to work under strict supervision.
        The best time making a cake is sampling it when it's finished.
Man can not live by cake alone......pulled pork anyone?  I have to say it was EXCELLENT!

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Flowery Branch & Onsted & in between

         Here's Devyn with Xena and Gabby at Jody & Renato's.
Randy & Lisa made the bike trip to Flowery Branch and hopped in Lake Lanier with the kids.
                     Does Dustin & Brianna look pooped out?
Several years ago we stopped here in Kentucky when Devyn was young and she was quite impressed.  When she and Judy were planning the trip D said they had to stop with Brianna and Dustin to they could have the same experience.



Devyn enjoyed her return visit as much as Brianna & Dustin did!
                           I had to sneak a picture of Moe in.
The kids had to have a ride on Randy's tractor when they saw me cutting grass.
Judy was very busy all the time making sure the kids were busy and having fun.  When Devyn was here it was much easier as they would share the activities.  Judy introduced Brianna & Dustin to mud.  It amazed me how much and haw long they played with mud and each other.  Witches brew was being taught too.
                                          Road trip time!