Visit with Rob, family and the grandkids and FINALLY HOME!

Hello Everyone,

We just enjoyed a great couple of days at Rob’s and spent time with the grandchildren and his family.  All in all, a great way to end our trip!  The kids are getting so big!  They were fascinated with the camper and learned all about our home away from home...

The farm has a new addition; two new goats called Huck and Finn and they are adorable!  The little ones showed them to us and we fed them some raisins which they thoroughly enjoyed.  Now they have ducks, guinea fowl, chickens, turkeys, goats, rabbits, cats and dogs.   These kids have their very own petting zoo at their house!

We got there Friday and after setting up camp we came to the house to have a quick visit.  Then everyone went to bed to rest up for a very busy next day.  After a long day we decided to have a bite to eat at the restaurant by the lake which we could walk to from the campground.  They were having a special for that night, spaghetti!  It sure is different in the country because the bill for the two of us came to $14.81, and that’s with a glass of wine!!

We picked up the kids at 10 am and brought them down to the lake where we spent time making sandcastles and moats and practiced fishing.  The water was clear and wonderful and we all enjoyed cooling off in it.  Maia is getting so good at swimming!!  Next, we took the kids to the camper which was a short walk down a hill to the campground.  They got to explore the camper and we all made plans to have them use the bunk beds on a future trip.  They were very excited by the idea...  We took them back home where we played and enjoyed making pizza together for dinner.  Afterwards the kids and Ron and I went to Rob’s shop where he was working on a customer’s bowling ball.  Rob has developed quite the sideline business and is getting quite a few customers.  The equipment in his Pro Shop is impressive and he gave Ron and I a demonstration of how it is used.  The kids were helping Daddy with his work by spraying the water on the bowling balls as they were being refinished.  

After getting home and passing out (playing with grandkids will do that to you) we made plans for a quick visit in the morning.  Rob brought all 3 kids over midmorning where they showed off their knowledge of the camper to their father :)  After a quick walk to the beach and the gazebo it was time to close up the camper and get ready to roll.  The little ones were fascinated by the way the camper closed up for driving....

All too soon, it was time to say our goodbyes... Thankfully, we will be seeing them again in a few months for the holidays.

We are now about an hour away and we’ll be home in Albany where we’ll be very busy unloading and cleaning up the camper.  It’ll be sitting in the driveway for a bit until it’s next adventure in 2 weeks to Cape Cod! 

We got home 4 1/2 hours ago and have been going since we pulled up to the house... We’re exhausted but VERY HAPPY  to be back home!  The house is in great shape thankfully, and no incidents!  It seems so big after being in the camper for 2 months!  The only issue when we arrived was that my car battery was dead in the garage, so we had to wait to move the camper into the driveway until the battery was recharged and we could move my car out....  It was pouring rain for the last few hours which was inconvenient for unloading but I really didn’t mind.  Actually, I felt really grateful that for our whole trip, we had fabulous weather which is amazing considering that we were gone for 2 months!  I can’t believe that we didn’t get caught in any of those severe storms that kept skirting around us while we were pulling the camper or out hiking...

This trip was the most amazing experience of my life and I am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to go on it with Ron.  As I’ve started to review some of the photos I can’t believe what we were able to see in such a relatively short space of time; memories that will last a lifetime.... 

New York

Hello Everyone,
We are back in NY but not home yet!  It's been a busy couple of days driving and we're still adjusting to two different time zone changes in less than a week....
It turns out that we decided to take a detour on the way home to see Rob, Heather and the grandkids.  We are staying at the campground just 5 minutes down the road from them at the Lake.  It's lovely down here and so close to the kids!!  We will enjoy visiting until Saturday when we'll make our final leg of this journey towards home....

Illinois State Park and Eagle Lake Campground in Ohio

Hi Everyone,

We are steadily making our way towards home.  Monday night we spent the night in Illinois on the Illinois River at the State Park in Marseilles.   I was so close to my brother and his family that it was a bit frustrating!  Thank goodness we had a great visit on our way out... It was a very nice park that had electric so there was A/C thankfully for the night.  It continues to be hot and humid; perhaps it’s summer’s last hurrah... I BBQ’d dinner ,which we enjoyed inside in the cool and then we went for a short walk around before settling in for the night.  

The river is having major work done.  They appear to be re-doing the Dam or at least shoring ip up.  There were still many water fowl on the river and birds were flying around the treetops.... This park also has the fox squirrel as apposed to the grey squirrels at home .  Perhaps all the work being done on the river is contributing to the water being off color, but it’s very similar to our Hudson River at home.  Coming back into a highly populated area that produces this situation also takes some adjusting.  It’s hard to believe that at one time ALL the waters in this country were as clear as the rivers and streams in Wyoming and the Adirondacks ....

We drove a full day on Tuesday and made it almost halfway through Ohio.  We ended up finding a campground in Gibsonburg called Eagle Lake camping resort.  It was a lovely campsite on a community lake.  When we stopped at the office to register we were greeted by a nice woman who proceeded to give us a ton of paperwork that included a waiver of liability that released them of responsibility for things that can occur; including storm damage.  This is the first time we’ve ever been asked to do such a thing.  Apparently, this area has produced severe weather and is in a tornado area!  She mentioned at check in, that they were keeping an ‘eye on” the radar since there was storms in the area.... We set up camp and thankfully were able to pull in some TV stations that gave the local weather.  As it turns out there were some storms during the night with lightning and thunder were they were not too bad...

That evening we took a walk to town that went through a town park with ball fields and it let to a veterans memorial park with a pond.  It was surrounded by various sculptures that are donated to the town and also some that are for sale by local artists.  All in all, it was a very picturesque place to spend time strolling around. We came into Main Street and got our bearings so that we could go to the store in the morning.

After getting up and settling things for departure we walked into town to the local bakery to pick up a few things. I have to say that this would be a lovely town to raise a family in.  Ron and I both agree that it would be a really nice place to live... It reminds me of the fictional town of Mitford (it really does Sandra!) that I am currently reading and seems rather idyllic and serene...

We are driving through Ohio today and Pennsylvania and will try to stay around Rochester for the night..    

Photos / Crane Meadow Nature Center, NE and Walnut Woods State Pk, Des Mois, IA

 Sunflowers all over Nebraska!

 Crane Meadows Nature Center

 Very Friendly Buffalo...

 Rolling in the dirt; great way to scratch an itch!

 Ron checking out the Nature Center

 Swallows; Mom and her very hungry babies

 Irrigation systems for the crops

 Wind Turbines

 Fox Squirrel

 Bird Blind at Walnut Woods

 Campground at Walnut Woods

 Looking for a handout :)