July 2007 Archives

Awake: 6:25am Temp 65 sleep 6+34 fog….hazy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

We drive to 8:00 am Mass, after which we talk with Tom B. & his wife who are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary. From church, we stop for a short visit with the Koffee Klub members & then it’s a work camp day @ the Foote house for us starting @ 10:00am.

Kathy starts her time by reading a book to Andrew & playing with him for 30 min; then she spends about 2.5 hrs transplanting strawberry plants from around the patio to the designated strawberry patch further back in the yard.

Meanwhile, Kevin had taken out the basement window toward the back yard & in doing so, loosened up a concrete block, so this will be our immediate project for now. While he makes a trip to town for supplies, I clean rough concrete off both blocks using a sledge hammer & chisel so we can reset the one & have both level for a plank & a new window.
We used only 15 lbs of pre-mixed concrete for the job. Now Kevin has to wait a day or so for the cement to cure in order to finish the project.

Melissa has been busy making dinner while we were involved in our “work” activities. She invites us to eat with them @ 1:15: baked chicken & potatoes, carrots, & corn + fresh peach cobbler for dessert. Quite good.

After dinner I help Kevin install another storm window in the almost finished bathroom on the 2nd floor. That was our work camp day! We leave @ 3:45pm, Kathy driving the Suzuki while I drive our former 1984 Ford Van; I volunteered to do some repair work on the van in our driveway in Nicktown in my spare time.

Back @ the bus, we both shower & then walk to church & attend 6:00pm vigil Mass.

Since we already had a dinner meal, Kathy makes us both a mixed salad with Triscuits; later we have popcorn while watching the movie: “Command Decisions” with Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, etc. Taut & engrossing story with Gable, a flight commander, who knows that, to win the war, he must send his men on suicide missions over Germany. Intriguing book @ behind the-scenes politics of the U.S. war effort. 1948. This story was a similar version of the evening movie on Wednesday: “The Dawn Patrol.”

High temp=78 Lights out: 12:15am

Awake: 5:26am Temp 65 sleep 6+02 mostly cloudy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

We drive to 8:00 am Mass & then attend the Koffee Klub meeting.

Kathy leaves @ 12:10pm for her doctor appointment in Carrolltown, about a 15 min drive. During her absence, I write some e-mail & read one of our FMCA motorhome magazines.

@ 2:25pm, the Foote family arrive for a visit….even Mr. Kevin; what a nice surprise. They beat Kathy by about (5 ) min. Kevin hasn’t had a tour of our new home on wheels so, after giving our welcome to Melissa, Matthew, & Andrew, Kevin gets a grand tour of the inside & outside. The young boys wasted no time in getting their match-box vehicles zooming down the roads of the carpet in the play room. That extra room sure does come in handy for times like these. The Footes didn’t stay too long; they had things to do back @ their home so they leave @ 4:10pm.

@ 4:45 K & I walk next door to visit our neighbor, Chuck & Shirley & some of their family. Sandy & husband, Tom, & their (3) kids are visiting from Amsterdam. They only visit once a yr so when they do many of the other (9) siblings also try to spend some time @ the family homestead; a happy family reunion. Nice people; they truly seem to enjoy one another.

Dinner: Pork chops with apple & cranberry sauce, brown rice, mixed salad & toast.

Evening movie: “The Eye of the Needle” with Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Ian Bannen, etc. Solid WWII spy saga; Sutherland plays a super-cool German agent temporarily stranded on an island off the British coast where he meets a lonely sexually frustrated woman. 1981. A slow starter but hang in there; it’s unpredictable!

High temp=75 Lights out: 11:51pm

Awake: 6:04am Temp 61 sleep 6+20 partly cloudy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

I drive the Lexus & attend 8:00 am Mass & then join the Koffee Klub meeting. A sparse group again today but a rare opportunity to have one on one conversations with various people.

Back @ the bus, I continue to go thru the file cabinet & rid ourselves of superfluous papers.

@ 11:30am, driving the Lexus, I pick up Al K. & attend the Rotary meeting @ Cambria Hills. Citizen Don K., his family + his aunt & uncle were being honored as good Samaritans in their town; Don & his group have dedicated their spare time to cleaning up their town, old vacant buildings, & eyesore areas. The buildings he mentioned were renovated with the owner’s permission & developed into a reasonable business or moved to another site, fixed up & used for storage, etc. Our Rotary does this good Samaritan recognition honor @ least once a yr. It was my 1st time to experience it.

On our return to Nicktown, I make a stop @ Giant Eagle for Al & a stop for me @ the Spangler Bank.

Then it’s back to the file cabinet. I am finally finishing up the paper project when Kathy arrives from her (2) days of grandma studies & on the job training. All in all, she feels a lot more comfortable with our grandsons & they with her, esp. Matthew.

Dinner for Kathy: leftovers, pork & chicken & broccoli, & mixed salad + some fruit salad. I had a fairly large lunch so only a mixed salad & some fruit salad.

Late movie: “Merrily We Live” with Brian Aherne, Constance Bennet, etc. Taken for a bum, a writer turns chauffeur for a daffy women with a pampered daughter. 1938. This movie was GREAT! Kathy was very tired & didn’t expect to stay awake….she did with flying eyeballs.

High temp=75 Lights out: 11:24pm

Awake: 6:24am Temp 54 sleep 6+00 partly cloudy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

I drive the Lexus to the community center & attend our Koffee Klub meeting. Light member attendance today; only (7) of us. However, Father Job did honor us with his presence & announced that the ball is rolling again on getting the church hall air conditioned. This was good news for me; I had pushed for this a few years in a row but never got the ball moving. According to Father, this time there is momentum.

After checking our local mail, I visit Carol & we talk further about the A/C for the hall.

Gary C. calls; he jokes about Father Job being transferred out of Nicktown & there goes our beer license.

Mid afternoon, I continue going thru our file cabinet culling out the papers; then I walk to church & attend the 6:00pm Mass.

Back @ the bus, Kathy had called & left a message. I return the call & talk with Kevin for a spell, then Kathy. Her day was good; Matthew has decided she is his “buddy.” Both boys still have runny noses and Matthew has a persistent cough which interfered with the Foote’s nighttime sleep.

8:00pm Dinner: Leftover stuffed pepper, leftover tuna & noodles & leftover ham salad.

Late movie: “The Dawn Patrol” with Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp, etc. Rathbone as a stern officer, is forced to send up green recruits during WWI in France; Flynn & Niven as pilot buddies do their best to save the unskilled flyers from being shot down. Insightful study of wartime camaraderie & grueling pressures of battlefront command. 1938. This aviation story is top notch; add it to your list.

I call for my buddy Ken in Anchorage & leave a message.

High temp=73 Lights out: 11:44pm

Awake 5:44am Temp 53 sleep 6+05 cloudy…..later rain overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

We drive the Suzuki to attend 8:00 am Mass & then join the Koffee Klub for 1.7 hrs. Some talk of the local water wells in the area & an ever so slight mention of air conditioning of the church hall.

After breakfast, Kathy drives the Suzuki to the Foote home & continues her grandma studies; this time for (2) days & nights. She is a very brave woman.

Meanwhile the pretend bachelor here organizes his day plan & heads to the Wal-Mart in Indiana, PA for a new battery for the Lexus. With that project successful, I load up on a few groceries & think about a short visit with the Footes to see how Kathy is doing with her “on the job grandma training.”

On the radio, a local weatherman told of a fast moving front with rather strong winds & rain; it was then that I realized our awnings were still out because Nicktown was sunny when I left earlier. The window awnings do not have auto retraction for wind speed like the patio awnings do; so there went my short visiting plan. Driving onto Saint Paul Street, I meet our neighbor’s 2nd eldest daughter, Sandy, visiting from Amsterdam. We chat for about (5) min & then I proceed to unload the groceries, stow the battery charger no longer needed for now, etc. During that stowing procedure, the wind started to kick up & that’s when I went back inside & retracted those window awnings; after some good winds, the rain followed.

Our strip of land in Colorado has been mowed by John M. I was impressed with his equipment , attention to detail & his price so he got the job. His check should arrive sometime later this week.

A strange thing happened to me in the early evening; I was watching the national news in a very comfortable position & along comes a commercial, so I muted that & then the phone rang. It was Kathy; the news was over & the clock hands had moved forward quite a bit. I had fallen asleep…..a rare moment for me. She reports having a good day with the grandchildren & learning more of the routine @ the Foote house.

Dinner: Leftover chicken & broccoli casserole + leftover pork.

Late night reading in bed.

High temp=70 Lights out: 12:24am

Awake 6:15am Temp 58 sleep 5+55 cloudy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

We drive the Suzuki to attend 8:00am Mass in Nicktown & then join our Koffee Klub afterwards. Most definitely the main discussion was about: “Beer.” Some of our Klub members were not present @ Sunday’s meeting & thus had to be brought up to speed on this delicate subject.

Later, in the bus, as I was reading my AARP magazine, I noticed a slow moving vehicle positioning into our circular driveway & it looked just like our Lexus. Turns out, Dave S. was kind enough to get it out of storage & drive it over here. Last week, I had hinted that we were going to need another vehicle this summer & whenever it would be convenient, call & I’ll be over to get the car out of storage; very thoughtful of Dave.

Our Lexus battery is shot; Dave left the motor running so I could reposition the car to whatever spot I needed to charge the battery. After parking the Lexus out of harms way, I clean the battery posts & start charging that bad battery. Then make a few local calls to find a new replacement battery @ a reasonable price.

My Sister Corinne visits to have dinner with us tonight. She updates us on the planned activities that will take place when our sister, Mary Jo, & her daughter, Jen, will be in town for 11days. We both liked hearing the schedule & the people selected to call on both in Ohio & PA. Before dinner I give Corinne a brief slideshow of our “work camp” program in Watertown, WI.

Dinner: Stuffed peppers, coleslaw with cashew-spinach, whole wheat Pitettes & a fruit salad for dessert. We enjoyed Corinne’s visit; very upbeat & relaxing.

Later, after my dishes are cleaned up, Zack calls from Seattle; he sounds good. He now has (4) roommates & enjoys Cory, the new guy, a lot. He reports that Cory is very social & keeps all of them very busy.

Even later movie: “The Trouble with Harry” with Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Mildred Natwick, etc. Offbeat, often hilarious black comedy courtesy of Mr. Hitchcock & scripter Hayes about a bothersome corpse causing all sorts of problems for peaceful neighbors in New England community; 1955. Slow & somewhat repetitive but amusing & often times funny; Kathy recommends strong coffee while watching.
High temp=72 Lights out: 11:39pm

Awake: 6:53am Temp 55 sleep 6+42 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

Kathy makes her special sourdough pancake breakfast with all the trimmings. Oh, so good!

Later morning, we survey our property for trees to save & those to cut down. Then I make a few more calls to Colorado for someone to cut our tall grass on our lot there.

@ 2:00pm, we attend the scheduled Town Meeting @ the church hall. Again, some (40) people gathered. Father Job begins with a long & drawn out statement of how opposed he is to having alcohol @ our homecoming picnic this year. He was quite vocal & animated while pacing back & forth among the crowd. His performance was the best I’ve ever witnessed from him & he was very, very serious on this subject; no matter how much we would defend our position, he was not going to back down.

For the most part, the crowd listened carefully; probably like me. His speech gave the feeling that we were already doomed & defeated no matter what we would say or how we would say it. Slowly, one by one, the underdogs began to growl; at times you could hear a pin drop; other times the atmosphere was so tightly wound, I feared for an implosion any second. A few eloquent speakers from the crowd reminded Father several times that we were listening to him but he was not listening to us.

Ever so slowly, Father began to hear some of the better ideas from the crowd that might have a slim chance of getting him to agree to sign the liquor license permitting beer to be served @ the picnic. After about (2) hrs of this sort of bartering & bargaining, the good Father “finally” compromised & gave in to “most likely” signing the license for beer which is what the crowd hoped for. Wow! Kathy had no idea that this small town of Nicktown could possibly be so exciting.

Back @ the bus, Kathy’s good friend Diane F. from Anchorage calls. They had not chatted for (6) months or better. They caught each other up on their respective family’s activities including the upcoming marriage of Bill & Diane’s youngest child, Bill, in Sept.

Dinner: Leftover chicken & broccoli casserole, mixed salad & whole wheat mini buns.

Later, we call Nick in Seattle & yak for over a hr. Jerry was sleeping for awhile but when he woke up, he let us know he was around.

High temp=72 Lights out: 12:20am

Awake: 5:50am Temp 49 sleep 6+00 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

We drive to 8:00 am Mass, then attend the Koffee Klub meeting for only (30) min & then visit the Foote house @ 9:30am to begin a sort of work camp program with Kevin & Melissa.

Kathy spends (2.5) hrs with Matthew, creating creatures using play dough @ the dining room table. This allows Melissa & Andrew to catch up on their sleep & also allows Kevin & me to trace some wiring not being used in the kitchen so we can substitute that space in the breaker box & run a (30 amp) (4) wire (250) volt line from the circuit breaker box over to the LG clothes drier in the basement. Kevin bought a (30) amp breaker for this purpose & we did manage to free up (2) single breakers & then add the double breaker. After wiring up the (30) amp plug & (3) ft pigtail to the clothes drier connections, plus running the exhaust hose thru the basement wall to the outside area, we tested the unit & it passed with smiles on our faces.

During my plug wiring time, Kevin was grilling up chicken & hot dogs for dinner; we joined them & thanked them for the meal, said our goodbyes for now, did some light shopping @ Wal-Mart & returned to our bus.

We both shower before attending the 6:00pm vigil Mass in Nicktown.

Dinner: Kosher hot dogs with whole wheat buns & fresh cherries & peaches.

Late movie: “The First Time” with Tim Choate, Krista Errickson, Marshall Efron, Wendy Fulton, etc. Surprisingly intelligent, funny portrait of virginal movie-loving college freshman Choate; a cut above other films of its type. 1983. A somewhat confusing adaptation of another similar movie with the same title that describes the story line all together differently. Don’t waste your time on this…..unless you’re desperate.

High temp=73 Lights out: 12:11am

Awake: 6:03am Temp 56 sleep 6+25 cloudy….sun overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I walk to 8:00 am Mass, then attend the Koffee Klub meet afterward. Barry takes K & I aside & confides in us about the letter he & Monica put together last night after the meeting. We both thought the letter was realistic with true feelings from the crowd who spoke of their positions & the ripple effect this would have for workers & the success of the homecoming picnic. Barry indicated he would be seeing the priest sometime today to personally give him this report.

When Kathy returned from her visit with the Foote family yesterday, Melissa gave her a well used Light Bright toy for me to repair & today seems like a good day to do it. A simple little repair: the cord leading into the bulb socket was frayed with (1) wire broken. “This won’t take long” I mentioned to Kathy. Well, I should stop making predictions like that; (1.5) hrs later, it was fixed but I literally had to hacksaw a glued section in half, solder & tape the wires & then epoxy the section back together again. Luckily I have the proper tools to do these light repairs…..no pun intended.

Dinner: Chicken & broccoli casserole, whole wheat mini buns & a bowl of fresh fruit.

After dinner, I offer to walk with Kathy around the town to see the evening sights; we walked further than we expected so on our return, those sights were difficult to see.

Late movie: “My Favorite Wife” with Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Gail Patrick, Randolph Scott, Ann Shoemaker, etc. Dunne, supposedly dead, returns to U.S. to find hubby Grant remarried to Patrick. 1940. A little corny but still kind of cute for the romantic type.

High temp=72 Lights out: 11:50pm

Awake: 6:50am Temp 65 sleep 6+31 showers…heavy @ times overnight @ Nicktown.

I call Kathy mid morning for the latest briefing on her “grandma training.” She reports that the boys were in bed by 8:00 pm but the adults stayed up until 11:30 working on the living room; Kevin & Kathy removed old wallpaper while Melissa painted woodwork. @ 4:00 am, both boys woke up but Kathy was able to get back to sleep until 6:00am. She joined them for their 2nd breakfast of cream of wheat, her 1st. Melissa took Andrew upstairs for his nap @ 9:30 & Kathy cared for Matthew, playing with Play Dough, so Melissa could get some much needed additional sleep. Wow!

This morning, I continue to go thru my 2005/2006 filed papers while watching some morning news.
@ 11:45am Al picks me up & we attend the Rotary meeting @ Cambria Hills Golf Course. We had a guest speaker by the name of Phillip M. who talked for (35) min on mutual funds & how to make reasonable investments. The 2nd best part of the meeting was: I won the 50/50 draw which means my profit for the day was $2.00. Al drops me off @ our bus around 2:00pm.

Call Greg & talk about cutting some trees on our property; especially the pines.

Kathy returns @ 4:30. On her return, she stopped @ the church hall & helped the ladies package noodles that will be sold @ the homecoming picnic.

Dinner: Leftover tuna & noodle casserole, mixed salad & whole wheat mini buns.

K & I attend a town meeting moderated by Barry & Monica @ 8:00pm @ the church hall. The evening weather was a series of waves of downpour. This event was fairly well attended by some (40) people which was good considering the rain. The main subject: BEER!

In the July 15th Bulletin, our parish priest announced that there would be no selling of alcohol @ our Homecoming Festival this year. Quickly thereafter, the red flag went up throughout the community; however, because the church hall is always very active with scheduling this time of yr, Thursday was the only evening available for a town gathering &, unfortunately, our parish priest was out of town that evening & probably wasn’t aware of the meeting being held. All that could be done this evening was listen & take notes of some (40) disgruntled parishioners who don’t all have a love for beer, but realize that the beer tent is much more than just that; it is a social side step & has been for many, many umpteen yrs.

While dad may be in the beer tent seeing his buddies, Mom & the kids are elsewhere playing games, buying things, etc., in other words spending money, which is what this homecoming picnic is all about. According to the long time bartenders present, there has never been a serious problem in the operation of this beer tent that they know of.

Barry, the facilitator of this meeting & Monica the note taker, keep their cool & write down the pros & cons of the crowd; there were not many pros, that’s for sure. One big disturbing item was that the priest did not engage in discussion with a representative parish group and slowly introduce this idea of closure; it was like a sudden bombshell. Tomorrow, Barry will introduce these comments & feelings of the crowd to our parish priest via written letter.

There were times during the meeting that it was difficult to hear some of the commenters due to the heavy rain; but when we decide it is time to move out & head back to our bus, nary a drop until we are inside, then the clouds open up again.

A message on our phone recorder from Melissa; she wanted to know how the meeting went; it was too late to respond.

Late movie: “God is my Copilot” with Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey, Andrea King, Alan Haler, etc. Well-intended drama of WWII pilots with many good scenes. 1945. If you were an aviation aficionado, you’d enjoy this movie; otherwise…..not for you.

High temp=73 Lights out: 11:38pm

Awake: 7:07am Temp 65 sleep 7+03 steady & intermittent heavy rain overnight Nicktown, PA.

Continuous rain throughout the morning & still heavy @ times; this is good for us however as this area needs the rain.

I skip the Koffee Klub meeting this morning to concentrate on going thru my files & receipts. Meanwhile, Kathy drives over to the church hall to help with noodle making for the church picnic by way of the Koffee Klub. Seeing Theresa’s car, she stops in for a short visit before Theresa leaves the area this morning for New York.

After a few hrs of paper shuffling, I take a break & call Michelle & Roger in Ohio to find out how my Aunt Agnes is doing. Michelle gives me a surprising report that our Aunt has made a very significant improvement since we’ve seen her on the 9th of July. “She even attended church on Sunday” says Michelle. This was great news: may it continue.

When Kathy returns from noodle making @ 1:20pm; she packs her overnight bag & leaves for the Foote home in Indiana. She is paving the way for the young boys to be familiar with & accept “Grandma” when Melissa goes to the hospital to deliver her # 3 son, our #4 grandson.

During her absence, I call a few names on the roster for Pueblo West, CO where we have vacant property in need of the weeds being mowed.

Kathy calls with an update of her grandma acceptance; so far, so good.

My dinner @ 8:10pm: Leftover Italian sausage with pasta & a whole wheat bun.

Late evening: AARP reading & crossword puzzle.

High temp=77 Lights out: 12:19am

Awake: 5:58am Temp 56 sleep 5+36 cloudy overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I walk to 8:00 am Mass & then join the Koffee Klub for an hr; afterward we walk over to the rectory to get our replacement green cards for the exercise room @ the community center. They were ready but the secretary wanted to laminate them & Father Job hadn’t taught her how to work the machine yet. She promised that they would be ready by noon time.

Back on our property, I make a check of our well pump house & find a leaking cartridge. Not leaking much but still…it’s leaking. So I switch over to tank water for Kathy’s use, take the pressure off the well tank system & find the cartridge not tightened enough. After powering the system back up, no more leaks.

Gary & Rosemary call: they have been extremely busy; Gary, with Rosemary’s help, is the distinguished chairman of their church picnic this yr. It has been rumored that Gary has so much hidden talent, leadership ability, & organizational experience that he will be nominated & probably accept a (5) yr contract with the church officials.

5:20 dinner: Tuna & noodles, mixed salad & whole wheat buns.

Theresa D. & Bill M. visit us for the evening; we always have a lot to talk about. Of course we serve some healthy snacks with wine; then later, a brief slide show with popcorn. Rain began about (2) hrs before lights out.
Lights out: 12:04am

Awake: 5:50am Temp 62 sleep 6+34 mostly sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I leave @ 7:00am & drive over to the town of Hastings, PA. Kathy is having blood drawn for a thyroid test & a CAT scan to check her bone density.

We return to Nicktown & attend the Koffee Klub meeting; our longest conference discussion yet, over (3) hrs.

During the afternoon, I finish cleaning up the filter cartridges, then install (2) new filters & reconnect the well water to our motorhome.

7:00pm dinner: Steak, baked potato, mixed salad & whole wheat buns.

Late movie: “Before & After” with Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Edward Furlong, Alfred Molina, Julia Weldon, etc. Sober tale of a New England family torn apart & ostracized when the son is accused of murdering a teenage girl & then disappears. The father is willing to cover the boy’s tracks, while mother & daughter want to tell the truth, in spite of the consequences. 1996. Actually, a pretty interesting story.

Lights out: 12:22am

Awake: 6:25am Temp 65 sleep 5+42 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I walk to 10:30am Mass this morning; the right front (3) pews are reserved for the 8th grade school reunion people of the class of 1954. There were 34 of us then, now here, it’s rumored that 18 are attending our 1st ever 8th grade reunion.

After Mass, we all assemble in front of the Fatima Shrine next to the church & have our picture taken almost like it was 53 yrs ago. I haven’t seen some of these people since high school graduation.

After the photo shoot, most of us change clothes & then gather @ the home of Barry & Bonnie in town. They have their garage filled with (4) long tables with chairs & more food than we can consume in a day’s time. The next hr or so was dedicated to getting reacquainted with each other & then lunch. So much good food to select from, it was difficult not to overeat.

Monica & Rita did most of the research required as to where our classmates are living and what they’ve been doing; getting the phone numbers & making the calls, writing the letters, organizing the reunion, etc. they are to be commended on a great job well done.

After lunch, Monica requests that we all grab a folding chair & form a circle in the front yard under the oak tree. One by one, she calls out a name & that person tells the rest of us his or her story of what they’ve done since high school. It was very interesting listening to the various paths each of us took & the spouse chosen in life. This took hrs but for me it was so darn interesting that the time went by too quickly. A fairly close neighbor to our farm in the 50’s, Rita & her siblings, lived a poor childhood. She told a most heart rendering tale of her life; her marriage to an alcoholic husband & the troubles that ensued; her ultimate victory over depression &suicidal thoughts; & the uplifting account of her continued education and ultimate success in life. (3) guiding thoughts that she attributes to her success are: “not my will, but Yours be done,” “the only person you can change is yourself,” & “today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

There was no shortage of good food or good talk during our dinner meal; there was also some good bonding going on. Sometime after 8:00pm, Mary Ann & Randy, Monica & Steve + cousin Cyril asked to see our motorhome; Kathy was helping with the clean up after dinner so I walked back to the motorhome with the inquisitive (5) & gave them a $2.00 tour myself complete with wine. When Kathy returns, we continue our talk time until after 10:00pm, then our 1st….8th grade reunion is over for this yr. It was a special delight to see all of these classmates again; (53) yrs later.

Lights out: 11:16pm

Awake: 5:30am Temp 53 sleep 5+30 fog….sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I walk to 8:00am Mass & then attend the 8:30am Koffee Klub for an hr.
Back @ the motorhome, Katrina calls en route to pick up a friend & then they are going hiking somewhere in the Colorado hills.

After talking with Katrina, we drive to Indiana to visit the Foote family. Matthew & Andrew greet us with smiles & hugs. We haven’t seen them since the 10th of June but this time they remembered us.

I couldn’t help but notice a lot of the living room wall paper has been stripped off & some of the walls & woodwork painted as well as a new ceiling light fixture has been hung; Kevin & Melissa have been busy!

Down in the basement I see a new working clothes washer & a dryer ready to be electrified. Things are happening.

Our kids, upon hearing more about our recent work camp experience, are quickly getting signed up to be next; Melissa shows both Kathy & me the “to do” lists she made out for us so far. “You can do all or nothing” she says; to which we reply, “We’ll do what we can to help you guys out.”

Shortly after that discussion, a knock on the door gets Kevin’s attention: he has a buyer for their 1989 Camry & the lady wants him to drive the car to Blairsville (18 miles) where she will pickup wired monies from Wal-Mart & do the title transfer in downtown Blairsville. I volunteer to follow him in our Suzuki.

The whole operation took about (2.5 hrs), much longer than any of us anticipated, & the details are complicated; but Melissa & Kevin are quite comfortable with the transaction & the results.

Wanting to accomplish something on this visit, other than riding around in the car, I ask Kevin if he has time to install @ least (1) more storm window. Out comes the big ladder reaching to the 2nd floor to the….almost finished renovated bathroom. My job is to hold the storm window from the inside & feed Kevin the proper tools to secure the window with screws on the outside.

Of course, Matthew wanted to help or @ least watch his daddy from the upstairs open space bathroom. We couldn’t both be @ the window opening so I made (2) paper airplanes for Matthew to fly out the 2nd story window to keep him occupied. It worked; he must have made over a dozen trips up & down those stairs, then outside to find the plane before returning upstairs for another flight. He had fun & we did too.

In the meantime, Kathy tackles the first job on her list, “remove the wallpaper in the ‘moon’ room.”

Before leaving Indiana, we did some light shopping @ Martin’s & Wal-Mart.

8:30 dinner: leftover pork, brown rice, & mixed salad.

Late movie: “All the King’s Men” with Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, John Derek, Shepperd Strudwick, etc. Brilliant adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-wining novel about the rise & fall of a Huey Long-like senator, played by Crawford in the performance of his career. 1949. Add this one to the list; it’ll keep nearly everyone awake.

High temp=77 Lights out: 12:17am

Awake: 5:50am Temp 57 sleep 5+40 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I walk to 8:00am Mass, then attend the Koffee Klub meeting @ the Community Center.
Back @ our circular drive, I let the well water run for a good 30 min while I clean the filter canisters. It’s time for a change of filters so next week sometime, I’ll make a trip to the Krumenacker Hardware store here in Nicktown.

Melissa calls to welcome us home. She & Kathy talk for (20) min or more.
Sallie from Watertown, WI calls Kathy & they yak for (15) min or better. A few min later, Larry calls & I yak with him about the “Sports Aviation Program”. After we left Watertown, he rented a plane using the S.A.P. & got his thrills doing some flying maneuvers with the instructor. It’s been many yrs since he’s flown in a small plane. He asked about our travels to PA, etc. It was nice of then to keep in touch.

Dinner: Ivar’s Clam chowder & a salmon & spinach salad.
Late movie: “The Last Picture Show” with Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Cybill Shepherd, etc. Brilliant study of life in a small Texas town during the 1950s & how characters’ lives intertwine. 1971. Not for kids but it is a classic.

High temp=74 Lights out: 12:00 midnight

Awake; 6:38am Temp 59 sleep 7+08 sunny overnight @ Navarre, Ohio

Lots of dew on other vehicles this morning so I figure the dew is on our coach as well; I’ll be climbing the ladder before retracting the rear two slides. Now I’m glad I did retract those front (2) slides last night.

We leave the Baylor Beach campground near Navarre @ 9:18am. North on US-62 to State route-21 to I-76 to I-80; then a Flying “J” fuel stop in Hubbard, Ohio. (138) gal @ 2.78 per gal; continue on I-80 to I-79 to US-422 to State route-553 to Nicktown. Smooth roads all the way with the exception of State route-21. We park in our circular driveway @ 1:55pm.
Today’s travel: 217 miles 4+12 time 5.8 mpg 37.5 gal used 51.7 avg speed.

Early dinner: pork tenderloin, with apricots, broccoli, brown rice, spinach salad & whole wheat mini pita breads.

K & I walk to church & attend 7:00pm Mass; afterward we yak with Irvin & Jean.

Late evening movie: “Quiz Show” with John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Scofield, David Paymer, etc. Engrossing story of the TV quiz show scandal of the late 1950s, focusing on a hotheaded sore loser (Turturro, in a sensational performance) & his successor on “Twenty-one” instant hero Charles Van Doren (Fiennes), scion of a socially prominent, intellectual family. 1994. This movie was great & brings back true memorie

Travel high temp=79 Lights out: 12:10am

Awake: 6:48am Temp 74 sleep 6+27 morning rain, then sunny overnight @ Navarre, Ohio.

Mark & Joan call; “what are your plans for today?” they ask. “We have none” we tell them. They invite us to go with them to the town of Kidron, Ohio & browse around the newly expanded Lehman’s store; pickup time @ 10:00am. I like this idea; it’s been many yrs since we’ve visited Lehman’s, the Amish hardware & kitchen store.

Mark drives us thru the back roads so we can see a lot of the Amish farms along the way; wheat being harvested, buggies heading to & from town, laundry hanging out to dry, etc.

What a place; it’s like you’ve stepped back (100) yrs in time. So many practical things available yrs ago are being manufactured again today & Lehman’s store has them for sale.

We give ourselves an hr, separate from the ladies & go our own “man’s” way; an hr wasn’t enough to do a thorough job but now there is an incentive to return. The girls buy a few cookie cutters + a few other things.

Lunch @ the “Town & Country Store & Restaurant” in Kidron; then it’s back to our motorhome where I show M & J a few slides on the big screen. Tonight we won’t be staying up late; both we & M & J have early morning commitments so we say our “thank you & goodbyes” until next time. We really did enjoy our time together.

My sister, Corinne, calls from the state of Indiana; she & Kathy talk for about 20 min.

Kathy calls Betty Ann & talks with her about her upcoming appointment with an eye doctor in Columbus, Ohio & about her mother and how she’s doing.

Dinner by Kathy: Salmon salad, whole wheat buns, sugar snap peas, cherries, & grapes.

After dinner, I retract the front two slides just in case there is some heavy dew overnight.

Evening movie: “Barefoot in the Park” with Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Charles Boyer, Mildred Natwick, etc. Plotless, entertaining Neil Simon comedy finds Fonda & Redford newlyweds in a five-story walkup apartment. 1967. We had seen the theater play & were curious about the movie; it was…....just ok.

Lights out: 11:30pm

Awake: 6:08am Temp 67 sleep 5+44 sunny – hazy overnight @ Navarre, Ohio.

I call my Aunt Bertha & ask if we could have another visit after lunch today; “that will be fine” she says.

Due to our discussions with Mark & Joan on Sunday, our 2nd visit with my Aunt Bertha was filled with questions such as: how did my Uncle Jake of Pennsylvania meet my Aunt Lucy of Ohio? And how long did my mother, Martha, live on their farm as a single lady? My Aunt Bertha answered all of our questions + provided us with a lot more detail than we expected. Her mind & memory are certainly functioning well plus she has no wrinkles, smooth skin, & beautiful, white hair @ age 95. This time, our visit lasted 1 hr & 15 min. We both felt better about allotting this extra time for another casual visit.

From here, Kathy visits (2) stores: “Pat Catan’s Craft Store” & “Once upon a Child.” Both were located in the same strip mall area just up the road. Would you believe, as Kathy was perusing the “Once upon a Child” store, a used clothing and toy store for kids, I became curious about the vast selection of boys clothes lined up on hangers along the wall. Some of them I thought might even fit a “tall, plump” guy like me; after checking this wild scheme out in the change room, I purchased (2) pairs of pants & (1) pair of shorts with lots of pockets.

Then we head south to Massillon & on to our campground.

7:30pm dinner by Kathy: Chicken breast, brown rice + peas & corn.

@ 8:10 pm Roger, Michelle, her Aunt Dorothy & Uncle Dick visit us for about 1.5 hrs. Dick & Dorothy were RVers in their younger days & couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a modern motorhome of today. We gave them the special aunt & uncle tour. These guys had some great & funny stories of the so called, old days of camping.

Lights out: 12:17am

Awake: 7:37am Temp 76 sleep 6+14 sunny overnight @ Navarre, Ohio.

Outside the weather is already hot & humid. A good day for Kathy to do (4) loads of laundry & for me to stay out of trouble by making a few phone calls: cousins, Roger & Michelle; my Aunt Agnes; friends, Mark & Joan & Judy & Jerry.

Lunch today will be with Roger & Michelle; then mid afternoon, my Aunt Agnes will allow us a quick (15) min visit, & the remainder of the afternoon, a little shopping & perhaps another visit with Joan & Mark. Judy & Jerry are out of town this week so our timing for seeing them was not good.

The Top of the Viaduct Restaurant was an excellent choice by Roger & Michelle. Not only did we enjoy some good conversation with laughs but also the food was very good & well served. We didn’t get enough talk time in with R & M so another rendezvous is already planned for tomorrow evening in the bus.

We knock on Agnes & her daughter, Betty Ann’s door @ 3:02pm. My Aunt Agnes is not doing so well @ 92 yrs. She is close to being bedridden & has difficulty walking. I want to get my (15) min talk time in before the bell tolls & we have to leave…. & then, Betty Ann makes me an offer I can’t refuse: “could you help me set up our new VCR & program that unit for our old TV?” she asks. Perfect; our (15) mins stretched out for a good 1 hr 45min. So Kathy enjoyed a nice & casual visit with my Aunt Agnes while Betty Ann & I did a laid-back version of using the on-screen menu to hook up this old (80’s) TV with a new VCR recorder. She was pleased with the results & we were pleased to have the extra time for a well rounded visit.

After leaving my aunt & her daughter, we drive a short distance & ride past my Aunt Bertha’s old home. She sold it about 6 months ago to a young couple who are slowly renovating it. All the surrounding trees have been cut down & some repair spots were clearly marked. It has the “location, location” factor so it’ll probably do just fine for this young married couple.

Joan has invited us to have dinner with them tonight so we give her a call & let her know that we are on our way. Due to the high temp & humidity, dinner by Joan & wine by Mark, is set outside in the shade of their renovated patio: grilled western pork ribs, rice with beans, paprika zucchini & tomatoes + cheese cake with home grown blue berries for dessert. We continue our gabbing session into the late evening. It was another great day visiting my aunt & her daughter, cousins, & friends, M & J.

When we return to the bus, I call Roger & confirm their visit for tomorrow evening.

Lights out: 12:24am

Awake: 6:06am Temp 71 sleep 5+56 sunny overnight @ Ontario, Ohio.

Obviously we had picked a quiet corner; the Super center Wal-Mart is open 24 hrs but we heard nothing.

We know there is a Catholic Church in the area but our GPS didn’t pick it up & the ladies I talked with last night just told me to head south on main street. So this morning, we head down the road a few miles & see no churches; but there is a fellow along the way just getting ready for a jog. He tells us the approx location & the distance to be around (10) miles. We didn’t allot ourselves extra time for the extra miles; in the city of Mansfield, the directions were close but still no steeple. The next fellow we stopped to ask told us it would be better to follow him & he will point the church out. We were (40) min late arriving in time for Communion. Saint Peter’s Church is beautiful, very large & very crowded; Mass started @ 7:30am & we started out @ 7:45am. Not wanting to take advantage of our free parking @ Wal-Mart or make excuses to God for our tardiness, we agreed to return to our bus & do our penance in another fashion. The next Mass @ St. Peter’s was much later in the morning.

Kathy makes a quick grocery visit to Wal-Mart & we are “On the Road Again” from Ontario, Ohio @ 10:24am. Katrina calls during her en route trip to her Masters Class in Colorado. She says she will graduate in September/October of this year.

We continue rolling along on US-30 to US-250 to Wilmot, Ohio & arrive @ the Baylor Beach Campground @ 11:34am. Due to today’s high temperature & that it’s Sunday, the Baylor Beach Park with its 2 big lakes & ample camping is very popular; there is a long line of cars on the 2 lane road backed up to either enter the park or continue driving past the park. Turning into the entrance would not have been possible if we didn’t have the steering tag axle; that made it look easy. Fortunately for us, a good Samaritan in the line up let us pull across the road & into the park without waiting for the line of traffic to dwindle, which it didn’t do for a very long time.

Today’s travel: 60.2 miles 1+17 time 6.6 mpg 9.3 gal used 50.2 avg speed

After parking & getting set up, I call our nearby friends, Mark & Joan; they offer to have us visit them for the afternoon. A good (3.5) hrs later & we are still having a good time catching up on each other’s adventures since the last time we met.

Trying to be efficient with our short time in Ohio, I call my 95 yr old Aunt Bertha in Canton & ask if a visit after her dinner time would be ok. She responds with a cheery: “why yes, of course!” Her short term & long term memory is most impressive. We talk for (45) min & realize that Kathy now has little time for making dinner before Mark & Joan visit us back @ the Baylor Beach Campground for the evening. After apologizing to my aunt for the short visit, we share a veal parmesan & spaghetti dinner @ the Macaroni Grill just up the road & then race back to meet M & J @ our bus. The plan was to watch a slide show of M & J’s trip to visit their daughter, Julie, & family in Budapest, Hungary & to hear about the genealogy study of Joan’s mother who was born & raised in the Ukraine. The evening was great; we covered all the events we had talked about & had a little wine with popcorn along the way. I didn’t realize the hr was 12:20 am when M & J talked about their 6:00am wake up schedule. We’ll be planning on another rendezvous before we leave Ohio.

Lights out: 1:23am

Awake: 5:28am Temp 63 sleep 5+28 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

Quietly we retract our slides & reel in the 50 amp shore power cable from the Jacuzzi outlet. Then Kathy begins walking down the driveway to keep a sharp eye on any low hanging limbs & any other objects along the driveway.

If the (14) people staying overnight for the Sabbath are not awake yet, they will be as I start the CAT engine & idle down the circular driveway. Once I have the MH around the tight corner, Kathy walks back to get the Suzuki & we’ll meet about ½ mile down the road to hitch up our tow car.

(42) miles later, having gotten permission for a short stay, we park the bus in an empty lot @ the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Milwaukee. We detach the Suzuki & drive to the nearest Trader Joe’s store for groceries. Then visit the Advanced Health Care Unit in Milwaukee to see Dr. Robert about Kathy’s recovering nasal polyp condition. After a brief exam, he reports that, although she still has polyps, they are reduced in size & if she continues with daily nasal irrigations and the daily use of corticosteroid nasal spray, the polyps should remain under control and she will be able to avoid the need for surgery.

We are back on the road (4) hrs later @ 12:25pm. I-94 to I-294 to I-80 then US-30 to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Ontario, Ohio; arriving @ 9:20pm EST.

Today’s travel: 470 miles 9+06 time 6.3 mpg 75.1 gal used 51.6 avg speed

Like a good camper should, I asked the night supervisor if it would be ok for us to park our bus in the far corner of the parking lot for an overnight stay. She asks a few questions & then says: “We would be glad to have you.”

Travel high temp=90 Lights out: 12:10am

Awake: 5:58am Temp 62 sleep 6+50 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

First thing this morning Sallie & Kathy go shopping for paint & supplies so K can start painting the renovated main floor bathroom & entry room. After wiping down the ceilings & walls & removing light switch plates and various nails & hooks from the walls, Kathy was ready to commence painting. Starting from the top, she gave the ceilings (2) coats of white then primed the new sheetrock walls and gave them a coat of texture paint.

Sallie had been grocery shopping & upon her return she got a floor fan and turned it & the air conditioner on; both bringing welcome relief to the heat and paint fumes. Sallie was eager to see color and now Kathy was ready to paint color on the entry room walls. She finished @ 5:00 &, though exhausted, was pleased with the way the room looked and with Sallie’s, Marsha’s, & Cindy’s exclamations of joy and delight over the color and appearance of the room. It was time to shower and get ready for Shabbat. Sallie’s painter will come on Wed. to finish painting the bathroom; only needs a coat of color so it shouldn’t take him very long.

Last night, I asked Larry to ring our bell when he is ready to go to his factory & tackle that crane starter. Now it’s after 9:00am & still no Larry. Later I find out, he is not feeling well today.

@ 10:10, Larry rings our chime. He says he is feeling better now but has a priority family meeting @ Bruce & Marsha’s place. He has asked Alex & now asks me to get after that crane in the factory; he already drew a block diagram of the (5) or more breaker boxes so we would have plenty of light when working on the crane.

Alex is a good worker; once we were organized with the proper tools, I bet it took a mere 35 min or slightly longer to have that starter in place. The nuisance 3rd bolt was still a nuisance but our modified tool worked very well.

That starter was much easier to replace than to remove; Bob the re-builder, told us he had to replace the field winding, the brushes, a bearing & the solenoid.

With the battery connected, I ask Alex to climb onto the driver’s seat & crank the starter. All of a sudden, that engine started right up with a lot of blue smoke. We opened another door & let the engine run longer; after some 5-8 min, the blue smoke turned to black & then cleared up.

Now here’s the best part. “Shut it down!” I yelled to Alex. He turned the ignition key off….. & it kept running. Oops, it’s a diesel. “You have to starve the engine of fuel” I told him. Alex carefully pushed & pulled a few more controls on the dash but that engine kept on running.

I told Alex I would check with the Galion manual & he yells back that he will call his dad. The Galion manual really didn’t spell out the exact control except that it was a pull knob on the lower side of the dash. Shortly after I return from speed reading the shutdown procedure, Alex had found the red knob to pull & the engine slowly came to a halt.

We were both excited. This was the major accomplishment that I wanted to fulfill before leaving town & now it’s happened. Larry can’t remember when this crane engine was running last.

Speaking of Larry, after getting a phone call from his son Alex that the crane engine was running, he was @ the factory in less than 10 min with a big smile on his face. He said getting that phone call from Alex was the sweetest message he has had in a long time.

Larry played with the crane for about 20 min; moving the outriggers, steering controls, backing up, moving forward, etc. I’m sure there’ll be more systems that will need some attention but @ least, with the engine running, he can troubleshoot the hydraulic systems a lot easier.

Back to the house where Larry uses the hot water pressure washer to clean up their back porch grill. Of course, we moved the grill far away from the house to shoot off the grease & crud from the many cookouts they have here.

Tonight’s Shabbat brings (20) people to the twin tables for dinner; there were a lot of smiles & Sallie & Cindy’s cooking fed right into our exuberant thoughts.

K & I got the word earlier that Bruce & his pyrotechnic crew will be setting off fireworks tonight @10:00pm. Most of the people @ Sallie & Larry’s house, because of their own choosing & the late hour, did not venture down to enjoy the fireworks, but we sure did along with Sallie, Debbie, Ethan, Carrie, & Benji.

There must have been (50) + people down @ the viewing area ready to see the sky light up, plus another (40) watching from a rather large boat on the river nearby + others further up toward the Bruce & Marsha house. For a full (20) min that sky was dancing with magnificent colors & booms right above our heads; we’ve never been that close to the real McCoy fireworks before. It was fantastic. So many different colors & patterns, we loved seeing this display up close.

Then it’s time to say our thanks & goodbyes to Bruce & Marsha & others that we got to know during our stay; we walked back to our bus with Debbie, Ethan & Sallie. Debbie & Ethan hadn’t seen the inside of our bus so we gave them a good tour & Sallie wanted to see it again.

Larry & Sallie & their many friends, who came & went during our (3) weeks stay, were always very interesting, kind, friendly, fun, & gracious to us. We enjoyed them all.

Earlier this evening, at dinner time, a very touching closing statement was made: we were honored to have 1st cousin status bestowed upon us before we left. They told us that this honor has not been given to anyone in over 34 yrs.

High temp=87 Lights out: 12:00 midnight

Awake: 5:32am Temp 65 sleep 6+02 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

@ 7:45am, I load (2) boxes of shelving intended for the renovated bathroom into the pickup truck; they are (2 in) too long. Larry is taking Doug to the Milwaukee airport for his flight to Florida today; then Larry will return the shelving, pick up the shorter shelving, & make a stop @ New Berlin to bring back the repaired Alkota water pressure unit that needed a new coil.

Before the temp rises too high, I clean our European motorhome mirrors & front windshield on the bus. I could have kept Larry company on his trip into Milwaukee today but elected to stay around the house because Dewey, (the son of Don & Cindy) who installs home entertainment systems in high end homes & luxurious yachts in the New York area, volunteered to visit our motorhome & check our cables & TV settings to make sure all is as it should be. Dewey spent over an hr doing the fine tuning & telling us stories about some of his customers. we really did appreciate his expertise.

Larry returns around lunch time; after lunch, Sallie reports to Larry that the Sub-Zero refrigerator is not making ice cubes & she needs those. Larry gets right on the job; gets a hair dryer from his daughter, Carrie, thaws out the ice cube mechanism, & cleans up the unit. Then he & I go over to the Jensch Auto Parts store to pick up the rebuilt starter for the Galion Crane that’s waiting for us to work on inside the factory.

@ the factory, Larry hitches up the small wheeled trailer, backs into the factory where we both reposition the portable crane. Using that crane, lift the Alkota unit up & out of the pickup truck, & place it onto the small wheel trailer. We make sure the starter is brought into the factory before we drive back to the house towing the Alkota pressure washer behind.

@ the house, we spend another hr trying to get the wind-up reel & hose attachments matched to the spray gun. We need a few more parts but that can wait until tomorrow. Now it’s wine time outside on the deck & Kathy joins us.

6:45 dinner by Sallie: Spaghetti with (2) different sauces and (2) different meat balls, beef & turkey; salad; garlic bread; & fruit and lemon pie for dessert

We talk until 8:15pm; everyone is tired, both physically & emotionally, due mainly to the freak accident of last evening.

All the visitors over the 4th of July holiday created mounds of garbage, so before we go inside our motorhome, K & I make (2) trips each, rolling the fully loaded, big garbage cans to the main road for pick up. On the 2nd trip I used the wheelbarrow to haul a wheel less garbage can & K rolled another large can.

Late evening: e-mail & AARP magazine reading & crossword puzzle working.

High temp=87 Lights out: 11:08pm

Awake: 6:48am Temp 67 sleep 5+54 clouds, then sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

It’s a beautiful day for the hometown parade in Watertown except, I was outvoted; instead, (9) of us are going golfing again.

That was not a bad 2nd choice however, so no complaints here. We expected the course to be soft & wet with last night’s rain; not so! The course was great. K & I played with Larry & Doug. I must admit, again we had fun &, on a few rare occasions, we shot like pro’s!

K & I drove the Suzuki to the golf course to be independent so after our (9) holes, we went thru town just in case the parade was still in progress; it was just finishing up with people walking back to their cars & some still sitting in their lawn chairs on main street. We heard later from one of the guest’s that the parade was fantastic for being in a small town.

Lunch by Sallie was a buffet of turkey (professionally sliced by Don), pasta & veggie salads, potato & corn chips with hummus, fruit, & cookies; a whole new crowd of visitors, more from the local area & too many names to remember.

Later afternoon when we returned to the house after being in our MH, it was nearly empty; we asked one of the kids: “where is everybody?” He tells us that everyone is over @ Bruce’s house & there has been an accident on the river. The Rock River runs near their back yard.

Walking over to the Bruce residence, we see Sallie on her cell phone; that’s not unusual but as we get closer, we hear hospital talk. It seems that (2) of Bruce’s jet skis had collided & one person was taken to the hospital. This incident had obviously put a damper on the holiday fun for these (2) families, their relatives & friends. After getting all the latest updated details, we sit & visit with Don & Cindy (Sallie’s sister) from Denver. Both C & D have been architects for many yrs & still retain a vast amount of knowledge of commercial & residential homebuilding tips & suggestions. We should have taken notes. Maybe, lucky for us, we can visit them in Denver later this yr & copy some of their good ideas.

To help simplify the dinner operations inside the house K & I have a tuna salad on whole wheat buns with a mixed salad in our motorhome.

High temp=82 Lights out: 11:30pm

Awake: 6:19am Temp 65 sleep 6+52 cloudy…drizzle….heavy rain overnight @ Watertown, WI.

Today is a day of “fasting” for the Orthodox Jews; after sunrise, they will neither eat nor drink anything until sunset. Sallie however, can still make meals to be consumed after sundown. Later I find out, she needs a taster & she tells me: You’re the man!

I talk with Larry about K & me returning our Tivo unit to Best Buy in Madison, WI. Initially he wanted to come along but we assured him that with his receipt & credit card, we could manage. Larry had purchased that unit for us on Sunday, June 17th after much discussion of the usefulness. Then we found out that the Tivo works great in a stationary environment but having a motorhome, where you’re constantly on the move, it’s not practical.

37 miles later in light to heavy rain, we arrive @ the Best Buy store in Madison. Returning the unit was no problem. Larry gets credit & we buy a DirecTV DVR to replace the Tivo. Had we known the difference, we would have bought the DVR in the 1st place.

Back to the house, I return Larry’s credit card & he immediately writes out a check for the cash amount that I gave him for buying that Tivo. Larry couldn’t wait to see the DVR that we had purchased & after seeing it, couldn’t resist hooking up the cables & following the on screen directions for activation readiness. Within 30 min, he is waiting for me to make the call to DirecTV for activation. It works, by golly!

With the remote in hand, Larry selects (3) aviation movies to record & to watch later; “The Spirit of St. Louis.” “Gallant Journey,” & “Above & Beyond.”

Kathy wants to see the giant woodpile that Bruce has accumulated before the scheduled bonfire & fireworks tonight, so we take our umbrellas in case that weather in Madison finds its way here soon.

A (9) min walk to the woodpile & already a steady drizzle is with us. We take a few pictures & then visit with Bruce & Marsha inside their house. There are people everywhere; inside the house & outside on the porch & under the open tents in the yard. We are invited to try some of their deep fried turkey & a few side dishes before it’s all gone. We did and, of course, the turkey & sides were delicious.

Bruce is the fireworks coordinator + has the pyrotechnics training & authorization to shoot fireworks on his property. Some (5 or 7) guys do the lighting of the fireworks. So as not to be in competition with the city’s fireworks show on the 4th, Bruce traditionally has his on the 3rd, but at the moment, he is skeptical about his show happening with the continual rain fall. We head back to our motorhome in heavy rain; umbrellas are not enough & we do a change of clothing to be comfortable.

With our movie being recorded, we watch about an hr of “Spirit of St. Louis” & then we’re invited to join the hungry people inside who are having a late dinner. Fasting is over; while we enjoy wine time with Larry on the porch under cover, to our surprise, the food is consumed and the kitchen all cleaned up. It was lucky for us that we had eaten a little at Bruce’s. The fireworks were called off tonight by Bruce.

We return to our motorhome about 11:00pm & then finish watching the recorded movie by 12:35am.
High temp=75 Lights out: 12:54am

Awake: 6:42am Temp 57 sleep 6+55 sunny overnight @ Watertown, Wisconsin.

Larry visits early; he, Alex, + a few others will be going to Sallie’s old homestead farm @ 10:00am. “We’ll be moving a few things” he says. “Do you need any help” I ask. “That would be nice” Larry replies. When Kathy finds out just how many other people are going besides Larry, Alex & me, she, not wanting to be left out, quickly changed clothes & got right in line with the other ladies.

Besides the above, Sallie, Cindy, Claudia, Don, Kathy & one hired hand by the name of Mike joined in the moving venture.

This gathering was better than we expected; from several storage buildings + (2) garages & overhead workshop, we moved collectibles, antiques, tools, etc. A most impressive accumulation of extra large & heavy crock pots, heavy & many sizes of cauldrons, large milk cans, not so special chairs & many, many other things too numerous to mention. It was a good workout for all of us.

Back to the house for a 1:30 lunch; afterward, Claudia agrees to help Larry with his computer in downloading programs that were erased when MicroNet fixed it. Now is the time I figure to reposition our coach for an easier departure coming up soon. Tomorrow, more people will be arriving for the 4th of July & we don’t want to be boxed in with more cars.

Kathy retracts the slides while I disconnect the water, sewer & shore power. As it was, (3) cars had to be moved & more maneuvering than I anticipated was required. In our new parking spot, we have only electric, but no backing up or maneuvering necessary for departure.

After showers, Larry & Sallie have visitors: Chuck & Debbie from Florida. Sallie & Debbie were pals in high school; they keep in touch & have many good memories together. It was interesting & fun listening to their reminiscing stories during their younger yrs. Chuck had some fascinating stories of when he was a submarine officer in the Navy.

Dinner by Sallie: Gazpacho soup, chicken stir fry & frozen lemon pie for dessert.

We were tired; today’s workout was most satisfying.

High temp=77 Lights out: 11:27pm

Awake: 6:02am Temp 60 sleep 6+18 a beautiful day overnight @ Watertown, WI.

Today we play golf: Tee time @ 8:30am. We gather in the house @ 7:30; there is some confusion. Bengi is still sleeping with Mollie, his young daughter, in the same room. If Sallie wakes Bengi up, Mollie would also wake up & that would not be good; she needs her sleep. Sallie feels bad but decides to leave both of them sleep.

Claudia with Doug & Sam in their car; Larry, Sallie, Kathy & me in Larry’s car; as we follow them out the driveway, we spot not one, but two flat rear tires on Claudia’s car. They park the car @ Bruce’s house & will figure out “what’s happened” later. K & I walk back, get our Suzuki, drive over to Bruce’s house, load the golf clubs & then follow Larry & Sallie to the Windwood Golf Course on the east side of Watertown.

Kathy rents clubs; I use Larry’s old clubs & Doug, who is playing with us, has his own. We all start on the back nine as there were other players on the front nine whom we would have had to wait for; Larry, Sallie, Claudia & Sam, played first. Windwood is one beautiful course; the fairways & greens are immaculate. Will that make us better golfers? We are about to find out!

Aside from playing about (3) yrs ago, it’s been (30) + yrs since I’ve golfed. Kathy has not golfed in (3) yrs as well & she’s been an infrequent player since moving to Alaska.

Enough about our handicaps; we had fun. Doug was a great guy to play with; his sense of humor, cool demeanor, patience, expertise, etc helped make for an enjoyable game.

Claudia, Larry, & Sam finish early & return to the house; Claudia was concerned about their (2) flat tires. Later we found out that when Claudia was driving with Doug & their boys to Larry & Sallie’s house, they were behind a truck off of which (2) bags of “something” fell onto the highway & she ran over one of the bags. Turns out those bags were full of nails; one tire had (9) nails embedded, the other (5) nails; consequently, they purchased (2) new tires. All marvel at how lucky they were to make it to Watertown since the incident happened while driving through Chicago!

Early afternoon, Cindy’s husband, Don, was making a grocery run & stops by our motorhome to ask Kathy if she needs anything. Kathy requests some Bing Cherries & a package of whole wheat buns.

About 4:00pm everyone, except Kathy & I, leave in many cars & go to Milwaukee to help celebrate the 75th birthday of Sallie’s 1st cousin, Lenoir. The next day we heard Lenoir’s birthday party was unique; Claudia had put together quite a slide show of her earlier life & times that included most of the people that went to help celebrate her birthday.

During their absence, K & I talk with my sister Mary Jo in CA; then Kathy adds more stain to the school desk and organizes Sallie’s paper goods/cookware closet. I take pictures of things around the house & pool.

Dinner by Kathy: Italian beef from Johnies in Chicago bought October 22nd; sweet peppers, & garlic au jus on whole wheat buns + a mixed salad.

Evening time; Kathy lets the dogs out to do whatever they do; then we both work a few crossword puzzles.

High temp=74 Lights out: 11:47pm

Awake: 6:15am Temp 54 sleep 6+45 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

A casual morning for us; checking e-mail & reviewing our travel plans & commitments for the remainder of the yr, etc; it’s kind of exciting to look ahead & also, do some looking back & reminiscing about the many adventures we have already experienced.

About 10:30am, Sallie invites us into the house to sample some Chicago bagels that Claudia & Doug bought on their way through the city. Hmm, not too bad; as we pass the prayer room, we see most of the guys praying. Later, we socialize a little with Debbie, Sallie and Larry’s youngest daughter, & her husband, Ethan, on the back porch. They live in California with their 2 ½ year old son, Zev.

Because of the Sabbath, Kathy waters the flowers all around the house. Seeing Sallie’s favorite outdoor rocking chair not rocking, it takes only minutes for me to replace the washer & screw that had fallen off. Sallie makes the comment that her oven and oven light are on but that she’s not using either. Kathy takes the hint and turns both off to Sallie’s verbalized “thank you.”

We are invited back for lunch with more socializing.

K & I leave @ 4:10pm to attend the 4:30 vigil Mass @ Saint Henry’s church; it was quite crowded. We drive straight back to the house & get ready for wine time on the back porch & then, dinner by Sallie, Cindy & Claudia; leftover food of varying kinds from Friday’s supper and Saturday’s lunch.

High temp=77 Lights out: 11:30pm

Awake: 6:41am Temp 52 sleep 6+59 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

“Happy Birthday to Kathy!” On the occasion of this special occasion, I serve her not one, but two cups of coffee while she is still in bed. Well, it’s a start; the day’s only begun.

Larry visits us early; “a lot of people will be arriving today so just feel free to introduce yourselves & make yourselves @ home” he tells us.

I was going to keep track of the names of each person/persons when they arrive & what side of the family they are they related to & where they are from, etc. But as the day went on, I was distracted by doing things + too many people escaped my attention to log them in properly.

Mid morning, I continue trimming the low branches on the west side of the circular drive & finally finish this job around 1:00pm.

Meanwhile, Kathy has been getting e-mail cards, notes, & phone calls from all around the country; such popularity.

Ken & Chris, the carpenters, are finished (for now) with the 1st floor bathroom renovation & the old studs, sheetrock, floor tile, etc have been accumulating on the flat bed trailer outside the garage. With plenty of relatives & friends coming, Larry is ready to move it with the pickup & make the entrance more presentable; his son Alex, home for a few weeks from college, backs the truck up to hitch the trailer. Just then, lunch time is announced & that stops everything. You don’t want to miss a meal when Sallie or/and her sister, Cindy, are cooking. We have been enjoying some great meals, without a doubt.

After another terrific lunch, we haul that load of “rough stuff” over to Bruce & Marsha’s big burn pile. Only the burn worthy “stuff” is off loaded; the rest stays on the trailer to be dumped @ some other legal site. Larry does a superb job of backing the flat bed trailer under some low hanging branches on the east side of the house which nearly camouflages the unit.

After my shower, I go into the house to meet the people; (28) for dinner, most to spend the night. Some of the guys are having prayer time in the prayer room as I walk nearby. That makes it a little easier to remember names when the intros are spaced out. When the guys finish with their prayers, someone started the ball rolling about getting a tour of that motorhome parked in front. Since Shabbat starts @ 8:00pm, these people certainly don’t want to wait until Sunday to satisfy their curiosity.

With all shoes removed, Kathy explains the galley, shows the pantry, Murphy bed, rear shower, etc to the ladies; I answer fuel mileage, slide operation, finding campgrounds, driving the bus questions, etc to mostly guys. Norm, an elderly distinguished gentleman, originally from Watertown, then Milwaukee & now Florida, who I befriended & spent most of my time talking with that evening, kept my attention with some good stories of life & living.

8:30pm dinner: There were (2) long tables & a lot of passing of much food; Chala bread, egg drop soup, salad, (2) types of chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, etc. And for dessert: frozen lemon pie, almond pound cake, watermelon, and a 2 layer lemon cake with chocolate frosting which Sallie announced was “Kathy’s birthday cake” & so it was brought in to all singing “Happy Birthday” to Kathy.

Many discussions & conversations with many people too numerous to mention.

K & I finally make our way toward the door to return to our bus but then, in the prayer room, who do we find: about (20) of the young crowd & some older, playing the game of Taboo & having a great ole time doing it. We watched in amazement for over (25) min. They were hilarious!

By the end of the day, all of our children had called their mother for her birthday which truly made it a special day for her!

High temp=74 Lights out: 11:30pm

Awake: 5:32am Temp 63 sleep 6+45 mostly cloudy overnight @ Watertown, WI.

It was soooo nice sleeping on our comfortable Murphy bed again. We will be keeping a close eye on that mattress to make sure it doesn’t send us to the couch again….unless we want to.

Sallie asks us to do her a favor this morning: run (2) errands; pickup a piece of Granite @ the “Design in Marble Company” in Ixonia, WI (20) miles east of Watertown; then take a water sample from the swimming pool to be tested @ the Pool Supply store in Oconomowoc, WI on the return trip. We both enjoy a nice serene ride in the Wisconsin countryside by doing this small favor & we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy some needed groceries @ Wal-Mart before returning to our bus.

Once again, Larry was called by the Madison Rabbi to complete a Minion this morning.

A few days ago, Sallie had asked me to do something with the gate leading to their swimming pool; “it’s too complicated for the children to keep the gate closed; can you fix it & make it easier for them to operate?” she inquires. I figured maybe (15) min @ the most for this simple request but I’m out of practice. It took over an hr for that amateur type of fix.

When Larry returns from his Minion, he suggests we take that starter from the Galion Crane over to the Jensch Auto Parts & Service @ 1:00pm. Bob, the starter repair expert, didn’t like the looks of our unit; “the bearing is worn & shot” he tells us. He did indicate that he’ll try & have it repaired & ready on the 3rd of July.

Back @ the house, while Larry is busy with the air condition fellow tending to an outside compressor, I use the telescoping limb cutter again & continue cutting down a number of low hanging limbs along the west side of their circular driveway. Only (3) trees remaining (with many low limbs) & this project will be finished for the summer.

Meanwhile, Larry has a leaking air conditioning condensation drain leading to his basement. “It’s been leaking for awhile” says Larry. I didn’t want to remind him immediately that this is the same drain that was leaking last yr when we visited them. Anyway, working together & using a propane torch, the copper tubing funnel catch separated easily. Now a trip to Ace Hardware to match the copper tube sections we need for the repair.

Back @ their house, we nearly get into trouble by making too much noise while Molly is sleeping. The initial soldering went well, but when making that last connection, it was difficult to get enough heat on the (2) sections coming together. We had to resort to the final fix being: “Silicon glue.” After all, this drain is being used to drain cool water; our testing proved no leaks so it should work well.

Wine time on the back porch by the pool; then dinner by Sallie: Hamburger (Kosher), whole wheat buns, tomatoes, onions & a mixed salad. (8) for dinner tonight; no Carrie, Bengi or Don; tonight it’s Micha, Cindy, & the rest of us.

Larry & Sallie have a new Dyson vacuum cleaner; Larry insists that we try it in our coach. We thought our rugs were pretty clean but after using that high tech machine, we were amazed @ how new & clean they looked + amazed at all the dirt that accumulated in the collection unit. We were impressed! It was returned (20) min later with high accolades.

High temp=70 Lights out: 11:42pm

Awake: 5:19am Temp 73 sleep 5+55 cloudy overnight @ Watertown, WI.

Larry, Sallie & Alex arrive home sometime after 4:00am this morning from Los Angeles. We heard nothing @ that time; even the dogs must have been quiet. Later, we were told that the wedding was wonderful & they all had a marvelous time.

Kathy & I didn’t sleep well last night….again; we miss our Tempur-pedic mattress. We are casually waiting on a call from strong man Todd; he told Kathy he would call before 11:00am.

@ 10:40am Todd calls; he says his son Zack will help; he is tall & strong & they will meet me @ the Kwik Trip fuel station in 10 min. I dash off in the Suzuki, wait maybe 4 min @ the Kwik Trip station & here they come.

“We have a shoes off policy, guys” I tell them. “No problem, so do we” says Todd. Inside the motorhome, K & I explain our dilemma. With Zack on one side & Todd on the other, they pulled that Tempur-pedic mattress up & out before we had time to say anything else; unbelievable!

They wrote their names down, described what transpired & signed the note card. We paid cash. We talk for a short time & thank them very much. Kathy couldn’t have picked two nicer guys. They made our day & our nights.

Sallie comes outside to see what’s happening. We tell our story; “oh you should have asked Ken & Chris” she says. “No” I told her. “Those guys are working for you.”

A little later, Larry alerts me that we are going to the factory & Sallie has things for Kathy to do.

En route to the factory, we make a stop @ the MicroNet computer store. Larry’s computer is having a problem & that’s not good. Markus estimates Thursday or Friday.

With the overhead lights on & the big door open, Larry decides it’s time to tackle the big one: the Galion Crane. Again the Caddy battery comes in handy. With Larry in the driver’s seat, he checks the lights, horn, windshield wipers but…..no noise from the starter or a click from the solenoid. Those starters…there must be a contagious disease going around in this factory. Before diving into this giant of a starter, we check the Galion manual with the by-passing procedures & still, nothing.

Now, Larry was wearing what I would call reasonable go to town clothes; but to set a bad example of what not to do, he crawled onto the oil laden floor under that crane, grease & oil all throughout the undercarriage & very little space to maneuver when looking for the infamous hidden 3rd bolt on the big starter. He did find it by golly, but I barely recognized this guy who (10) min later, slithered up & out from the machine with a nice smile on his face and grease, oil, & dirt on his body and clothes.

Me, I didn’t particularly want to slide around in oil & hydraulic fluid which I could easily see happening by looking ahead. “Larry, could you use the Hyster Forklift, to move the crane about (20) ft backward, so we don’t slip & slide so much?” It worked; at least now, maybe I’ll just be dirty in lieu of dirty, oily, & greasy.

The big starter challenged us for over an hr & that 3rd bolt was a darn nuisance. Our closed end wrench needed more leverage but underneath didn’t allow much swing space for us to extend our torque with the pipe we had. Luckily, Larry had the machines, some parts, & the talent to fabricate an extra special tool; he found the right diameter pipe, cut the proper length & then hammered the pipe closed so that the closed end wrench stuck about ½ of the way out. I was honored & humbled when Larry choose me to “get the job done” on that darn 3rd bolt.

Back @ the house, the girls flatly refused to give us hugs for doing such a good job @ the factory today. We would have hugged them even if their aprons were covered with cooking stains. Anyway, our initial clean-up began in the back yard using the Orange Goop hand cleaner & a shower nozzle. Next step: shower in the motorhome & then, wine time on the screened in porch area.

More people are arriving today: Carrie’s husband, Bengi, & her brother, Alex & they join us for dinner.

(8) for dinner by Sallie: Salmon (2) different cooking styles: one baked & breaded & the other cooked in soy sauce, sautéed string beans, potatoes, Caesar salad, & bread.

High temp=83 Lights out: 10:47pm

Awake: 7:23am Temp 73 sleep 7+19 sunny, then cloudy overnight @ Watertown, WI.

We both didn’t sleep well. Our motorhome is pretty well insulated to outside sounds & activities but, @ 2:15am, I was awakened by a continuous barking of dogs; at first it fit into my dreams; then I realized it was for real. I turned our yard lights on, which are quite bright & saw nothing unusual @ first; then looking closely, I saw them. (2) of them; just standing there barking & barking. It was Tigger & Massel inside the house barking & looking @ me. I turned off the yard lights, went back to my couch, wrapped my pillow around my ears & finally fell asleep….again. Would you believe, when I looked out our window @ 7:24am, those dogs were still in that same window, not barking but still looking @ our coach. A short while later I dressed, went outside & let the dogs outside to run around a bit & then I give them some loving & attention when they get settled down.

Today Kathy paints primer on the base of both of the metal statues & then on the metal of the old school desk. Then she waters the flowers & rakes all the cut, dead shrub limbs from the bushes & hauls them away in a wheelbarrow, dumping them over the bank; (3) loads to be exact.

Early afternoon, Sallie & Larry’s older daughter, Carrie, & her daughter, Molly, drive up from Milwaukee. We were expecting them; we talk a little then we get back to our chores.

Meanwhile, using the Bob Cat mower with sharp blades, I mow the entire yard, up & down both sides of the main driveway utilized by (3) homes & a section between the pasture & the pine trees. Then, using the powered wire brush, I clean off (8) mower blades, sharpen, & then, balance them. I also use the telescoping limb cutter to trim off a few lower branches close to where Ken & Chris have their high roof carpenter truck parked; the lower branches have been bugging them when moving some sheetrock & lumber out of their truck.

I encourage Kathy, in her spare time, to make a return trip to that Gym & look for muscle men again. When she returns, she thinks maybe she got lucky. Todd fell for her story & agreed to call us by 11:00am tomorrow morning.

Late afternoon, Carrie invites us to have dinner with her & Molly. We give it some thought & then accept her generous offer; but we do shower before joining them.

Dinner by Carrie: spaghetti in a tomato sauce with soy meat crumbles, mixed salad & bread; Carrie is vegetarian. Molly is very, very cute, speaks well & makes good conversation for her age (2 ½ yr). We thank Carrie very much & she tells us she will take care of the dogs; especially Massel, he’s her dog.

We sleep on separate couches again tonight.

High temp=83 Lights out: 11:24pm

Awake: 6:54am Temp 65 sleep 6+47 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.

Two local carpenters that Sallie & Larry hired last week are modifying the downstairs bathroom. Ken & his son, Chris, had built the deck in back of their house a few yrs ago so these people know each other fairly well. Chris arrives @ 9:00am, his father Ken, about an hr later. They are still in the tear down stage: knocking out a wall, tearing up old floor tile, removing light fixtures, etc. It’s a good time for Larry & Sallie to be out of town. A small (1) axle flat bed trailer is parked just outside of the garage for the debris. It’s also a good time for Kathy to make some dust; she is using a powered wire brush to clean off some surface rust on the bases of the (2) metal boys before she uses primer & later a color paint. She also used the powered brush to rid the rust from the metal tubing and other metal areas of an old school desk that Sallie asked to have restored.

We both had plans today to finish our chores so we can play tomorrow; that was until I GOOFED. I am guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Earlier this morning, before closing our Murphy bed, I repositioned the long pillow @ the head of our bed because it was beginning to get wedged into the frame nearly every time we closed up the bed. The pillow’s purpose was to prevent the mattress from sliding out of the box frame when the unit was closed up; (2) bungee cords are also used @ the foot of the bed on each corner to further prevent the bed from sliding out of its boxed frame when upright.

Well, in repositioning that pillow, the Tempur-pedic mattress, which is very heavy, simply slid right over that long but slim pillow & off of its box frame & onto the floor when I closed the Murphy bed into the wall; I heard it slide & I knew what I had done. One can’t possibly open the bed more than half way & us (2) seniors can’t possibly have the strength to pull it vertically out. But we can try & for over (3) hrs we really tried.

Finally I called the Newell Coach Company & spoke with (3) different techs; none of them had heard of this happening & had no idea of a fix. Then I asked for John, the VP of the service dept. John was familiar with the slim & long pillow & experienced the pillow getting wedged into the frame when closing the bed. He discouraged us from any more efforts in trying to get the mattress out. “You & Kathy are not tough enough” he says. “Go find a workout gym & a couple of weight lifters to help you out & we’ll pay for it.” Later he told me that a modification has been made & already approved.

Worn out, Kathy had planned on going to the Ace Hardware store today anyway, so I asked her to shop for a couple of weight lifters along the way. She wasn’t gone very long; she picked up her primer paint but no weight lifting muscle men. She did, however, ask the front desk person at the local Fitness Center to leave a notice of our dilemma with our phone # listed.

Meanwhile, not one to give up easily, I continue trying other ideas, which ultimately, didn’t work. Kathy, feeling the need for more oxygen, takes the dogs for an afternoon walk. When she returns, she washes the metal tubing and other metal areas of the old elementary school desk in prep for priming tomorrow.

Later Sallie calls from Los Angeles; she & Kathy discuss the progress that the carpenters are making or not making & how the dogs are doing. Kathy did not make mention of our chores or any pillow talk.

Dinner in our bus: Flat steak, brown rice with gravy & mixed salad + toast.

Later, we watch some Planet Earth on TV with the dogs in Sallie & Larry’s home. Before we leave, we let the dogs out; who, who....who let the dogs out. Remember that song. Anyway, we call them inside after a short spell & then return to our bus.

Even later, Katrina calls from Ogallala, Nebraska. She is camping with friends for the weekend & it sounds like they are having a wonderful time.

We sleep on separate couches for the night.

High temp=81 Lights out:12:04am