There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays...

For those of you who don't know where we are--since I haven't kept up with my blog of late--we are in Missouri at Kan-Do Kampground in Danville, MO. We have been here since late June of 2010.

We came through on our way to Kansas from Florida, NY for Dr appointments and to see the family over the Memorial Day weekend in May.

Dad had an accident on Memorial Day about 9 miles from home. As it turned out, he had fallen asleep twice and on the third time (in just 9 miles!) he went off of highway 70 crossing an entrance ramp in the process. It was not the first of the incidents he had in the past few years in his vehicle, but it was the last. It was time to take care of dad and mom and all the other drivers on the road and be thankful that he was not seriously injured and neither was anyone else.

Tom and Nina live next door to mom and dad and had been helping them as they needed it, but now, with Dr appointments and other needs and no car, their needs were more than Tom and Nina could handle.

In the big picture of life, some things become clear over time and this was one of those times. Having sold our house and living in our 5th wheel, it allowed Jim and myself to make the decision to move the camper to Missouri so mom and dad would have someone to drive them where they needed to go. If we weren't living in the camper, we would not have been free to move to MO so quickly.

So, arrangements made, we pulled in and here we are--back where we started from in 2009 at Kan-Do Kampground!

During the summer, Kathy was working on updates around the campground. They have worked on infrastructure since purchasing the campground and 2010 was the year to concentrate on the "pretty" stuff. Among that was frogs--everywhere! Kathy loves the frogs--"it's all about the frog" is her mantra. It started in her gardens, was added to the entrance sign, appeared on the Site of the Month sign, morphed into a birthday frog who shows up at sites of birthday folks for a party, became numbers for all of the sites and even came to the doors of the bathrooms! This frog really gets around! (more on the frogs later--really!)

So, in mid summer, the campground sign got a facelift to Kiwi (frog green) with black lettering. Man can you see the sign now! GREAT JOB Kathy and Drew! Wait! Where is Drew? THERE he is--on the other side of the sign talking to Dane and Dave (two of the long-term campers!) Don't you just LOVE the color????

So, why all this background talk of frogs, you ask? Well, as with last year, Jim and I decided that we would get an ornament that speaks to where we are each Christmas.

Not wanting to be "normal", we wanted to find things that meant something to us.

Last year (in New York) was the Dunkin Donuts Snowman because there is a Dunkin Donuts on every block in New York! (and I found I really LOVE their coffee!!!!) It was a close race between the Swaravsky crystal ornament that looks like the one on the top of the tree in Rockefeller Center and the snowman. The snowman won because he was a part of our daily lives.

THIS YEAR, being near St. Louis, you might think I would choose the Arch--but, the frog is a part of our daily lives here, so I went in search of a frog ornament. I looked high and low. I even checked out the Bass Pro Shops website for a frog fishing lure!

I watched the campground for Drew and Kathy while they visited their kids and grandkids in Minnesota for Thanksgiving and when they returned, Kathy had my birthday present!

Yep--a frog ornament!

She found it in Minnesota while shopping with her daughter! Isn't he a cutie???? So happy and ready for a Christmas party!

He is front and center on the Christmas tree this year--and to his right is the snowman.

You can barely see on the right side of the picture behind the bone with Frank the Pug's picture is our TSO ornament. We went to TransSyberian Orchestra concert in 2006 in Wichita, KS with Tom, Nina and their kids. It was an awesome show and if you get the chance--definitely worth the price of admission!

Each and every one of the ornaments on the tree have special meaning to us, from the snowflake crocheted by my mom to the red bird from Jim's mom to the NASCAR #88 ornaments and the dog bones with the pictures of our 3 dogs.

Above the tree are some snowmen. I sure hope that these are the only snowmen we see or have the "snow" for this year!

On the other side of the coach is the slide. I used the opening for a wooden cranberry string along with rusted metal star garland.

In the middle is a larger rusted metal star ornament and a woodland sign that welcomes and invites all to rest their Christmas Hearts here!

Anchoring the left side of the garland are the dog's Christmas stockings.

We have our black lab (originally for Bo, but now Tank claims it) and the Fawn Pug for Frank. I have not found a black pug stocking for Tango, so he has to share with his pug brother. He says he doesn't care as along as Santa Paws knows to leave two of everything in that stocking!

At the top of the stockings is a tiny #88 stocking. It isn't really for anyone, but just our love of NASCAR. :) Love us, love our driver!

On the right side is a Christmas stocking that I made years ago. It is made from some of the ribbons taken from the floral arrangements of my Grandpa Long. Pop Pop (As he was called) used to give me Kennedy half dollars for Christmas. I still have them!

My Grandma Long (Dad's mom) saved the ribbons from the arrangements in a shoebox with a label stating where the ribbon originated. It seemed a shame to keep the beautiful satin hidden, so I asked for and received some gold and red ribbon which I made into a patchwork pattern, stitched with green thread. Green Crochet stitching holds the stocking together and makes the little loop to hang it. Yes, I did the Crochet as well. Some of you have seen and even own some of my crochet projects--some of you will find this surprising. Well, SURPRISE! hehe!

So at this time of Christ's birth, I wish you a warm Christmas with many happy times that you can look back on and smile! Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Hot Time In The Summer!

Hey! Long time, no posts! I know--I am BAD!!!

How do you like the new background for the posts? I chose this one because the colors remind me of the hot, humid days of summer--which we have definitely had here!!!

Where is here you might ask? Well--it is Missouri! Yep--the last blog was the trip from Missouri to New York. And now, surprise! We are back in Missouri.

A lot happened between and I am gonna start to tell you about the between right now!

When last we gathered, I left you with stranded Tom having just arrived at Black Bear Campground in Florida, NY and angry wife, Nina! Well...

Jim flew to KS to pick up Junior. No, not our son--the car. All of you who know us, know who Junior is and why we would name a car Junior--for those of you who don't know us, THIS is Junior....

Tom and I fixed up the camper. Tom gave me a nice tutorial about the propane tanks and how to hook them up. The campground delivered a 100 lb propane cylinder to the camper and we went to connect the hose to it. We found that the propane hoses on the camper were stiff and one was leaking, so we replaced them with longer hoses that would be easier to hook up to the big cylinder that sits outside of the camper.

Tom explained that the threads for the propane are counter clockwise, so instead of righty tighty, lefty loosey--they are righty loosey lefty tighty and use a 7/8" wrench (which was put on my to do list--Tom had one in his tool bag--of course--but I didn't have anything that large).

He also explained that when the tank is empty, it will automatically switch to the other tank and red appears in a little window on the valves indicating that it is time to switch out tanks.

With the camper set up, hooked up and propane attached, we headed to Sam's Club where I bought new tires for my Durango (I was planning to buy new ones before winter anyway and just had not done so). While those were being mounted we walked to Olive Garden and got dinner and talked NASCAR (seriously--what ELSE would one talk about????)

New tires on, I stocked up on groceries and Tom headed to Missouri in my Durango the next morning--though he felt bad leaving me with no vehicle. Seriously--I had food, water and the dogs and Jim would be passing him on the highway on his way to NY with Junior--so it wouldn't be for long.

Tom and Nina had a trip to Kansas planned for the weekend to see Trans Syberian Orchestra in Wichita with their kids. It's a yearly event (we enjoyed it with them one year as well and TSO is definitely worth the ticket!). They took the Durango to Wichita and back to MO and when Tom's truck was ready, Tom brought the Durango back, picked up his truck and drove his truck with new heavy duty tranny back to MO. James at Duro Transmission really did a great job and to this day, it is in great shape!

I decided to use the time after Tom left and before Jim arrived to put all of the "stuff" together in the camper. When moving the camper, all items have to be cleared from the counters (I put a bath towel in the bathtub and the clothes basket and pack most of the heavier items in there--the rest go in the kitchen sink wrapped in a towel) and the cabinets have to be secured (I like to use the baby locks to hold the doors closed. Originally I used zip ties, but they have to be cut when you need to access the cabinets and then you have to find the zips to tie it shut again, so the baby locks are better for my use). All of the packing has to be reversed and set up into a "home" again, so I nested.

After I was done with the nesting, I pulled out the computer and went about learing to "winterize" a camper. Here are some of the sites that I found to be most helpful: http://www.rvliving.net/winter.htm , http://www.marxrv.com/skp/survive.htm , http://www.rverscorner.com/articles/winter.html .

After reading, I made a list of items that I thought would be helpful for winterizing the camper and set about making a plan to hunker down for the cold, dark days ahead (remember this is Halloween and we are now in the mountains!)

By the time Jim and Junior arrived, I had a plan of attack for winterizing the camper, had everything set up and was nesting in for the beautiful fall in the mountains.

Missed It By THAT MUCH...

Okay. All of you Get Smart fans will truly "get" that title! If you are too young for that, go check out Nik at Night...It's a really fun show! When we left the last blog, the repairs to our new home were complete and we hitched up to Tom's truck and were ready to take off. Tom has a Dodge Ram 3/4 ton pickup with tow package and heavy suspension, a cummins diesel engine--and 220,000 miles. He is the best driver that I know and I wouldn't want anyone else to drive my 5th wheel if I have a choice. So, off we went. We parked at the rest area on the state line of IL and IN just on the Indiana border. It is a really nice rest area and even has designated RV parking! I figured we would be parked between the semi trucks, which is just fine for the night, but this was great! Tom parked in the first RV space and I parked in the "car" space right next to it. This gave us the opportunity to try out the onboard pump--which worked great! We didn't put out the slides, we just hit the couch and bed--Tom got the couch with Tank to keep him company and I hit the bed with the flat screen TV and two pugs to keep me company. Next morning, we were up early and heading on down the road. Everything was going well. We stopped often to let the engines cool and let the dogs "walk". Somewhere around noonish, we started hitting the mountains--those would be the Appilachians of which the Poconos are a part. When we made it over Snowshoe Mountain, it was a fine day! We knew the worst was behind us and all was well. Tom's truck was trucking right along, the camper was following it (which is GOOD!) and I was following both in my Durango. We stopped at the Wal-Mart at Bloomsburg, PA along I-80 with only a couple of hours of driving the next day. We would be at Black Bear Campground in Florida, NY by noonish. This is good because it does take quite a while to level, set the 5th wheel up and unpack all of the stuff that was stowed for the trip. Getting there with as much daylight as possible was great! We parked in the Wal-Mart lot and I proceeded to let the dogs out. Apparently, Tank really wanted to "go" because he came over the back of the front seat like he had wings. The pugs were sitting on all of the bed pillows which I had stacked in the passenger seat so that they could look out of the window and be comfortable. Well, when Tank came flying over and out, the pillows came out too. Frank jumped for his life and landed fine. Tango (our black pug) didn't fare as well. He landed in a heap of pillows and pug with a yelp. Now, Tango NEVER yelps! He lived the first 5 years of his life in a puppy mill as a stud and vocalizing didn't help. We were so happy to get him and he had lived with us for about 2 years. You never saw Jim without his little shadow. If Tango could, he would be touching Jim--even when Jim was walking. So, I knew Tango was hurt. He got up and couldn't put weight on his front paw. I thought "Oh great! I just broke Jim's baby's leg! I am dead meat!" Tom took Tank (the two of them were really bonding!) and I carried Tango over to potty along with Frank. Now, a male dog on only 3 legs trying to mark territory is just, well, funny--if he wasn't hurt! I checked him over and no big bones seemed to be broken and he could pull away from me, so his joints were okay. I decided to see how he slept for the night and see if it was just a sprain. Tom and I headed into Wal-Mart to get a couple of things and then hit the hay like the night before. By this time Tank didn't even come up to the bedroom--he just went straight to the couch with Tom. We woke up the next morning between a semi and the biggest horse trailer I think I have ever seen--that wasn't a semi. Tango still didn't care to use his leg when he went out in the morning. I was still hopeful though. So, we headed off to the east with the big mountains behind us. Or so we thought... Turned out that when we got to Hwy 84 and headed east we were certainly NOT out of the mountains! All was going well. We were getting close. There was a light rain which was keeping all of the tires nice and cool. And then we met Pocono Mountain! Oye! It was 4 miles straight up! Tom's truck was only able to pull the camper doing 20-25 mph! We got to the top. All was well. We started down the other side. Then... Boom! A puff of bluish smoke! I called Tom and said that there was a big cloud of smoke coming out. He pulled to the shoulder of the road. It was leaking something black all over the ground. No, not oil--transmission fluid! Now, we all know that transmission fluid should be cherry red. Black is NOT good! I looked at the exit and it said "Middletown". Halleluhia! Middletown was only about 18 miles from the campground! I knew there was a Wal-Mart in Middletown. We drove in and got a bunch of transmission fluid and some of that really thick stuff that is supposed to stop a leak. Got back to the truck and Tom dumped it in. It seemed okay. Not leaking too badly. Tom started the truck and began to pull off of the highway to the exit. By the time he got to the exit, the truck was leaking again. He pulled off onto the shoulder of the exit. Transmission fluid was leaking out like it was a hose attached to a faucet. We went to a major store in town that has tires and all. Tom asked the guy if he knew of a transmission shop. The guy directed him to AAMCO. As Tom was leaving, another guy asked if Tom wanted AAMCO or a GOOD shop. Well, let's see... So, we headed to Duro Transmission on Rt 211 in Middletown and talked to James who owns the shop. It is a one man shop and James seemed to know what he was about. He actually builds the transmissions himself. This is something that you just don't find! You could tell he really takes pride in his work. So, Tom arranged for James to tow the truck to his shop and I started calling around to find someone to pull the camper on to the campground. Boy! Was it a good thing we had plenty of daylight! I called a guy who gave me the name of a guy who had a guy named Martine (pronounced Martini--like the drink--he told me) call me. Martine sounded like "The Godfather" on the phone. He was really nice and gave me another name. What in the world was going on???? NO one had a truck to pull a 40 ft camper??? Really??? So, I called the number that Martine gave me. This was Hockenberry's. I was really tired, wet from the rain, and feeling just a bit cranky by this time, but trying not to let my frustration show as I went through all of the calls. After all, all of these guys were really trying to help us--they just couldn't help us themselves. They certainly didn't HAVE to network on my behalf, but they were going out of their way to help a stranded stranger. I might take this opportunity to say--there really ARE great people everywhere! So, I asked Hockenberry if he could pull the camper--expecting him to say he couldn't and to give me yet another name to call. But, much to my extreme surprise, he said, "Sure. No problem. We can get you there! Be right over." He was so chipper and friendly that I just wanted to whoop and holler! I had a ride! In a while. He was over the Greenville Mountain in the tri-state area and it would take a while to get to us. I had no idea where Greenville Mountain and the tri-state area were, but hey! He was happy to come and I was ecstatic to have him on the way! We headed over to Duro Transmission and got Tom's clothes and tools out of his poor truck. The transmission would take about 10 days. Then, we headed back to the camper. The guy arrived in a huge wrecker. Not those wreckers that we see all of the time--this is a wrecker like you see on Wrecked on SPEED TV! Kind of like this one... Yep--That should do the job! Well, turns out it was Charles Hockenberry, who owns the company. He told us that everyone was busy because of the rain and the mountains and people were wrecking, so all of the wreckers were out. He is about my age and has several trucks. His sons and daughter work for him as well. He just happened to have just finished a job and was ready to hop in and help us! Nicest guy you would ever want to meet! He was nice and told us about the area as he attached the hitch to the back of the truck and then hooked us up. Then, of course, our light connection was not the same as his, so he put his portable lights on the camper and ran the wires to his truck. He asked where we were going and we told him. He looked at our written directions and asked if it was by Suresky's. Not a clue! Don't even know what a Suresky is (turns out it is a large Chrysler car dealership in this area) but he seemed to know where he was going. We followed him up and around the hills and ridges and twisting roads. Not hard to follow him--He had what seemed like a million amber spotlights on top of the truck--all flashing! We got to Florida, NY and went down the center of town following the flashing lights with my camper attached. People definitely knew we had arrived! :-D Once you get to Florida, there are signs all through town pointing to "Campground". You will NOT get lost! We pulled into the campground (I had called ahead to let them know that we had vehicle trouble and would be later than we planned, but were on the way). I was headed into the office when the guy came out. He definitely knew we had arrived! It was quite a site that greeted him--huge wrecker pulling huge camper followed by bright red Durango. What a convoy! I had my wallet out, but he just waved us on, gave us directions to the pull through sites and said to take care of the camper and then head back down tomorrow to take care of the site cost. He looked a little shaken actually. So, off went our little caravan--up the hill. I looked at the 5th wheel in the pull through closest to the road. The front was so far off the ground that the guy could park his giant pickup under the gooseneck! Really? Uh, no! We got out--as did the drive of the wrecker. We asked if he could give us a minute to look at the spaces to find one that was a little more level. Sure! He jumped out and helped us find a good spot. He seemed like he was actually enjoying this looking around, picking out the perfect spot. He found a great one! Then, he pulls out his cell and calls the office to ask if we can use this back in spot instead of a pull-through. Nope. This spot didn't have water and electric, but the one next to it did. Can you believe the tow truck driver actually used HIS cell to call the office for US???? I mean, this guy takes customer service to a new level! He backed the camper in and then with the winch? (Hydraulic lift thingy that picks up a car) on the back of his truck, lifted the camper until it was level to make the process much easier because it was beginning to get darker outside. It was sure a snap to level the camper with the help of him and his truck! He gave me the bill--I gave him a LOT of bills--and we were ready to begin the rest of the setting up process. What a day! But, we were here and ready to set up our home in it's new location. Jim would be up the next day after work. All was well--well kind of--Tom still didn't have his truck. But he did have a new buddy! Uh, and an unhappy wife...in Missouri... Who is gonna KILL me if she ever sees this picture! ;-D

Show Me Missouri!!!!

Today we return to Missouri--The Show-Me State. I know I have been going back and forth between there and NY, but gosh! Things just happen so fast and I have to share. So, back in time we go to Missouri! After deciding to sell everything (except a very few family momentos and pieces of furniture) and live in the RV, we needed to find out if it would work as far as campgrounds. Usually, you pick a campground and stay there for a few days and move on. Not so when you are living in the RV. You pick a city where you will be working and find an RV park close enough to work for several months to several years--whatever the duration. I began my search in Missouri around the area of High Hill, MO. This is where my parents and brother and sister-in-law live, so I wanted to be close to them and St. Louis airport has non-stop flights to New York--unlike Wichita (The Air Capital--ha!). Having checked for year round campgrounds close to NYC, I found that they were either a LOT of money per month (More than my HOUSE payment!) or were not open year round. So, we felt that staying near the St. Louis airport at least gave Jim a non-stop flight of 4 hours compared with 9-10 to Wichita. I found 3 campgrounds in the area, but they were all full! Are you serious???? Turns out that a couple of pipelines were being run through the area and many of the pipeliners live in RV's while working on the pipeline. I knew from selling real estate in Kansas that the pipeline had been layed through Kansas earlier. I didn't really realize the signifigance of the impact to the communities surrounding the pipeline during the construction phase. Now I do! After calling around and looking at the campground websites, I liked what I saw at the Kan-Do Kampground and so called Kathy, the owner. After a chat and finding that she has owned dogs that are larger than Tank!!!!--those being Saint Bernards--I felt very comfortable with her. You will see her if you look to the left of my blog here in the area for followers. You can check out her blog for all of the campground happenings! However, as I said, no room in the inn! As we spoke, Kathy, who I have come to know and find has a very active and creative mind, told me that she had a single wide mobile home on her property with 200 amp service. She decided that the mobile home was more trouble than it was worth and the electric service could be better utilized servicing 4-50 amp service campers with "luxury sites". Cool! We had not actually purchased our camper and were a ways out from needing the spot, so she would have time to get the trailer out and carve the spots out of the trees before we arrived. Good! I would have a place to park! That done we set about selling stuff, purchasing and outfitting the trailer and moving up to Missouri. My dad, who some of you know, likes to be active, so the whole "we are moving up there to Kan-Do Kampground close to you" was very interesting to him. Being my daddy, he felt that he should check out the campground to be sure it was nice for us. So, off he went to meet Kathy and Drew and look over the campground. He reported back that the campground was very nice, but no spots were available. I explained to him what Kathy had in mind with the mobile home project and all. This gave dad someplace to drive to regularly to see what progress was happening. As time was getting nearer for us to move, the mobile home was still not moved and dad was getting concerned. I was not sure if the campground would really have a full hookup site for us either, but Kathy assured me that if not, they would put us in a 50 amp pull through and have the honey dipper truck come over and empty the black water tank. Okay. If it was okay with her, it was okay with me. Just to be safe, I also contacted Pam Cartee who owns the mobile home park in High Hill, MO to see if they would allow us to stay in a space there for whatever time we might need. She was amenable to that, so I had my backup plan in place. On the first of September, it was time to roll and Kathy told me that she had a wonderful campsite for us! One of her long term campers had to leave before they expected, so the space opened up. How serendipitous! This is the campsite--which I showed you in a previous post, so won't go too much into that here--check out the other blog for more... I started to write this and realized that I don't have a picture of the sign at Kan-Do! Really now! I must do better! On my way back through in the spring I will have to take a picture of their sign! Well, I do, but it isn't very good. Here it is, though as seen from our first site. Sometimes, as I was sitting at the dining table/desk/work table/sewing table/whatever I need a flat surface for table I would feel as if I was being watched. One day as I had that feeling I looked out the window and saw this little guy! Now all of you who know me, know I LOVE squirrels! Not inside--but love to watch them run around the trees and just be squirrels. This came about when we lived in Newton, IA where Jim was working for Maytag--when they were still an American company. Newtonians (Newtonites?) prized their squirrels and depending on the part of town in which you lived, you either had gray, red or black squirrels. That was the first time I had ever seen a black squirrel and they are really CUTE! Our part of town had the red squirrels. The squirrels were very territorial and if one of the squirrels of another color came into their territory--a battle ensued and the offender was either chased out or was killed. Thus, different squirrels in different parts of town. Now, you might say who cares--they're rodents. Well, these rodents were great toys! People fed them corn, squirrel feed and all sorts of stuff! One person told me the story of being at her father's home having dinner when they heard scratching at the back patio door. Her father finally got up from dinner, opened the curtains, grabbed a cookie from the cookie jar by the door, slid back the patio door and handed the cookie to the squirrel waiting outside for his nightly treat! Our neighbor behind laughed at me one day when a squirrel was following me and scared the living daylights out of me--I was just sure he must be rabid! I finally ran onto her screened patio to get away from this "wild" creature. Our neighbor got an ear of corn from a bag on her back patio and went out and held it out to the squirrel who sat an ate the corn from her hand! These smart little creatures sure had the people of the area well trained! So, ever since that time, I have really enjoyed the antics of these little guys! Kan-Do also has a pool (it was too cold to use it when I was there--darn! cause I love to swim!) with playground and open field for football, soccer or whatever and a stocked pond. The pond was above our first campsite and many nights and mornings I would see people heading that direction with their fishing poles. Most of the adults just went up there to relax and cast and while away the evening after work, but the kids! They were so fun! I would hear a squeal and find that it wasn't a squeal of fright but a squeal of joy as they came running down the bank to their camper, fish dangling from the hook, to show daddy what they caught! What a great time they have at that pond! The pond is also an attraction for my crew! Tank as you might guess, loves the water! And he loves tracking things through the brush and into the water! Keeping him out of the water was very hard once he figured out that there was a pond up there! Also, Frank the pug, having been raised with labrador retrievers, thinks he is a lab and loves to retrieve--even in water--right with the best of the labs! I had read that pugs don't swim--really? Hah! Don't tell Frank! hehe. The campground has a well--and even the small towns in the area get their water from wells. These wells have a strong sulfur smell--especially when you first turn them on in the morning. Well, it turns out that Tank was having some problems with adjusting. Yes, I know and I carry water for them and mix it to get their systems used to it and all of that. However, with the excitement and the fact that Tank really can read anxiety in people, change in routine and water--and as it turns out--allergies which decided to go nuts making his ears itch and get nasty--let's just say that you didn't want to leave the dogs alone for hours and hours at a time or you had better have a steam cleaner! Poor Tank! I had found this product called Zymox which really works well on the dogs ears. It has 3 enzymes found in milk that "eat" all of the crud. It is great! Got that out and then started giving him Benedryl for the skin problems. I just had to take this picture of him on Benedryl! He looks like he was out all night on a bender! LOL Poor thing! But it did the job and his hair grew back and his ears cleared up and he is traveling like a pro! Everywhere you look at the campground are flowers. Kathy seems to prefer marigolds and actually collects the seeds to sow from year to year. These add a bright splash of color around the grounds and are hardy and keep the bugs at bay. This picture was borrowed from Kathy's blog because it is just so darned cute! She and her grandson did this garden and how good is it! I might mention here that as I spoke with Kathy about our insanity, she shared that it could have been stranger! She had a moment of insanity and bought a campground! LOL I'm really glad she did! During this time, I was happy to be able to spend time with my mom and dad. That is my mom, Maxine with granddaughter Sofie on the 4th of July. On the left is my dad, Clair and behind him is Sofie's dad, Daniel who is married to my niece, Julie. Got that? There will be a test at the end! Now, looking at the first picture of my dad, you think, oh what a saintly cute man! He looks so sweet! Try this picture on for size! This is the REAL dad! Sticking his tongue out at his loving daughter! (no one tell him I put this here, okay?) ;-) I was happy to be able to spend some quality time with dad and mom and help them out if I could. Let me tell you, you have to watch this guy! He says he has to go to the eye Dr. and the VA on different days. Okay. No problem. They are different directions anyway. You go and it is at least an hour to get there, time for the appointment and then an hour back, so it is significant. Of course, since you are gone so long, you stop for lunch. And then.... Dad pulls the little 3x5 index card from his pocket! On this little 3x5 card is the REST of the story! While you are out running, he has a list of items that he needs to do while he is going in that direction--which is good use of gas and miles on the vehicles, but man does it put the miles on the people! He might look as if he likes to sit in the chair and stick out his tongue at you, but No he does NOT! He can run the socks off of an army of people! Seriously! No grass will grow beneath HIS feet! I did get to see a lot of Columbia, MO and surrounding--including Menards which I only knew of because they have a NASCAR race car, but what a store! Man, talk about HEAVEN! They have some of the neatest stuff! And, I got to take some trips in towards O'Fallon and St. Peters where I grew up and went to school. I can tell you that I failed to even recognize the towns! They are like a part of St. Charles, which seems like a part of St. Louis now! When I grew up there, it was country! Open, lots of area and not many homes. If you wanted to do big shopping, you went to St. Louis or St. Ann or St. Charles. And O'Fallon was the larger town. Now, St. Peters seems a lot larger and Wentzville, where there was literally NOTHING (well, unless you count Chuck Berry's house) is a thriving metropolis with several exits! My My--don't I feel OLD!!!! Dad was always there to give me a hand when I needed it and when I needed something for the camper, he would disappear into the barn and come out with it! If dad didn't know where it was, mom surely did! I really enjoyed being able to spend time with mom and dad. It has been a while since we were able to visit for any length of time. And it was nice to have them to accompany me to the airport to pick up Jim and drop him off. At least we got out and "got the stink blown off"! (Old family saying--not offensive--at least I think it isn't! LOL) Back to the campground..Our second site was a pull through more in the open. It was getting cooler and who needs the trees as fall and winter are coming on? Besides, it gets great satellite reception up there! When we purchased the camper, it was over 100 degrees and so we were able to try out the a/c units which cooled it down quickly, much to our delight. Later, I tried out the furnaces just to be sure that they worked. They did and I was sweating up a storm. Yay! Ready for winter.....or not! Turned out that when I was in Augusta for the estate sale and to finish the house stuff, there was quite a storm in Missouri. Lots of lightning--about 12 inches of rain in a week! When I returned, the GFI had flipped to the rear of the coach. After switching it back on, I thought nothing of it. That is until I decided to turn the heat on! I tried it out and found that it did not come on now. Tom did some research on the internet and found that there is a problem that is well known with the thermostats that they use on these units. I found a place online that carries them and ordered a new one confident that this would fix the problem. When it arrived, I installed it and nothing but an error message. This error message, as it turned out, meant that it wasn't communicating with the electrical board in the a/c unit. If the a/c unit isn't working, the heat doesn't work either as they are sync'd together. Ack! I called around and found an RV place, 3R RV in St. Clair, MO (between Union and St. Clair) that does "trailer calls". Yay! When you are living in a RV with your pets and all, you don't just move the trailer into a shop for a week to have it repaired! This is your HOME! 3 R is just great! They came out and found that apparently one of those lightening strikes got a bit close to the camper and fried the circuit board in the back a/c unit--along with the a/c unit itself! Ack! It turns out that you can purchase surge protectors for the electric line. This is at the top of my list! Whatever it costs, it isn't more than an a/c unit! So, we ordered a new a/c unit, opting to include a heat pump. The heat pump is just like a house heat pump in that it will get heat from the air and pump it into the camper using electric--thus, not draining the propane tanks when the air temp is above 35-40 degrees. Seemed like a good use of funds to me! 3R received the a/c and could install it except that the unit is on the roof and it was raining everyday! We needed to leave for New York--where it had already had an early snowfall of 5"--bit it was still raining in Missouri! 3R offered to send a truck to get the camper and if it needed to stay overnight, they could hook us up to electric and water and they have a dump station at the office as well. I called my brother, Tom, to see if he had the time between his loads (He owns his own semi's and hauls steel) and found that he could. Since Tom's wife was not in favor of Tom using his truck to haul our camper to NY over the mountains, I found two places that rented out pickup trucks with 5th wheel hitches for campers. One in St. Louis would not have any free until March but one in KC had two available. We could head to KC, pick up the truck and be ready to head out the next morning when the camper was done. I really wanted Tom to drive because he is the best driver I know and I was totally comfortable that he would get us there safely! Tom decided that he didn't want me to rent the truck and that he would take his own truck. I am sure Nina was not happy. And she got a lot less happy later as it turned out... 3R installed the A/c and circuit board and found that the circuit board, but not the a/c in the FR ONT of the trailer was also fried! They installed that and started it up. Now, I knew when we started it up earlier, the fan motor in the furnace was sending up a huge screech, so was kind of ready to install bearings in the motor. Did you know that you don't just do new bearings in RV's? I do now!!!! So, we had a new motor installed. The reason for the problem was that mud dobbers had built nests in the vents of the propane appliances and the nest kept the fan from turning which burned up the fan bearings, yadda yadda. So, with mud dobbers evicted (and little screens installed over all of the vents so they can't do it again!) and new a/c, two new circuit boards, new furnace motor and thermostat, we were ready to hit the road. I ran to St. Clair and filled the Durango up with gas, headed back to 3R to pay and be on the way. I opened my wallet and no credit card! What????? I just had it! Give me a break! Think girl, think! Oh, I used it for gas! I threw some trash out while the gas was pumping--oh no!!!! I ran back down to the gas station and looked in the trash can. Yep--right on top was my American Express card! Thank goodness! People in a car next to the trash can were watching me and their mouths actually fell open when I pulled a credit card out of the trash, hopped in my Durango and took off! I gave a little wave and smile and off I went to pay the bill at 3 R. The guys there were just great and gave me a lot of tips for taking care of my camper while I was waiting for them to finish. I learned a LOT. Hope I can remember all of it! They are wonderful and I would recommend them to ANYONE! So, we hitched up to Tom's truck and off we went to New York! And that story is an adventure all by itself! Welcome to RV ownership! LOL...

Bang, Scrape, Crunch Crunch, Scrape...

And the answer is...well you'll have to read to the end to find out...

First, we must begin with these guys! They are what Jim likes to call "Two pugs in a pod" I just wanted to show this to you to make you go "Oh How Cute!". I know that's what you're saying! I am coming back to New York today because we headed back to NYC again to get the rest of Jim's belongings from the apartment he had been staying in and as usual, it was an adventure that I just can't wait to share!

We went on Veteran's Day because the place that Jim is working had the day off.

We started out about 8:15 and Jim dropped me at the train station while he parked so that I could get the train tickets. Okay, I admit it, I am vain! Without my glasses I just cannot read those stinking tables that give you the number of the stations--each station has a number. Harriman where we started is 793 and Penn is 000.

I finally figured out the numbers for the stations (Harriman to New York Penn Station--not just Penn Station I found when trying to find the stupid station number!) and put in my credit card to pay and card reading error! Oh just ducky! So, with the train pulling in and Jim breathing down my neck, I slammed it in again and Voila! It read the card and was authorizing.

The conductor asked if we were boarding and Jim told him we were waiting for the tickets. The conductor said no problem they would hold the train if we were about done.

And it was authorizing...

The conductor said that if it wouldn't take the card, we could buy it on the train--great! NOW you tell me!

And it was authorizing...

The conductor asked what was happening and it finally started printing the tickets and spewing them out! Thank goodness! Grabbed those puppies and we bounded onto the train!

There were a lot of people heading into the city. Some were going to work and some were going for the Veteran's Day parade--the oldest in the country. It is a big parade and Jim said there were trucks all over the place the day before when he was on his way home.

This time I had a better idea of the trip and was ready for all of those fun changeovers.

We did not miss any trains and when we arrived at Secaucas to transfer to the Penn Station train, we were serenaded by a trio which was a violin, guitar and bongo drums. Sounds weird to explain, but they sounded great! You can't see them very well in this picture, but they are next to the flowers in front of the big mural. So nice in the morning! Jim said that this happens all the time. Cool!

When we got down to the track, there was a guy with a keyboard who was singing. He was very good!

During the subway trip, there was a lady and two young Asian girls--okay, the girls were about college age. The lady kept up a conversation, telling the girls what was at each of the stops. I noticed along the way that she was wearing a button that read "New York City Greeter", so of course, I listened in. At each station she had something really interesting to say. For instance, one of the stops was Borough Hall. Well, each of the Boroughs have a Hall--like our county courthouses. Never even considered that! There is also a prominade where you can get magnificent pictures of the New York skyline. Didn't know that either! Also in our car was a very interesting painting of a futuristic subway car--at least I think it is. I suppose there could be many interpretations on this theme. You take a look and see what you think! I am sure there is some really deep meaning that the artist was trying to say, but I look at art kind of like the picture--I just float over it and enjoy. :) At least it is something to look at and think about on the subway trip--though I really enjoy the people watching part. This time, there was a lady crocheting something that looked to be a mitten. Someone is getting a Christmas present I bet! From the subway to the apartment are a lot of row houses and apartments. They all have iron security grates on windows, doors and gates around the house. Some of the work is very pretty and well-kept. I intended to take pics of that on the way back, but we came back a different way, so not this time I am afraid. It took us 3 1/2 hours, but we got to the apartment and I got to meet Jorge. His wife's name is Yvette and they are from Costa Rica where they have a farm which she runs in his absence while he is working up here at the same place Jim is working. Jorge is a very nice guy and he and Yvette plan to come up to Florida in the spring to see the camper and the area around here. They are the ones who had the accident in our van. I look forward to meeting Yvette. Hey! Our names are of the same root, so I have to meet another of me! :) We put Jim's stuff into the two suitcases that we brought for that purpose. One of the things that was there were my jumper cables that had been in the van! Yay! I have been looking for those! :) Then, it was off to the subway to head back.

You look one way down the tracks and there are white lights. Then, you look the other way and the lights are blue. As I was looking down on the track, Fivel and his family were very active. They would head down the track and interestingly, they would sit until the cars went past and then scurry across to wherever they are heading. I found that amazing! This is the picture in our subway car this time. It really reminds me of some posters that my son has hanging in his house where the stairways go up and down, but seem to always be rightside up and yet at the same time, upside down! In fact, there is a comercial on SyFy that uses the same imagery. In this case, it is a subway going all over! We wanted to get to Penn Station with enough time to eat before we left on the 1:05 back. I should say here that in a previous post, I talked about the mosaics in the subways and the workmanship. I took a better picture of the mosaic this time so that you can see all of the work that went into all of the subways! Can you imagine! I bow to their work! Thank you! Here is the New York Penn Station. There is everything imaginable in here--including a K-Mart complete with pharmacy that was advertising flu shots! How about that? One of the things that I really like is that there is an abundance of places that sell those huge pretzels with mustard! Gosh! I LOVE those things! I can't eat much of them--just a few bites, but they are ambrosia! One of my favorite things from NYC! I had been looking forward to one from the moment I knew we were coming up here. So, having had my fix, we headed down to the tracks for the train and boarded the train to Secaucas. This train was a double decker. Jim and I found a seat on the bottom--easier to get to with full suitcases--and my phone rang. It was the insurance adjuster letting us know that the van is indeed a total loss and we spoke about all of the items that were needed to resolve everything with our insurance company who will then go after the insurance company of the guy who was driving under the influence that ran into our van. His insurance company was not really willing to work with us directly to resolve the damage, so our insurance company is doing the fighting for us. It's possible that since that guy totalled 3 vehicles plus his own and sent a bunch of people to the hospital, including himself and took out a light pole to boot, that his insurance limits may be reached or very close. At any rate, we no longer have a van.

There is a picture of the van in the previous NYC post if you want a peek.

We had an uneventful trip to Secaucas and boarded the train to Harriman Station which is our home station.

This is where the title of this comes in...

We are just going down the track when BANG! Scrape, crunch, crunch, scrape!

We were sitting in the last car of the train and what did I do? I grabbed my camera and ran for the rear of the train as it was abruptly stopping. I am NOT gonna miss whatever this was! Do you know what it sounds like when a train and a car collide? I do! Okay, so the car actually hit the train--at our car--the last one on the train! I'm talking to the conductor at the back of the train and he saw the woman running from the car and confirmed that no one was in the car. The car was down around the corner on the track--it takes a long way for a train to stop.

The engineer walked back to the crossing to check out the wreck and speak to the police and to meet with the safety officials. I went back up to tell Jim what happened--we hit a car--a car hit us--and the lady in the seat in front of us was on the verge of hysteria. Are they sure it was a car? Could it have been a deer? How do they know no one was in the car? How do they know this car is safe for us to sit in? They can't check it out thoroughly! We could be in danger! Blah Blah Blah!

I listened to her and told her I was going back to speak with the conductor to be sure no one was injured and she might just have a point about the safety of the railcar. It does no good to argue with someone in that state of mind.

So, I went to the rear of the car where all of the other crazies were hanging--one of whom heard the comment that the lady made about a deer. He laughed and said, "That would be one TROPHY BUCK!" LOL Okay--that really WAS funny! This was a rare time when the door was open to the conductor's area and even his actual seat area so we got to see all of the rear controls and listen to the radio transmissions between the engineer and other emergency workers. Usually, especially since 911, there are two steel doors between the conductor and the passengers and you can't get in there. As I sauntered back, I asked the conductor if he can open his window and hang out. All went very quiet as everyone thought that was a weird question. Okay--it was. I explained that I wanted him to take a picture of the damage on the rail car for me. He opened his window and looked out--but alas, there was no damage to see on the train car and they had already pulled the parts of the car out from under the train car. He said he would be happy to take a picture if there was anything to take a picture of, but nada. That was nice of him though. One of the guys said "No arms or anything? Gosh!" I looked around and said, "Well, I hope you know I am gonna blog THIS!" Everyone laughed and went back to making macabre jokes and passing the time while listening to the radio and trying to get a look at something interesting.

I took a break and went back up to let Jim and the hysterical woman what we knew. I talked to her and listened to her concerns and she began to calm down.

I noticed a woman across from us who asked me what happened. I told her that a car hit the train. She could not believe it! This was the SECOND time she was riding a train that hit a car! I asked if she had some sort of magnetic force that drew them to her! She said she was not sure, but was tired of waiting on tracks! It turns out that especially in the morning, cars wait at the tracks and as the train comes around a blind corner, they car scoots onto the track to commit suicide. Many crossings actually have police cars there in the mornings just to keep that from happening! Sheesh! Okay, REALLY???!!!!!

So, I started watching people--as I like to do. A quartet was riding in the front of the car and started singing Mr. Sandman softly. I yelled "Louder" and they started singing louder. They were really good!

Ms. Hysteria continued to calm with Mr. Sandman. Some people were angry at the delay and were calling babysitters, wives and whoever to let them know they were late and didn't know when they would be home. Some people just said Hey! Who cares--if they're dead we can't help 'em--let's go! Others, just sat listening to their ipods and MP3 players--relaxed in their own worlds. Still others, such as myself, decided to enjoy the moment and have a good time--music, frivolity and jokes abounded. This is how Jim dealt with the time sitting on the track! LOL

I also couldn't help but notice that someone had been active under the bridge where we were parked. Not being a graffiti afficionado, I don't know what all of this means, or even if it is good, but the colors are pretty and it is interesting...

About 45 minutes later, who do I spy coming down the track, but the engineer. Yay! This means we are closer to moving! He began looking at the damage from the rear and worked his way forward.

And he was not alone. He had a police officer and a safety engineer with him to check everything out. They worked their way forward, looking at the damage. Took statements from the conductor who had stayed with the train and we were on our way! As it turned out, when the track arms came down at the crossing for the train, the woman in the car was on the east bound track (we were west bound). She hopped out of the car and ran off of the track to safety, but neglected to put the car in park. As our train went past, her car rolled forward into our train and that is why it hit the last car on the train. Having just spoken with our insurance adjuster, my mind went to how in the world you call your insurance agent and say, I had an accident--and will be fixing a train car! oh boy! LOL

So, here we are today as we hybernate inside the RV on Saturday, November 14. As I write this we are staying out of the rain from hurricane Ida. We started the day at Dunkin Donuts and then went to the grocery store and hoofed it back to the RV where I started a pot of Denver Bean Soup in the crock pot. We hunkered down to watch the Nationwide race and watched Kyle Busch pout once again! It rained all night and all day today. Ida is causing coastal flooding and uh, what they are calling strong winds. Okay folks. These breezes are not even moving the RV! This is a breeze not even worthy of mention in KS! But, NY is not KS, so it is worthy of mention here. So, until next time, everyone stay safe and be sure to check back for more of our adventures!