DECEMBER 17 - 22: Family Time in Our Old Home Town and Another Move

The reason for our  4 night stay in Shepherdsville, Kentucky was to visit with family and friends in nearby Louisville.  Louisville was our home until 1983 when we moved to Alabama for Hank's job with the phone company. As always, we had great times visiting with various family members, and, of course, we shared delicious meals.  We also visited with one of Selene's former neighbors, Judy, who we hadn't seen for over 50 years.  Another day we  visited with two of Selene's old friends, Rosie and Pat. We hadn't seen Pat in over 50 years as well.


Rosie, Pat, Selene

Time with family and friends always goes by too quickly. Thursday morning, December 21, we got on the road early (for us) to head south to central Alabama.  Hank decided to make the trip in one day since we had the time zone change in our favor, allowing us to get through Birmingham before rush hour and to get set up in our campsite before dark.

We're now settled in at the Minooka Park campground, south of Jemison, AL for almost two weeks as we celebrate the holidays with our immediate family and many others.

DECEMBER 15 - 17: Time on the Road

We don't normally like to travel 3 days in a row, but the desire to see friends determined that we needed to do just that.

On Friday, Dec. 15, we left Brunswick, GA and drove to the home of Anita and George on the north side of Macon, GA.  They offered the use of their driveway with electric hookup for an overnight stay.  It had been two years since we had seen them and their neighbors Beth & Don, so we couldn't pass up the chance to visit.  We met these two ham radio/RV couples back in 2009, and always look forwad to being with them.

Saturday, Dec. 16 found  us driving from Macon to Chattanooga,TN.  Google's route showed going through Atlanta on I-75, but Hank wanted no part of that, so we drove some extra miles to get around Atlanta, driving on good state roads with much less traffic.  When we got to north Georgia, there were were still remnants of last week's snow storm in off- the- road shady spots despite temperatures in the 50's. Our destination was the Walmart on the west side of Chattanooga, where we met up with Sam and Elizabeth, more ham radio friends, whom we had never met in person.  The overnight stay was quiet except for an occasional horn blast from nearby trains!

Sunday, December 17 was the last leg of this 3-day event as we took I-24, Briley Parkway around Nashville, and I-65 to Grandma's RV Campground in Shepherdsville, KY for a 4 night stay and holiday family visits. The trip was uneventful under cloudy and drizzly skies. Grandma's is a basic campground with full hookups, level gravel pads, and close sites.

DECEMBER 11-15: Still in Brunswick, GA

We're still in Brunswick but at a different location.  On Monday, December 11, we moved 4 miles to the Coastal Gerogia RV Resort for a rally with the Metter Roadrunners, a camping club with several members who are amateur radio operators.  We met the group through ham radio years ago, and have attended their annual Christmas gathering for several years.

Coastal Georgia is a full-service, pristine campground with concrete pads, full hookups, cable tv and WiFi.  There is a large enclosed bulding the club can use with tables and chairs, a large kitchen/serving area, restrooms, laundry, and a huge fireplace.( photos ) There were 10 coaches and 1 non-coach couple attending.. We enjoyed each other's company with conversation, happy hour gatherings, a dinner at Mudcat Charlie's, and a festive party with plenty of food and a Chinese gift exchange.

Friday, December 15, we'll head north to Macon, GA for a visit with more old friends.

DEC.4 - DEC. 11: Brunswick, GA

Our last week in the Jacksonville area was a mix of quiet days, computer time, visits with our daughter, Karen and her family, and some grocery runs.  We also had a great lunch visit with Patti and Fred, ham radio/RV friends about 30 miles away in Yulee, FL, We reserved our site at Hanna Park for our Thanksgiving visit in 2018.

On Monday, December 4, it was time to move north to Brunswick, GA and the Blythe Island Regional Park Campground. This campground felt the effects of Hurricane Irma with over 200 downed trees, and it just reopened a month ago.  This is our second visit here...a wooded campground with level hard-packed sand sites, concrete patios with picnic table and firepit, and full hookups including WiFi and cable TV..

 The internet system was heavily damaged during Irma and is not yet fixed, but system upgrades will be made in the near future. We have a pull-throught site which is longer than any other place we've stayed.. There's a river on one side and a stocked fresh water lake on the property for fishing opportunities.

We have an event to attend next week about 4 miles away, so this was a good place to settle for a week and take care of various chores.  A nearby RV service center had the necessary items so Hank could replace the bulb and broken lens cover on our portch light.  The weather was very nice when we arrived, but it's rainy now and temperatures will fall into the weekend.

NOVEMBER 19-25: Goodbye Raleigh, Hello Florida!

The last week in Raleigh went by quickly, with more visits with friends, a club meeting and a visit with Hank's doctor to go over his test results and medications since we were in town. Mother Nature behaved during most of our visit with only a day or two of rain, and lots of fall colors.

Sunday, November 19, we drove west to Sherrill Ford, NC to visit with Nancy. Her husband, Bill, passed away before we could visit in October on our way south, and after visiting with her family up north, she was back home. We wanted to see her before we left NC, so we changed our travel plans to include a visit with her.

Monday, November 20, Little House headed south on I-77 to I-26 to I-95 and the Walmart in Walterboro, SC.  That's more interstate driving than we like to do in one day, especially  during a holiday week, but traffic was moving pretty well all along the route.  We've stayed overnight at this Walmart many times, and they welcomed us once again when we asked permission to stay. There were at least a dozen other RV's and 6 semi's that joined us for the night.

Tuesday, Nov. 21, we continued south on I-95 to Jacksonville, FL, then headed east to the Kathryn Hanna Park campground, another place we've stayed many times, especially at Thanksgiving time.  We reserve our site  for the next year before we leave so we can be sure of getting a large site with easy access.  The large Hanna Park campground is set in a tropical forest, and careful RV maneuvering is required on the curvy roads in and around low hanging trees and tropical vegetation.The campground was closed for about a month after Hurricane Irma because of downed trees.

Hanna Camping Brochure with Map (pdf)

Photos of  Hanna Park - https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kathryn-abbey-hanna-park-jacksonville?start=60

  This campground is only 15 minutes from our daughter Karen's house, so it's a perfect spot for us and we enjoy the surroundings. We're in site 151, a pull-thru  site with full hook-ups across the road from the lake.
Tuesday evening, we joined Karen and her children, Samantha and Montgomery, at a restaurant. There was a nice surprise for us as daughter Kathy was also visiting  from AL.  Thursday, we enjoyed the holiday and had a delicious dinner at Karen's father-in-law's home where we all ate too much!

We'll be here untill December 4 so there will be plenty of time for more visits as we enjoy the beginning of our holiday travel and festivities.

NOVEMBER 2 - 18: Raleigh, NC

Thursday, November 2,  a slow leak of boiler fluid from the 450D Aqua-Hot system was quickly repaired at Frank's Service Center in Clayton. After testing the system for an hour to make sure there were no more problems, we hooked up the car and drove 45 minutes northwest to Raleigh and the NC State Fairground Campground.  We've stayed here many times while visiting the area - a simple full hookup campground with good security but  no bathhouse or other amenities.

  This picture was taken at a time when there weren't many RV's on the grounds.....certainly not the case this time around. We found a preferred spot easily, but the rigs started rolling in big time after we arrived. NC State plays their home football games across the road at Carter-Finley Stadium and this was their homecoming weekend against Clemson.  By Friday afternoon, the campground and overflow parking was full.

This weekend (Nov. 8-11) there's a large horse show at the Hunt Horse Complex just down the hill, so once again the campground appears to be full with many horse trailers in the adjoining parking area. There's also a rally of Airstream owners near us, including two friends we met through ham radio.

Our purpose in staying in Raleigh for two weeks was to enjoy the company of friends we left behind in 2014, when we sold our house in nearby Fuquay Varina, and we'll continue to do more of  that until we leave here on Sunday, Nov. 19.  We've had a broken inside door handle on the car replaced, renewed our vehicle insurance for the RV and car, and picked up mail shipments. Yesterday, Hank had his quarterly blood test, we picked up prescriptions, and visited our storage unit.  The fall weather has ranged from sunny with highs near 80 when we arrived, to rain with highs in the 40's, and there was a hard freeze by early this morning. Fall has definitely arrived in the City of Oaks!

OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 1: Visit with Son & Slight Change in Plans

Monday, October 30, after the temperatures warmed up to the 40's, we left Pioneer Village Campground in Max Meadows, VA.  The trip down I-77 to Statesville, NC went smoothly. While there were fall colors in some of the trees, many others were still green or had already lost their leaves.  We checked into the Statesville KOA about mid-afternoon and made arrangements to meet up with our youngest son, Mike, who lives in Huntersville, NC....about 20 miles away.  We hadn't seen Mike since New Year's so it was great to see him again.

While we were in Max Meadows, Hank found that there was a slow leak of boiler fluid from the 450D Aqua-Hot system, so arrangements had been made for us to go to Clayton, NC east of Raleigh for repairs at Frank's Service Center, an authorized Aqua-Hot repair facility. Frank let us park overnight on the property, and provided us with a 30 amp electrical hookup.  Repairs should be made tomorrow, and then we'll head to Raleigh, NC for a 2 week stay.  The Raleigh area is where we spent 12 years before becoming full-time RVers, so we'll have a chance to meet up with some of the friends we left behind.  We're already enjoying the much warmer temperatures in this area.

OCT. 19 - OCT 28: Max Meadows, VA

Thursday, October 19, was a travel day from Milton, WV south on I-77 to Max Meadows, VA just past Whytheville, in Virginia southwestern mountains. The Pioneer Village RV Park is on the side of a hill (as most thing are around here) but the parking spots are pretty level with full hookups, free cable TV and WiFi.




 The location on the side of I-81 means a lot of road noise, but that doesn't usually bother us. Facilities are in good shape and the owners are friendly folks.

There are no exciting adventures to write about....just lots of time for relaxing, ham radio, and our computers.  The weather has been beautiful most of the time with datyime temperatures as high as 80 and nighttime lows near freezing. Last Monday, about 4 inches of rain fell, causing many flood warnings in the surrounding area, but no problems for us about midway down the campground's hill, and the neighboring creek stayed in its banks. There are colder temperatures predicted over the next two days, so Hank did most of the outside departure work yesterday and today - lowering the ham radio antenna, flushing the tanks, filling the water tanks, storing the water and sewer hoses, and bringing in the window awnings.  There's a mention of snow for tomorrow afternoon in some of the forecasts, so that could be interesting.  The surrounding hills were still very green when we arrived last week, but fall colors are finally starting to take over.  We've done a little driving around and up and down the hilly terrain, and visited the two larger grocery stores in the area.

Monday, we'll get Little House moving further south on I-77 to the Statesville, NC KOA where we'll spend two nights, and we look forward to visiting with our son, Mike.

LEBONAN, OH TO MILTON, WV: More Casino Fun and Meeting Friends

Monday, Oct. 16 - We waved goodbye  to the REV Service Center in Decatur, IN and drove to Lebanon, OH for an overnight stay at the Miami Valley Gaming Center which offers free overnight
 parking for large vehicles in an outer parking lot. Marge and Jack (ham/radio friends and former Airstream owners) picked us up and took us to their home for a great visit, and then we all went out for a Mexican dinner.

Later that evening, Hank and I visited the casino - a large facility with many slot machines- which sits next to a racetrack.  The casino is a fairly new, non-smoking business with several restaurants and bars, but no hotel.  We signed up for the player's card which gave each of us $5 free-play, and we were able to turn that into $16 in cash - another successful casino outing!

This night also provided the first test of our new batteries as the temperatures fell into the 30's by morning, so we definitely needed to use our heat system overnight.

Tuesday, Oct. 17 - Another beautiful fall day was provided for our 4 hour drive from Lebanon, OH to Milton, WV and the Huntington KOA. We followed Google Maps GPS instructions without previewing the route  to get from WV-2 to US Hwy. 60. As as result, we had 7 miles of narrow, hilly and winding roads that tested Hank's driving skills, and it quickly became apparent that we didn't plan that part of our route well enough.  The KOA was a welcome sight!

Wednestday, Oct. 18 - Nancy and Garry, also ham radio/rving friends, live in Huntington, WV just west of our location.  We met them, and Garry took us to lunch at Hillbilly Hotdogs in nearby Lesage, WV on Hwy. 2.
      Photos  - http://tinyurl.com/y6w2xxu9

This is an eatery to be experienced, serving many more items besides 40 varieties of hot dog sandwiches, but is also provides entertainment  as you view the "treasures" and signs all around the property.

Wednesday evening, we went to the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort, about 30 miles east of Milton. This venue started out as a greyhound racetrack, and now includes a resort hotel and a smoke-free casino. By signing up for the player's card, we each received $20 in free play, and our combined winnings were almost $30. Not bad for playing penny slots with the casino's money!

Tomorrow, we'll be pulling up the jacks and heading down I-77 to Max Meadow, VA for the next week.

OCTOBER 8 - 16: Service at REV in Decatur, IN.

Sunday, October 8, was our 51st wedding anniversary, celebrated quietly with a Mexican dinner in Celina, OH

Monday, October 9,  we got the wheels moving on Little House and headed 30 miles northwest to Decatur, IN and the REV Service Center.    We have had an intermittent problem with the system that raises the coach up for travel, (Kevin in Celina doesn't do chassis work) and didn't want to wait for a complete failure to strand us somewhere down the road.  REV is booked up months in advance, but you can get on a 'drop-in' list for service.  There is only one chassis specialist here, so our wait for service would take longer than usual, but we had nothing pressing on our schedule.  We were lucky to get a spot in the paved parking area with electric hookups when we arrived, there's a dump station and water source nearby and free 'camping' is always good.

None of this sounds exciting, but it is enjoyable to meet the people who come and go, including some we've met before.  There is a free laundry facility in the building,comfortable lounges with many tvs, rest rooms, and computer stations if we want a change of scenery, as well as an outdoor seating area with gas fire pit.

The weather was sunny and warm, but turned cool and wet, leaving us with fall in the air.

While we were waiting for our turn with the chassis tech, we found out that water was once again appearing behind the co-pilot's seat.  We've had this supposedly repaired at least 4 times. Hank added this to our complaint list, and on Friday morning, October 13 at 6:15 A.M., we got the call asking how soon we could have Little House ready for the service bay so they could search out the leak source.  After lunch, we got the report that extensive sealing work had been done as well as an hour-long water test and the problem seemed to be fixed.  On the matter of the "airing up to travel' problem, the service adviser said if it's not acting up when it's time to look at it, it would be difficult to find the problem.  Hank agreed to test it over the weekend and report to him on Monday morning, October 16.

Hank could not get the system to fail during several tests on Saturday, so we got ready to hit the road on Monday, the 16th, again with no problem. While testing on Saturday, hank re-calibrated the level sensors which required raising and lowering the coach several times - all without any failure to raise the coach to travel height.  Like many of our automated functions, the leveling system is controlled by a micro-processor and re-initializes whenever powered off and back on.  Since all of the batteries were recently changed the system had to reboot and Hank suspects that maybe that was all that was needed to get the levelers working again.

With the leveling system apparently working, and no more signs of the water leak, we were more than ready to start heading south.

SEPTEMBER 21-OCTOBER 7: Repair Work in Celina, OH

We came to Celina, OH, hoping that Kevin Mallory at Cruising America RV Service would find a solution to our roof A/C problems that we've been dealing with for over a year.  Several other shops have tried and all have failed.  Our schedule was clear for the near future, so Kevin had plenty of time for diagnostic work. After several days of testing he came to the conclusion that the Coleman A/C units were OK but the Atwood climate control system that controls all of the heating and A/C was not functioning correctly - and that system is no longer being manufactured!  There is only one company that can repair the electronics.  They have at least a 6 week turn around and you must ship them the entire system consisting of a circuit board at each of the 2 air conditioners, and the wall thermostat plus remote sensors and a few other components.  Without this equipment we would have no A/C and only portable heaters during the repair time.  This was obviously not a good solution!

Kevin suggested a complete change-out of the old Atwood controls to a new system from Dometic.  Also during this week Kevin fixed a newly acquired leak near the Aqua-Hot  heating system, and Hank got some heavier drawer latches and repaired two kitchen drawers that were giving us problems.  And Kevin's grandson gave Little House a much needed bath!

Week #2 began with Kevin filing a claim for the repairs with our extended warranty company, which was approved this past Monday without an inspection.  Parts were ordered, and over the next few days, the new system was put into place.

On Friday, October 6, everything seemed to be working as it should.  If the  the system continues operating well over the next few days, we'll consider the job a success!   Kevin also checked our coach and chassis batteries.  We have 4 big "house" batteries that supply power to an inverter that provides us with 117v AC (house) electricity when we are not connected to the power grid.  These are big golf cart type batteries and as we suspected they were quite weak.  We also have 2 "chassis" batteries that crank the big diesel engine and power all of the vehicle 12 volt electrical circuits.  One of those was weak and the other was very weak.  So all 6 batteries were replaced.   Kevin said they appear to be the original equipment from when the coach was built in late 2007.  Replacing these batteries is expensive, and since they're  considered a maintenance item, the replacement is not covered under our service agreement. But Kevin's prices are reasonable, lower than any  price we found online for the same batteries, and It's nice to know we now have a more reliable power source for those times  when we park without electrical hookups.

SEPTEMBER 20-21: BATH, NY TO CELINA, OH

Wednesday, September 20, we said good-bye to the Hickory Hills Family Campground in Bath, NY and set out for the two-day drive to Celina, OH.  The first part of our trip was southwest on I=86, a beautiful drive through woodlands and some farmland. Fall color is becoming more apparent, although the temperatures are still summer-like.  From I=86, we joined I-90 through Pennsylvania and into Ohio, eventually following I-271 around the east side of Cleveland.  That was our only slowdown of the two day trip with some stop and go as too many vehicles had to merge into too few lanes southeast of Cleveland. After that tie up, it was smooth driving to I-71 and our stop for the night - the Walmart in Ashland, OH. We parked in a nice spot along the grass so we could put out our driver's side slides, did some shopping after getting permission to stay, and enjoyed a quiet evening along with a few other RV's and a couple of trucks.

Thursday, September 21, we had a fairly short drive to Celina, OH and the Cruising America RV Service Center.  We were here a couple of weeks ago, hoping Kevin Mallory could diagnose our front rooftop A/C's problem, but we had to leave before he could come up with a solution.  Hank had done some more diagnostic work while we were camped in Bath, NY as per Kevin's instructions, but the next step was more than Hank wanted to tackle by himself, so we came back to Celina.



We're comfortably parked with an electric connection next to the service building. Kevin is very busy, but with no immediate future commitments, we don't mind waiting until he has time to deal with our problem once again.  This may not be a glamorous place to be, but it's clean, just across the road from Grand Lake, and we always have plenty of things to keep us busy.  And 3 more items needing service have popped up as well.  If we need to dump the tanks, we can use the facility at the Mercer County Fairgrounds about 1 mile away.  We would like to see cooler weather now that fall is officially here, but it appears that near 90 daytime temperatures will be with us for awhile.

SEPTEMBER 10-20, 2017: ACA Northeast Chapter Rally

Sunday, September 10, we said 'farewell' to our friends at the RV Radio Network Rally in Alexandria Bay, and hit the road once again. Our 4 hour trip took us to Bath, NY (population approx. 13,000) through beautiful countryside with vineyards, corn fields and small towns to the Finger Lakes area and Bath, NY. The Northeast Chapter of the American Coach Assn. was having their fall rally at the Hickory Hill Family Camping Resort on the outskirts of Bath, and had extended an invitation for us to join them. We already knew several of the members through other ACA rallies, so this was another chance to meet old friends and make new ones.

Hickory Hills Resort  (see photos here) is in a valley, surrounded by hills that were just starting to bloom here and there with fall color as we arrived.  The campground is a large one with many amenities, good hookups, and free cable TV and WiFi. There were about 23 RV's attending the rally,  and a few members who no longer have RVs  stayed in cabins.  We enjoyed daily happy hours, a group dinner outing, a huge chicken/clambake dinner catered by the campground at a very low cost, a pizza and wings dinner, a pot luck supper and a  meeting to celebrate the birthday of the chapter, as well as two breakfast gatherings.  There was plenty of free time to sight-see and visit some of the nearby attractions.

Tuesday, September 12, we spent part of the day driving an hour northwest to Letchworth State Park, near Castile, NY.


 Legdgeworth State Park is home to a deep gorge known as the Grand Canyon of the East (we've since seen that title given to other such areas in other states!). There is an inn/restaurant (Glen Iris) building that was the home of the man who donated much of the acreage to the state of New York.

The cost to enter the park is $10 per vehicle and we found out that our plan to eat in the Glen Iris restaurant would result in a refund of that $10 charge.  Our lunch was very good with large portions and excellent service.

There are 3 major waterfalls in the gorge.

















While the road to the Upper Falls was closed, the larger Middle falls are located right behind the Glen Iris Inn.

Back down the road a bit were the Lower Falls, another scenic spot.





Monday, Sept. 18, we drove a short distance to Hammondsport, NY on the shore of Keuka Lake - population around 800.  This area is the center of New York's grape and wine industry, with many vineyards and wineries on the hillsides surrounding the lake. There are also several breweries in the area.


We ate lunch at the Burgers and Beer restaurant in 'downtown' Hammondsport.

SEPTEMBER 6 - 10: RV Radio Network Rally

Wednesday, Sept. 6, our journey was short -  only about 30 minutes to Alexandria Bay, NY and the Swan Bay RV Resort - the location of the fall rally for the RV Radio Network.  The campground is located on the shore of the St. Lawrence River, aka St. Lawrence Seaway.  Although we did not have a waterfront site, we still had a good view of the large freighters, small cruise ships, tour boats and other river traffic.  The resort is well-run, very attractive, and quiet with concrete pads, full hookups, free WiFi, a marina, and many other amenities.



The weather during our stay was cool during our stay, but with the wind off the water, it felt very cold at times. Glad we had our winter clothes with us!  There were 16 people in attendance with several people staying in cottages since they no longer have an RV.  We enjoyed two breakfasts in the waterside tent, happy hour everyday, a club meeting, two forums (ARRL and D-Star), two restaurant dinners (Cavallario's Steak & Seafood and O'Brien's Restaurant & Bar), and lots of good conversations. We've visited this area two years ago so the only exploring we did was to drive about 30 miles west to the Tibbet's Point Lighthouse, where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River. 

"Where Lake and River Meet"

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017: Meeting Friends As We Travel

Tuesday, Sept. 5, we left The Ridge at Le Roy, NY for the day's journey to Watertown, NY.  Our morning drive took us north to the Rochester area then east to just north of Syracuse.  We met up with Fred and Ruth for lunch. They are ham radio friends whom we had never met, but talked with and listened to on the radio almost every day.

Our destination for the night was the Watertown, NY Walmart, where we were meeting with Tom, another ham radio/RV friend who is also an American Radio Relay League Director. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and good conversation at the Texas Steakhouse across the road.

The Watertown Walmart has a separate parking area out front as the preferred spot for trucks and RV's and when we arrived, there already were several vehicles in that lot. By morning, there were at least 10 RV's, several semi's, and one pickup towing a boat, where the owners spent the night. We're seldom alone when we stay overnight in a Walmart parking lot.

SEPTEMBER 1 - 4: Travel to Le Roy, NY

September 1 - It was time to leave Celina, OH and hit the road.  Our destination was the Walmart in Madison, OH.....east of Cleveland, and there was some very slow travel on the far eastern bypass around Cleveland.  We found a nice spot on the side of the Walmart parking lot along the grass so we could put the driver's side slides out, received permission to stay from Walmart Customer Service, did some shopping and had a quiet night.

September 2 - We finished our journey to Le Roy, NY using I-90 that included 2 toll sections, which we usually avoid. We needed to take the fastest route so decided it was better to pay the $18 cost and save some travel time.

Le Roy, NY is a small town southwest of Rochester and just south of I-90. Le Roy's claim to fame seems to be that it is the place where Jello was invented in 1897.  The Ridge Campground is located out in the country on the north side of town. The facility was a ski resort many years ago, but has been a campground since the 70's and has been expanded over the years.  The campsites in our section were terraced on the hillside, and while the sites were fairly level, getting into the sites to easily access the hookups provided a challenge, especially with a big rig.  Several of the neighbors immediately showed up to help direct Hank as he pulled in, then backed up to get our rear wheels positioned on a nob of ground without going back too far.  Sometimes the most interesting part of of a journey is the end!

With the Labor Day weekend in full swing, The Ridge had many extra activities going on. There is a large hill with a stage and dance area at the bottom that becomes an outdoor amphitheater for performances and large gatherings. Saturday night's entertainment was a blues band.  We were close enough to hear the music without going outside.  Sunday, a long slip 'n slide was laid out on the large hill, and all were welcome to take part in getting wet as they slid down the hill in view of our campsite.






 Sunday night there was music with a DJ on the stage, so the entertainment continued with occasional rain showers dampening the mood a little.

Labor Day was departure day for many campers, with more occasional rain.  Tuesday was our day to pull the jacks up and get the wheels moving once again as we continued our journey to northern New York.

CELINA, OH: A/C Checkup

Tuesday, August 29, we drove from Montague, MI to Cruising America RV Service in Celina, OH.  This is our most-trusted repair facility, and we wanted the owner, Kevin Mallory, to investigate our continuing problems with the rooftop front A/C unit.  The symptoms seem to indicate that the unit is freezing up which shuts off the compressor, then attempting to restart the compressor after only a few seconds.  But before restarting compressors are supposed to stay off long enough for the back pressure to bleed off.  This is not happening and when the compressor attempts to restart against that back pressure it draws a huge amount of current and trips the overload protection in the coach. The protection system then shuts down some loads, including the A/C, in order to reduce the current load.  After a several minute time delay it turns those loads back on and the A/C starts back up - but soon freezes up and starts the cycle all over again.

Kevin was unable to come up with a definite fix. We had to leave on Friday afternoon, September 1, due to upcoming commitments elsewhere.  He said he will contact the manufacturers of both the A/C and the overload protection equipment to see if they have seen this before or have any suggestions.  If he gets any potential solutions we'll return in mid-September.

Another of our day/night shades had broken, so while we were there Kevin removed that item for us and reinstalled it after Hank replaced the strings.

Also during our stay, we enjoyed a dinner outing at the local Moose Lodge with Kevin and his wife, and several other customers. The special was 15 wings, french fries and coleslaw for $6.95 - quite a bargain!

MONTAGUE, MI: August 26-29

Saturday, August 29, Little House took us over the Mackinac Bridge as we headed south then west to Montague, MI.  This small town of about 2300 residents sits on White Lake, just a few miles from Lake Michigan.  Trailway Campground is a city-owned park and is being managed by our friends, Lacy & Kathy. The campground is well-run, very neat and quiet, although the sites are close together.  We met Kathy & Lacy about 8 years ago when they were working at the Anderson, SC KOA where we often stopped when we traveled from NC to AL. They are both amateur radio operators and our friendship  began with that shared interest. We've stayed in touch through the years, with a few meetings, and we were very happy to be able to spend time with them once again.

Tomorrow, we will get the wheels moving to Celina, OH for a service appointment at Cruising America RV Service, owned by Kevin Mallory. Our front rooftop A/C is still not working right in spite of several repair attempts. Kevin is a former employee with American Coach and we've always been pleased with his work.  After Celina, we'll be heading northeast to New York for two rallies in September.

CASINO TOUR WRAPUP: August 19-26

The last week of our casino tour...  13 casinos since the end of June...ended in St. Ignace, MI.  We spent more time with Dave and Charlotte. Alabama friends - John & Peggy arrived at Dave & Charlotte's house mid-week. We all had a nice lunch together on Thursday at the Mackinac Grill in St. Ignace, on the the shore of Lake Huron, and enjoyed a cookout at Dave & Charlotte's lakeside home on Friday. It's always a great treat to spend time with friends. Both of these couples will be joining us at a rally in New York in September.

The final tally for our casino gambling showed us to be on the winning side overall, which is always nice to see.  We've come away with a few strategies for the future, and look forward to more casino visits wherever we are traveling.

ST. IGNACE, MI: To the Moose Lodge and Back

There was heavy rain predicted for last Thursday and Friday, so we did most of our preparations for moving down the road to the Moose Lodge on Wednesday night....disconnected the water hookup, brought the two big slides in so the toppers wouldn't have water on them and bring that moisture inside, took the large ham radio antenna down and retracted the two awnings.  The weatherman's forecast was accurate - heavy rain began about 5:30 A.M. on Thursday, and continued most of the day. We were hoping for a little lull in the activity, but ended up moving as the rain continued to fall.

The Moose Lodge camping is on a fairly flat grassy area, and we saw standing water, but the ground seemed firm so we weren't too concerned about parking in it.  After we settled into our spot, we noticed that there was a  dryer looking area just down the row, so we decided to move to another spot. That was when we found out that the ground at the rear of our space was not so firm - Little House's rear wheels had sunk about 8 inches into the ground and we were not going anywhere.  No sense in sitting there spinning our wheels, and fortunately we were sitting perfectly level so we settled in and  hoped that by the time we needed to return to the casino on Saturday the ground would have drained enough for us to move. 

The Moose Lodge women host a fish fry every Friday evening. The menu includes your choice of whitefish, perch, shrimp or chicken, or a combo of two, with side dishes, a great salad bar and homemade desserts. Our friends, Dave and Charlotte joined us in supporting the ladies' efforts as we enjoyed a delicious dinner.  After dinner they visited with us and discussed our plans for extracting our Little House from the mud.

Saturday morning, the sun was out and there a nice breeze, but unfortunately the ground was still moist enough that the big dual wheels couldn't get enough traction to move our 38,000 pounds out of the muddy ruts.  We have roadside assistance that provides wrecker service, but we wanted to avoid that if at all possible.  Hank spent about an hour trying to raise the coach with the jacks so that he could get wood under the wheels, at least far enough to give us some traction, but the ground was still soft enough that it just pushed any wood into the muck..  A hardware store visit was necessary to get  a small shovel and kitty litter. After another hour Hank had dug enough ground up in the front and back of both the left and right pairs of dual wheels to convert the hole into a short trench about 4 ft. long, and then spread kitty litter in front of and in back of the wheels. He was then able to rock forward and backward to get just enough of a running start so that momentum would carry Little House over the hump and out of the muck, and without hesitating, he drove the 50 feet or so to solid ground - Little House was free!

Lesson learned! You can bet we won't be parking on  soil with standing water in the future if we can possibly help it - even if it is supposed to be firm and draining well!

After all of the unwanted excitement we had on Saturday morning, it was nice to return to the quiet RV parking area at the casino, empty our waste tanks at the dump station, and settle in for another week's stay....on very solid ground.

ST. IGNACE, MI: Kewadin Shores Casino

Sunday, August 13, Little House carried us from Brimley, MI to the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace, MI......about an hour's drive  on state roads with little traffic.  This is a large casino with 700 slot machines and table games on the shore of Lake Huron, owned by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of the Chippewa Indians. It includes a hotel, entertainment center, indoor pool, and 3 dining venues.

Entrance to casino and hotel

The RV hookups are located along two sides of a remote parking lot - grass/gravel sites with water,   30/50 amp electric hookups, and a  picnic table for $15 per night.  The dump station is nearby.

Our view of the area   

The building in the distance is the casino/hotel. We're parked in a quiet location away from those who come and go to the casino. We have access to all the amenities of the hotel.

St. Ignace is a small town of about 2400 people and is the second-oldest city founded by Europeans in Michigan. It's situated at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge. The main tourist area is along the shore of Lake Huron with many restaurants,  motels, and ferry service to Mackinac Island;  a boardwalk to  a marina, lighthouse and city park; tourist shops and a state park.

This is our 3rd summer to visit this area. Our RV-Ham Radio friends, Dave & Charlotte, live about 20 miles west of here and we'll be getting together with them several times while we're in the area.

We had planned to stay here until August 26, but today we got word that we have to leave for two days this week because of a big entertainment event at the casino which requires the RV lot to be used for parking cars. Being in a tourist area and getting a last minute spot at a local campground at a low cost could have been a problem. The Moose Lodge just down the road has a few camping sites, so we asked them if we could use one of their campsites and they welcomed us to do so for $20 per night.  Problem solved! We'll move there on Thursday morning, August 17 and return to the casino on Saturday, August 19. to finish out our time in St. Ignace.

August 6 - August 13: Brimley, MI

Our week in Brimley was relaxing. We went to the Bay Mills Casino across the street several times, visited the small King's Club casino just down the road (also owned by the Bay Mills Indian Community). We drove to Sault Ste. Marie, 15 miles away, to watch the big freighters approach the locks, shopped at Walmart and played a few dollars at the Kewadin Casino there.  We had a sewer hook-up at the Bay Mills Casino RV Park, so we were able to get caught up on a large pile of laundry  as we had not had a sewer connection for a couple of weeks in previous locations.  Hank did some major computer work  on some club websites. The weather was great with only two days of occasional rain. All in all it was a very enjoyable stay and we actually broke even for the week in our slot play.

JULY 31 - AUGUST 6: A Week in Manistique (well almost)

On Monday, July 31, we left the Kewadin Christmas Casino. It was time to dump the tanks, and we were a little ahead on playing the slots.  The Bay Furnace Campground in the Hiawatha Forest Recreation Area was across the street from the casino. We used their dump station for a $5 fee, and emptied our waste tanks and filled up with fresh water to be ready for our next destination which had only electric hookups - the Kewadin Manistique Casino.




This casino has a 10 site free campground on grass with 20 amp electric hookups.  There are two 30 amp outlets at the edge of the parking lot and we were able to get one of those. The casino is on Hwy. 2 about 4 miles east of Manistique and is another small facility with a restaurant, bar, over 250 slot machines and a  virtual roulette table, but no hotel or entertainment center. We didn't finish in the black, but our losses were a small price to pay for 6 nights of free camping.

During our stay, we explored the town of Manistique and some of the surrounding area, spent time on the shore of Lake Michigan watching the waves and the people, and found a great grocery store - Jack's Foods.  This is the first large grocery we've found since we left Oklahoma. Most grocery stores in the U.P. are small, not much bigger than an Aldi's, so the selection is not always very good. The weather was comfortable and we had two days of rain accompanied by very high winds.

Today we pulled up the jacks and made the 2 hour drive to Brimley, MI and the Bay Mills Campground, across from the casino on the Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior, about 15 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie.





  This is a campground with gravel pull-thru sites, full and partial hookups, free cable and good WiFi bathhouse, laundry and dump station.






We're in site 1,  the one on the far left. The casino is across the street via the walkway.



This is a return visit for us and we'll be here for a week. This larger casino has a hotel with 142 rooms, 4 restaurants, 1000 slot and video poker machines, table games, free alcohol and soft drinks while playing,  and an entertainment center.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!

Sunday, July 23: We said farewell to Baraga, MI and the Ojibwa Casino so we could continue our Michigan casino tour to the Ojibwa Casino east of Marquette. Upon arrival, we found out that this casino would be undergoing a huge renovation and adding a hotel, entertainment center and new RV Park. Unfortunately for us, they expected to close the RV park on July 24 when construction equipment started arriving. We parked in one of the 7 RV sites with electric hookups, checked in with the service desk and each of us received $25 in free play and 2 free drinks.  Each day we stayed, we'd get $5 a piece and 2 free drinks.



The casino was about 10 miles east of Marquette on Hwy. 28.
















Our site was the one on the right (not our coach).










We could dry camp in the parking lot after the July 24,  and it was tempting to stay there and receive free play  everyday. However, mid-day on Monday we decided to move on, but not before we turned their free play into over $40 between the two of us..

Monday, July 24: Our next stop was 28 miles east to The Kewadin Christmas Casino in Christmas, MI, where it really is Christmas all year long! The Kewadin Casinos are a set of casinos in Michigan owned by the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.  The primary property is located in Sault Ste. Marie, with additional locations in Christmas, Hessel,  Manistique and St. Ignace.

This is our first visit to the Christmas location  This is the smallest casino we've been to, with just over 200 slot machines, a few table games, grill with bar, and 8 free RV sites with 30 amp electric   hookups. It appears to be the least attented casino we've been to and therefore not as smoky.  There are 8 RV sites that are very close together, and some were already occupied when we arrived, but we managed to back into one  with our rear wheels on the dirt area behind us so we wouldn't block parking lot lanes. We only extended the two driver's side slides because of the limited space.



In the picture, the casino is to the left, we're in the 3rd space from the left where the fifth wheel is with extra room on the driver's side. Hwy. 28 is directly behind the camera.








We were already Kewadin casino club members because of previous visits to St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie in past years, so no free play for us this time.  It was time to put some of our previous winnings to use!

Wednesday, July 26:  Wednesday is Senior Day and there were free pastries and coffee when the casino opened at 9:00 A.M. (Most casinos we've visited are open 24 hours or close to it. Christmas closed at 1 A.M).   After eating lunch at the Foggy's Steakhouse just across the road from the casino, we did some sight seeing and shopping in Munising, about 4 miles to the east, another town that sits on the scenic shore of Lake Superior. This would a beautiful place to live if it wasn't for the very cold temperatures and heavy snow that is part of winter here.

So far, our slot play has left Hank a little bit ahead and Selene a little bit behind. The date of our departure from here will probably depend on when our black and grey tanks need to be dumped or we need to fill the fresh water tank (no facilities here to do that).  Once again there's no OTA (over the air) TV reception, but Verizon is working well for our internet usage. (Glad we switched to an unlimited plan a few months ago). There is no Sprint coverage here. The weather is cool and sunny most of the time, and it's interesting watching the traffic on Hwy. 28, the RVs coming and going, and the people going in and out of the casino, some smiling, and others not so much.

BARAGA, MI: Casino Life is Fun

Monday, July 17, we traveled 136 miles from Harris, MI northwest to Baraga, MI.  Baraga is located in the northwestern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on L'Anse Bay, the lower part of Keweenaw Bay on the  Lake Superior shoreline. The view driving into town is beautiful.

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We've been at the Ojibwa Casino Resort, in Baraga, MI  owned and operated by the Keweenaw Bay Indian community, and it includes a small hotel, 8 lane bowling alley 2 restaurants, and  an RV parking area with 12 sites. These are full-hookup sites on one side of the parking lot.  Normally the price is $20 per night, but the water connections are inoperable, so we must use a long hose to fill up as needed, and the price is now $10 per night.  RV guests receive $5 free play and one free drink for each day they stay. We're also getting a good WI-FI connection from the hotel, and we have good Verizon coverage.  We each ended up with $20 in free play for our first day as well as the free drinks when we joined the players club, so all-in-all it's a pretty good deal. There is free soda and water while you gamble. One modern convenience we don't have is TV reception.....no OTA signals are available, (we don't have a satellite system) so its good that we both have other interests to keep us entertained.  We would stay here for at least another week if we could, but they're closing the RV Park tomorrow for a couple of weeks to work on the water lines.




This has been our most profitable casino visit. We've only used the free play to do our gambling each day, playing penny slot machines,usually 5 lines at  a time, so you can see we're not big gamblers. But our total winnings came to $140! Hank got two free cans of beer a day with our drink coupons, so our refrigerator is stocked for a party!  The weather during our stay had high temperatures around 80, but the nights were cool.  It's raining today, but  that shouldn't last much longer.

Also in the area is the State Park which is just south of us and right across the road from the beautiful bay, a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, 3 gas stations, a couple of motels, and the casino on the edge of town. On the other side of the bay is the  town of L'anse with a beautiful waterfront park.

Today, we're going to get Little House rolling,  and move to the Ojibwa Casino just east of Marquette, MI, about a two hour drive.  We're enjoying this beautiful part of Michigan as well as the extra coins in our pockets!

JULY 11-16: Island Resort Casino, Harris, MI

On Tuesday, July 11, our trip from Menominee, MI to Harris, MI was easy on uncrowded Hwy 41. Travel in the Upper Peninsula is generally easy as there just aren't as many  people per square mile up here. You know you're in north country when you see snowmobile trail signs, poles on top of fire hydrants and mailboxes to help with locating in deep snow, warning signs for elk, and large stacks of firewood by many homes.

The Island Resort Casino in Harris, MI is owned and operated by the Hannahville Indian community, a band of the Potawatomi Nation. The casino recently finished a huge renovation and has a large hotel along with a large gaming area and several restaurants on site. Harris, MI might have 2000 residents, but is certainly seems like a quiet community.  There is a nice 42-site campground on the casino property with water and electric hookups, paved pads, a bathhouse/laundry, and dump station. Normally you don't need reservations in the RV Park - just pick your site and register at the casino. After doing just that, we found out that due to a large off-road race nearby over the weekend, many of the sites were reserved. So we had to move to a different site from our first choice, but eventually Little House was settled in a back-in site next to the woods.

Getting  a player's card entitles you to a minimum of a 5% discount in the restaurants and gift shop.  Soft drinks and coffee are free through out the public areas. We haven't had any luck at the slots at this casino, but  enjoyed several hours of entertainment as we spent a few dollars.

Escanaba, MI is about 15 miles to the east. With a population of about 13,000, there are many shopping and dining opportunities available.  Last Thursday, we met Ernie and Madeline, ham radio/rv friends, at the Hereford and Hops Steakhouse & Brew Pub in Escanaba for dinner. The restaurant has a large selection of items on its menu and we enjoyed good company, great service and delicious food. Ernie and Madeline were camped nearby to help with the setup at the lfairgrounds in Escanaba of a very large Airstream Rally which starts late next week. 

Tomorrow, Little House will be carrying us further north as we continue our casino tour in northernmost Michigan

JULY 8-10: River Park Campground, Menominee, MI

Saturday, July 8, we left the grounds of the Ho Chunk Casino, and after a fuel stop, made our way through part of northeast Wisconsin toward the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, our summer destination.  Our travel took us through mostly rural areas, and included a detour before we could reach US 41 which took us through Marinette, Wisconsin and across the Menominee River into Menominee, MI., the 4th largest, and southernmost city, in the Upper Peninsula.

River Park Campground is on the shore of the river and also includes boat ramps and a fishing area. The campground is well-maintained, with plenty of shade, and it's fairly quiet despite being beside a busy highway and railroad track, and has several sitting areas beside the river.  We found out that we were lucky to get  a site since there was a large weekend festival going on in Marinette.  Saturday night, there was a huge fireworks display not far from our location which rattled the windows and shook Little House for about  30 minutes.

Other than doing some exploring and stocking up on groceries, we spent a fairly quiet 3 days just hanging out and watching the traffic on the river as we enjoyed the cooler temperatures.

JULY 6-7: Black River Falls, Wisconsin

We got an early start on Thursday, July 6 and had a scenic 4 hour drive to Black River Falls, WI and the parking lot oft the HO-Chunk Casino.  Our chosen route started with a beautiful drive north on US 35 along the shore of the Mississippi River, and continued through many small communities and past large farms in western Wisconsin. 

The Ho-Chunk Casino is owned by the The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin formerly known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe. The casino offers free overnight  RV parking and there are 3 electrical hookups with no more than 30 amp service.  No other RV's were there when we arrived so we hooked up to 30 amps, and by Friday evening there were 7 RV's lined up, several just boondocking.

The Black River Falls Ho-Chunk casino is located about 4 miles out of town in the Jackson County Woods area.  It's undergoing major renovations including an additional large hotel wing and expanded gaming area.  The machines inside are currently very close together, and there were not as many penny slots as we've seen in other larger casinos.  We signed up for their player's card, and we each received $10 in free play. We left with Hank winning a little over $3 and Selene won a hefty $7.00 during our one-time visit.  We could have gotten another $10 each in free play by sending a text message to a certain phone number, but agreed we didn't like the casino enough to do that.

Thursday evening, we met up with ham radio/RV friends Annie & Marshall for dinner, and then had a great visit in Little House.  Having the chance to spend time with friends is a great benefit of this lifestyle .  And, we finally found some nice, cool weather with a low of 45 on Saturday morning!

JULY 5: La Grange, MO to Prarie du Chien, WI

Our search for cooler weather this summer hadn't had much success, so we were more than ready to put some miles behind us as we headed further north. Today's drive from La Grange, MO to Prarie du Chien, WI took about 5 hours, again using non-interstate roads through mostly rural areas of Missouri.  It was still near 90 when we arrived at the 24 hour Walmart on the south side of Prarie du Chien, WI so the generator had a good workout while the A/C was cooling us down.  We received permission to stay overnight, and we parked on the garden center/tire lube side of the building. By 8 P.M. we had that whole parking lot to ourselves.  The nighttime temperatures cooled enough to just have windows open for cooling as we slept.  We thanked Walmart as usual by spending a few dollars in the store stocking up on needed items.

JULY 1-4, LA GRANGE MO: Casino and Holiday Celebration

Saturday, July 1, we traveled from Boonville, Mo to La Grange, MO and the Mark Twain Casino RV Park.   The RV Park is a short distance away and has 8 sites with full hookups at $25 per night, first come, first serve. So we drove by the RV Park to see which sites were empty and there were a couple that would work for us.  Next we went to the Mark Twain Casino and signed up for the player's card which gave each of us $10 in free play. We registered for the RV Park and were lucky enough to get site #1, the closest to the road with a view of the river.  Our luck continued since by using a few of our player points, we could get the site for 50 cents per night! There is a $20 deposit for the keys which unlock the electric box and water hookup, refundable upon returning the keys at checkout.

We made a couple of visits to the casino during our stay and Hank ended up winning $25 and Selene lost $2...not bad for the penny slots entertainment we enjoyed.

The weather during our stay was hot and humid.  Being in a river valley, our Verizon signal was very weak making our WiFi internet access basically unusable, so on the last two days, Hank  rigged up a pole in front of Little House to put the Verizon Jet Pack up high outdoors which gave us enough signal strength to provide usable WiFi a good deal of the time.

La Grange is in a rural area, population about 1000.  Every July 4, La Grange has a festival downtown with food vendors, free events for the kids, a parade, live music concert, and fireworks, just a few blocks from where we were parked.  Festival parking was in empty fields in front of us. We had a front row seat in our RV as the parade went past our side windows,and enjoyed the small town version that lasted about 30 minutes.  It included emergency vehicles, scout troops, several tractors, one decorated float (hay bales and people on a trailer pulled by a tractor), a large group of horses and riders, a few local business vehicles, and a candidate or two running for office, with lots of candy and other items being given to the people lining the sidewalks.

Our stay had its good moments, but there were issues with the electric hookup, and slow sewer drainage when we tried to dump the tanks before leaving. At least we can now say we've been to La Grange, MO, and we took some extra cash with us when we left town!

JUNE 28-JUNE 30: Booneville and Budweiser

Wednesday, June 28, we left the Downstream Casino RV Parking lot headed for our next stop - Boonville, MO.  Hank decided he didn't want to drive a route with interstates, so Google Maps plotted a route for us through the scenic flat lands, curves and hills of Missouri, mostly on two lane highways. The trip took about 5 hours with a stop for lunch and fuel. Our destination was the RV Express in Boonville - a small self-service campground on gravel with hookups (Sites 1-6 have sewer) for $25 per night.  There aren't many other RV Park options in Booneville.  Since the weather was forecast to be hot, we opted for the campground instead of staying overnight in the casino parking lot.  There is a permanent resident on site who watches over the place, and two other RV's that appear to be here long-term. Although small and simple in operation, RV Express provided everything we needed in a quiet environment.

 Boonville is named after Daniel Boone's sons, who established their salt business in the area in the early 1800's. Its location on the Missouri River played an important role in the American Civil War, and was fought over and held by both sides.  There are still many historic buildings being used and there's a decent sized downtown area. Near Boonville, at Franklin, was the original start of the Santa Fe Trail.

 The Isle of Capri Casino is owned by El Dorado Resorts and is a smaller casino located on the shore of the Missouri River.  We made one visit to the casino. By signing up for their player's cards, we each got a free meal at the buffet.  We didn't have any luck at the slot machines, but the dinner buffet was bountiful and very good.

We had another reason for visiting the Boonville area. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch opened the Warm Springs Ranch, east of Boonville, as the primary breeding farm for the Budweiser Clydesdales which had previously been located in California.  Tours are given twice a day, 6 days a week from late March to early November,  but reservations need to be made ahead of time. We were lucky enough to get 2 of the 3 remaining tickets for one of the morning tours on Friday, June 30.

After a stormy night, Friday turned into a beautiful summer day...perfect for visiting the rolling hills of the Warm Springs Ranch.  The guided tour included lots of information on the Clydesdales and how they're cared for and trained, as well as a closeup look at the large trailers used in transporting the horses and the beer wagon,, as well as  all of the harness, temporary shelters, and supplies needed on their many journeys.

Everyone had a chance to pet Radar who is on vacation from pulling one of the big hitches and to meet a mare and 25 day old foal up close.

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Upon entering the farm, you're greeted by this scene. The W was part of the lighted Budweiser sing on the brewery in St. Louis until the letters were replaced with LED lit letters. Now it's part of the welcome scene at the farm.











This is one of the trailers used for transporting Clydesdales, and has many features to keep the animals as comfortable as possible.

Foals average 125 pounds at birth. This not-so- little fellow was born on June 5th.

Lunch time.........

followed by a nap.

Radar was very patient as everyone took a turn petting him.

A group of mares and foals.



















The tour ended with all adults receiving up to two glasses of beer and a visit to the gift shop. It appears these animals are treated royally on the farm as well as on the road.

JUNE 25-27: Downstream Casino, Quapaw, OK

We enjoyed our stay at the Downstream Casino.  The RV Parking area is situated so that you park facing the casino, hotel and large parking area, or you can face a large pasture, our choice. Imagine our surprise in discovering that the animals grazing in that field were not cattle or horses, but bison (most Americans call them buffalo). The herd included males, females and calves. So if you want a home where the buffalo roam, just come to the southeastern tip of Kansas!

We took advantage of the free play on our casino player cards, and Hank came away with $8 of their money....the first time he's had a winning experience at a casino! Selene lost a dollar.  We also enjoyed a very nice 'buy one get one' buffet.  The only exploring we did was to drive a few miles north to Galena, Kansas for a post office visit and sightseeing (not much to see there), rode a short way on historic Route 66, + and we planned our next couple of stops as we make our way to the northern USA looking for cooler weather.  The weather was near 90 during our stay in Kansas!

SHAWNEE, OK TO QUAPAW, OK: Downstream Casino & Resort

Today, we left the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center about 9:15 A.M., and about 5 hours later, including a fuel stop, we pulled into the RV/Truck lot at the Downstream Casino & Resort near Quapaw, OK. The casino property is located at the point where the Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri state lines meet, and our route took us through part of  each state before arriving at the Downstream facility.  The RV/truck parking area is paved, with water and electric hookups for the RV spots, and has shelters where you can wait for the shuttle to take you to the casino, which is across a very large parking lot.  The casino is in Oklahoma, and the RV lot is in Kansas with Missouri just down the entrance road. The casino is owned and operated by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma.

After parking Little House in our chosen site, we went to the casino to get our player cards. Each of them included $7 in free play .  Then we went to the gift shop to register our RV spot, and the player cards entitled us to 2 free nights of camping, with the 3rd night costing $25.....not a bad deal considering everything involved.  There  is no bathhouse in the RV lot, but there is a dump station, and we can use the hotel pool and spa. Security personnel make frequent visits and the area will be well lit at night.

We plan to stay here 3 nights before traveling northeast into Missouri.

SHAWNEE, OK: The 2017 American Coach National Rally

We arrived at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center in Shawneek, OK on Friday, June 16. The rally events were being held in the Conference Center with  an adjoining area for vendor setups.  Most of the delicious food was provided by the on-site catering company

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we enjoyed 3 days of the Southeastern Chapter pre-rally activities including social time and meals.

Monday, June 19, was the beginning of the American Coach National Rally with 110 units participating.  Activities included meetings, seminars, and plenty of food -  1 Heavy Hors d'oeuvres event, 2 full breakfasts and 2 continental breakfasts, a pizza dinner, and 2 complete dinners.  There was also a golf outing, a ladies luncheon, and live entertainment for 3 of the nights, including Johnny Counterfeit , who put on a great show on the last night of the rally.

Many valuable door prizes were given away, and there were raffles for huge gift baskets from each of the chapters and a 50/50 raffle.  The money from the raffles is used for the American Coach scholarship fund which awards $1000 college scholarships to qualified children and grandchildren of the workers who build the American Coach RVs in Decatur, IN.

During the rally period, a variety of service and parts vendors were on hand to do work on the coaches right on the campsites.  Most discounted their fees and parts.  We had 2 day-night shades restrung, along with a couple of other minor items fixed,  and there was no charge for labor!  We had the Aqua-Hot system serviced. Technicians spent two hours trying to improve the air flow of our front roof A/C unit and didn't charge us anything for their time.  Since most RV repairs average a $120 per hour labor charge, these 'free' services were a great benefit.





Oklahoma is definitely Indian country, and that theme was carried out with decorations and centerpieces made by one of the chapters.



Even the speakers on the first night went with the appropriate headdress.




Each table had their own centerpiece and each one was given away on the last night.






There was plenty of room in the conference center for the meals and activities of over 200 people.  The staff spoiled us with attention and quick cleanups.


Thursday was mostly a free day, so we drove to Oklahoma City about 40 minutes away,  to see some of that city, visit AAA, and have dinner with friends at the Cattlemen's Restaurant in the Stockyard City area.  This eatery is famous for their steaks, prime rib, homemade salad dressing, and lamb fries (lamb testicles breaded and deep-fried). No, we didn't try the lamb fries!

The weather during our stay included mostly sunny, hot days, and almost constant wind but very little rain.  With activities mostly inside in the cool convention center, and 2 or 3 A/C units humming on each coach, everyone managed to stay comfortable.

Today, Saturday June 24, we're spending an extra day before heading northeast tomorrow. During the next few weeks, we'll be slowly making our way through parts of  Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin until we reach the upper peninsula of Michigan.