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FLW in Clewiston, Florida

2012-02-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

Went to the FLW weigh-in on Saturday in Clewiston, Florida. Had a great time and saw a few pros too. The top picture is of Aymon Wilcox the first place Co-Angler winner. I talked to him for about 5 minutes while he was in line waiting to weigh-in. This is the second year in a row he has won this tourny as co-angler.
The middle picture is of Larry Nixon, Anthony Gagliardi and Dion Hibdon. They are pros on the Chevy Team. The bottom picture is of Roland Martin waiting to weigh-in.
Denise and I went around to the different booths and got free tee shirts, hats and lots of other freebies. We had the hats and shirts autographed.

You gotta love Lake Okeechobee.

Denise Working At Aruba Cafe

2012-02-12T05:19:00.000-08:00

Denise is helping out at the cafe in the park. She seems to enjoy it even though it wears her out. She comes home tired and sore from a nights work. The little place is always busy, especially on Friday nights when they have a band playing outside. She enjoys the people and the extra money. The people seem to enjoy here too.

Here is a pic of her working taking orders. The other pic is outside by the band with Mom, Dad and friends enjoying a few drinks and the music.

2012-01-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

We had a new neighbor move in to our neighborhood. It is a small gator in the drainage pond right behind our 5th wheel. It is about 2 feet long and one of the best neighbors I have. He doesn't party all night or make any noise. He helps keep snakes away and I don't have to entertain him. So far I think he has entertained us, as we go out to see if he is around every day.

Here is a couple of pics to show him and his location to us.

Weather Nice. Fishing Fair

2011-12-07T14:47:00.001-08:00

The weather has been great. High in high 70's to low 80's and lows usually in high 50's Cold front coming tomorrow with lows in mid 40's and high in low 70's. I might break out a sweatshirt in the morning to go with my shorts. The locals always know who is from the north when the temps drop because we don't break out the winter coats when it hits the 60's. Most think I'm from the North Pole because I wear my shorts and tanks every day. It takes a hard frost to get me out of my shorts, which is far and few this far south.

The crappie fishing is a little slow right now, but picking up every day now. The crappie seem to be bigger this year. We are getting a lot of them in the 12 to 13 inch range. So far the biggest is a 15 inch 2lb crappie caught by Dad. Here is some pick some nice fish.

Oh Ya Dads been kicking my a$$ this year so far on the fishing. That is his big ones.

Thanksgiving Over and all Decorated for Christmas

2011-11-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving Day dinner at the recreation hall here in the park. A lot of good friends and Mom & Dad was there. All kind of food to over stuff yourself on. I was a good boy and only had one plate of food and skipped desert all together. (I think the size of my plate had a lot to do with 1 plate and no desert !!! But don't tell anyone.)

On Friday Denise and I took out the Christmas decorations and put them up. Looks good too. Not as good as one of our neighbors, but we don,t have a storage shed down here or room to carry all they have to put up.

A few pics to show our decorations and some of the rest of the parks. The top pic is of the neighbor with all the decorations. The pic of Santa flat against the tree was taken after he left the Cheers and Beers. ( I Think ??) Why else would have he fell out his sled and landed against that tree.

In Florida and All Set Up

2011-11-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

We made it to Florida with no problems. Traffic was good all the way and so was the weather.

We stayed in Indiana for 4 days then in Alabama for a week. Next stop was in White Springs, Florida for a night. We arrived here in Lake Port on November 7th.

Have everything all set up and ready for the winter. (If you can call this winter) Will be here for at least 5 months.

Dad and I bought a Bass Boat to keep down here so we don't have to triple tow. Sure is a lot less stressful just pulling the 5'ver, than having a boat behind that you can't even see. You don't have any idea if anything is wrong or even if it is still there.

Here's some pics of the boat. It's a Ranger 363v with a 175hp Evinrude. Older boat but has been taken good care of.

Look Out Florida Here We Come

2011-10-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

We left this morning at 6:00 am and made it as far as Marion, Indiana. We will stay here for 4 days visiting friends and family. Then off to Alabama for a week.

The trip here was a good one with light traffic and only one incident. That was a globe off our celling fan fell off and broke. I never thought of checking them. but will from now on. Not bad for the maiden voyage.

I love the ease in setting this up. Just pull in, unhook, push auto level and it does it all by its self. A lot easier than the old one. Took about 10 minutes to level, hook up electricity, hook up the water and sewer. (Can't get much easier than that with hiring someone to do it for ya.)

More later.

How do we collect so much stuff ?

2011-10-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well we have all are stuff in our new home. What I don't understand is where we got so much stuff. This 5th wheel is bigger and has larger storage area under it and we still have it packed in as tight as sardines in a can. I swear Denise is a magician cause she can make room when there is no more room. I have all the under storage packed full. We even made 3 trips to Good Will Store to help make room. If I ever decide to switch homes again, (I hope someone shoots me !!!!!!!!!!!!)

We are all packed and ready to head to Florida. Just waiting for the 26th as I have a Dental cleaning in St. Johns that morning. We will leave here early in the morning and stop for my appointment then head south.

The Matson's aren't in the new house yet, but the floors are all done. All they have to do now is the kitchen cabinets and move. Will be done with out us as we are ready to head south for fun in the sun.

Steelhead are in the River

2011-10-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

The steelhead are in the river and wanting to play. Went out Saturday afternoon for a couple hours and this was my reward for my effort. One an 8 1/2lbs the other 12lbs. Not to bad for a rookie aye. (Just think what will happen when I learn what I'm doing.)

No I Didn't Fall Off the Face of the Earth

2011-09-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hasn't been a lot to write about. Just been working on the campgrounds and enjoying the summer.

Salmon season has started and going good. Caught a few then boat broke and was in shop 3 weeks. Got it back now and fishing some.

The Matson's bought a house right next door to the campgrounds and we been remodeling it. They want to be into it by November 1st when we leave to go south.

Denise went out last Friday and bought a new home. Well I'm going to blame it on her. We got a 2012 Cedar Creek 34RLSA. Traded our Coachmen in on it. So far we LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, OK, I Will Update !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

OK, so, it's been a while. Sue me. LOL. I got back from my Alaska trip on the 6th and been kinda busy. (Well it sounds good.) Haven't been that busy just lazy I guess. I have to be in the right mood to post or it doesn't come out good.

Anyway the trip to Alaska was better than I imagined it could be. Seeing the kids was GREAT and Dakota kept me entertained from the time I arrived till I left. She is so sweet and lovable you just can't get enough of her.

As I posted we took a trip up the Dalton Hwy. The trip was around 800 miles total and we had a good time. The first night we spent in Wiseman, Ak at a bed & breakfast. The cabin we rented was adjoined to another cabin by the bathroom so we had to share the bathroom. No big deal just knock before entering and all's well. The next night Katie was hoping we had our own bathroom and she got her wish. It was right out back of the cabin. A one room delight. (Yep an outhouse) But it was all our own !!!!! LOL. No running water to the cabin. If you wanted a shower you could run over to the inn and use the shared shower room. But we had our own Toilet.

We traveled up over the Artic Circle and the Contintal Divide to Atigun's pass. It was very rugged country and not a lot of places to stop and spend money. (No big tourist trap here. Just wide open country.)

If you go on this trip try to carry enough gas from Fairbanks to make a round trip as the gas in Fairbanks was &3.99 a gallon and the price on the Dalton Hwy. at the Coldfoot Truck Stop was $5.39 a gallon. Yep we bought $100.00 worth to make it back to civilation again.

We stopped at a few streams and fished for Graylings and even caught a few. One place we stopped Levi was showing off and catching them one right after another.

I put a few pics of the trip. One is of the area they call the roller coaster, another is of Atigun Pass and others are just some of the places like Oh Shit Corner.

Tired of typing now so we will stop for now and you all will have to wait till I feel it in my fingers to talk again.

Heading Up The Dalton Highway

2011-06-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are going to drive the Dalton Highway. Leaving on Monday and driving as far as Atigun pass. Just want to see what the Ice Road Truckers are driving all winter. We will spend the night in Wiseman, Ak just north of Coldfoot, Ak. Coldfoot is a little over 1/2 way to Deadhorse, Ak. Should see lots of interesting roads on this drive as they call it a roll-a-coaster.

On Tuesday we are heading back south and will over to Manley Hot Springs and spend a night there.

Hope to see lots of wildlife on this trip and good scenery. On this trip we will cross the Arctic Circle the Continental Divide.

Will post about the trip when we get back on Wednesday or Thursday.

In Alaska

2011-06-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well I didn't drive here like I would have liked to this year, but I'm here and loving it. The cost of driving compared to flying was a no brainer and I have a place to stay with my son and family. The trip here was a good one with no unexpected delays. All the flights were on time and relatively smooth. I did get a free dinner at a bar in Minnesota because the cook sent my order out to the wrong person and I was waiting forever till they realized what happened. It didn't matter to me, as I had a 3 hour lay over to kill anyways. Killed 2 hours in there and at airport prices I didn't mind it free, (and had a place to sit and watch TV in comfort.) LOL.

The kids and went out along the Chena river and tried to find some fish. The river was high and fishing was tough but had a good day despite no fish. Seen a lot of Alaska's wilderness. I saw a moose on the way there. After that we came back to the kids house and Levi caught a grayling in the pond in front of his house.

More later when it happens or when I get around to write it, which ever comes first.

A Rainy Day (Yipee)

2011-05-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Most people don't like rainy days, but I do because I can take it easy and relax. This year has been a busy one with the wedding coming up and the rest of the regular work that needs done. I haven't even took time to fish up here yet. (I know, I know that's hard to believe)

I have redid the area that was all washed out and it looks good. Now if the grass grows fast as we only have a week and a half before the wedding. It will be a nice break when I head to Alaska June 21st. A well deserved 2 week break. Looking forward to seeing Levi, Katie and Dakota. Hope to take them sight seeing while there. Do a little fishing, enjoy Alaska and the kids.

Good Year for Shrooms

2011-05-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well our trip was cut short because of a storm that dumped 7 to 8 inches of rain on the campgrounds in Manistee, so we went back after 5 days of hunting to help get Matson's campground straightened up.

We ended up with 2006 mushrooms in 5 days and left just as they were getting prime. Every place we stopped and looked we found shrooms.

The rain caused big wash outs in the roads and banks. Washed all the black dirt and grass seed (that I worked so hard to get down before we left) into the river. I get to do it again. (Whoopee)

Oh well at least I have lost 10 pounds since we have got here. I guess a little hard work doesn't hurt. Better for me than all the goodies and fishing in Florida. (Where I gained 20 pounds over the winter)

We Got Shrooms

2011-05-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

We went out for a look this afternoon and found 255 shrooms. Not to bad for the first look.

Mushrooming

2011-05-07T13:11:00.002-07:00

We're in Atlanta, Michigan Mushrooming. Will be here at least a week. Hope we get a lot of them.

On the way over here we seen a Bald Eagle setting in a tree along the road, as we were getting ready to pass it it flew out and along the road a ways. Beautiful site.

Will post later to let ya'all know how we're doin.

Getting A Lot Done

2011-04-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

OK, we have been back in Michigan for 15 days now and getting a lot done. Leaves are picked up and over the hill. The cabins are opened up and clean. The trees that were blew over during the winter are cut up and cleaned up. I dug the stumps out and hauled them off. Trailers are moved around for the new people.

Everything is on hold right now because of the weather. Rain, rain and more rain. Haven't been able to do much the last few days. The river is trying to come out of its banks. The ground is soft and saturated and the moods are damp. Need this rain to go away so we can get more done around here. The wedding is June 4 and we have a lot to do to make this place look like Buckingham Palace. Les thinks she is royalty, so we are working extra hard to keep up with her expectations.

Haven't even had time to put the boat in and fish. That's OK because the water is to high and I have enough fish any ways. Pike season open Saturday and maybe I will fish then.

Ooh yea I also mounted an TV antenna on the roof of the truck camper and a TV inside of it. Ran all the wiring and dewinterized it so it's ready for mushroom season. Did a lot of that in the rain because that is the only time I have to do my stuff.

In Michigan For The Summer

2011-04-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to MAnistee, Michigan Monday the 11th. After we left Kentucky we stopped in Marion, Indiana for a week to visit with Denise's family. It was cold, windy and rainy the whole week. Then we stopped in Coldwater, Michigan for a week to visit my family. Weather was a little better, with one day in the 80s.

The trip to Manistee was a windy one. Had 20 to 30 mph side winds the whole trip. Didn't bother us all that bad except the fuel mileage. The wind cut the mileage down a couple of mpg.

We're all set up here and worked today. It was hard to work all day when you are used to being lazy all winter. That's OK, I really need to work hard every day to lose the weight I found in Florida this winter. LOL

The weather up here has been great so far. The next couple days is going to be good, then cooling off a bit.

OK I'm tired and going to set back and relax now.

Later

Were in Kentucky

2011-03-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Made the trip from Alabama to Kentucky today. Don't like the weather. It's cold, 39 degrees. Now if we just left Michigan and was heading south I would think it was good, but leaving the 80's and heading north it's BURRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!! Oh well, I might as well get over it, as it will be this way for a few weeks.

The drive was good. Traffic was not bad and no unexpected surprises or difficulties along the way. Light rain and drizzle most of the way.

We are at Singing Hills RV Park by Glasgow, Kentucky. Going to visit with my niece Whitney and her husband Jake this evening. The RV park is nice, but all dirt roads and pads. I like this kind of park better than the all cement ones. More rustic and you can even have a camp fire at your site. Walked around this afternoon and met another couple from Grand Rapids, Michigan on their way back from Florida.

We stopped at a fudge shoppe and I bought way to much fudge, even though we went and ate first. Would have hated to see how much I would have bought if I hadn't ate first. (You noticed I said "I" bought way to much.) Oh well, maybe the good fudge will keep my mind off the cold.

In Alabama

2011-03-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

We left Wednesday morning for our trip north. The first day we traveled as far as Albany, Georgia and stayed at Chechaw State Park. The only problem we had, was when we got to Heehaw Junction a tire was low on the fifthwheel, so we filled at a truck stop and down the road we went. The traffic was light all day and skies were clear.

On Thursday morning we were getting everything ready to go and I noticed the tire was low again, so I took it off and we went to town and had it checked. Some where we picked up a small piece of steel. Had the tire removed from the rim and patched from the inside. All's good now and we went on to Tuscumbia, Alabama. Traffic was light except thru Birmingham, and it was terrible! We went right thru the middle of Birmingham, as that is the way the GPS said was best. I'm not going to argue with the GPS as it hasn't got me lost yet. (sometimes I wish it had the wheel though)

We will be here in Alabama for around a week.

Packing Day

2011-03-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

Been here for a little over 3 months now and it is time to head back north. Will spend the day packing and leave early tomorrow morning.

The weather has been beautiful this winter down here and is in the 80's every day now. really hate to leave, but it will be to hot before long for me.

We will go as far as Georgia the first day. Spend the night there and to Alabama the next day. Spend a week in Alabama visiting Denise's kids . Then to Kentucky for a night to visit my niece Whitney and then to Indiana for a week to visit Denise's daughter and parents.

When we get to Michigan we will stop in Coldwater to to see my daughter Denim and family. Then to Manistee to get the the campgrounds ready for the season. Hopefully they will get rid of all the snow and the water will be unfroze by then.

Well that's our plan, will keep you all posted as we go.

Almost Moving Time

2011-03-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

Well it's almost time to hook up and start heading north. The weather is beautiful and we haven't made anybody mad, it's just that time of year. The crappy fishing isn't that good but the gills are biting good. Really hate to leave Florida but, the weather will get to hot for me and the Matson's need the help up north. So it's Michigan bound in the next couple of weeks. Don't know for sure yet exactly when but soon.

Our trip to Michigan will take a while cause we will stop in Alabama for a week and then in Kentucky a day or two. Don't forget Indiana. I don't know for how long in Indiana yet. All depends on how long Michigan takes to get that white sh*t off the ground. Hope it don't take to long as we have a lot to do at Matson's.

Will let all know when we leave and start are way north.

We Had Visitors

2011-02-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Matson's and Palmer's came for a week visit on thier way back from the Keys. It was good to see them. The weather didn't treat them well. Got cold at night and was only in the 70s during the days. One day it didn't make it out of the 50s. Hope they had a good time anyways.

Fishing didn't treat them that well either. We went out and got a few crappy, but with the cold weather the bite was off.

Yes We Are Still Alive

2011-02-09T03:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted, but we are fine and having a good time here in Florida. We took a trip down threw the Keys to visit with friends from Michigan. When we arrived at where they were staying, they wanted to go to Key West. We are always game to a side trip so we went.

The last time Denise and I went to Key West we wore our self out trying to see everything by walking. (Now the Island is not that big, but in 85 degree weather and not knowing anything about Key West it made it VERY LARGE.) This time we rented Mopeds and and had a riot. ( made the Island a lot smaller ) There was 8 of us and once we figured out that at the stop signs, 1 go all go, we stayed together pretty good. If any one goes to Key West it is well worth $35.00 For 6 hours of fun. We were every where on the Island and even had time to stop and eat.

Fishing is OK. Not as great as I hoped, but dad and I are getting a few each time out. Denny and I went out the other day exploring Fish Eating Creek and had a good time. We caught Blue Gills and Cat Fish. I kept 2 cat fish for dinner and they were great.

That's all for now. Will try to update more often, but you know how it is when us kids get doing something and don't want to stop to do our home work. HAHA

A Good Day On The Water

2011-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dad and I went out crappie fishing this morning and had a great day. We left about 6:30 am and was on the water at day light. The fish started cooperating right away. Dad was in the back of the boat and having a riot. He was fishing with 3 poles at first, but before long he couldn't keep up and put one away. This went on for quite a while. When they slowed down we went to the other side of the canal and started all over again.

The only thing that interrupted us was a little rain. (Well maybe it was a lot of rain.) Started out as a sprinkle, then dad said it was getting foggy or really raining cause he could hardly see the bridge that was about 1/4 mile away. We found out it was NOT fog a few minutes later. And boy did it RAIN. We both had rain jackets on but they weren't enough. Should of had the whole suit on that way maybe we wouldn't have been like a wick and soak up the water clear to our arm pits. LOL

That didn't stop us as the rain only lasted a few minutes and the fish were still biting. Kept on fishing till they slowed down. Good thing the fish can count, because we were getting real close to are limit and we probably would of went over if they hadn't known enough to stop biting when they did.

That's One Big Gator

2011-01-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

Denise and I went out fishing the other day and she took pics of this big gator. The gator had to be at least 12 feet long. Maybe longer. I know it wouldn't fit in the boat with us. Maybe that is why it was licking it's lips every time we went by. LOL That day there was 22 gators layin on the bank. That is in about a 1/4 mile of canal bank. They like the sunny days to sun them selves.

Had a good birthday. Didn't win at bingo that night. Ooh well you can't win every time and we have won a lot this year.

Our friends Scott and Cheryl called today and they are in Florida. Going to the Keys before they come here. Guess we will have to go see them in the Keys. It is a nice trip down thru the Everglades, about 4 1/2 hour drive.

Crappies Are Bitting

2011-01-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Well we are getting a few crappie, not setting the world on fire but getting some. The ones we are getting are nice ones, in the 11 to 14 inch range. Of course they have to be 10 inches to keep them down here.

We had a nice Christmas and New Years. The pics of Denise, Me and the one of Mom and Dad were taken New Years Eve at our park Christmas Party. It's a good time. They have finger food and Drawings. We won 40 dollars on the 50/50 drawing.

Ooh yea the pic of the water, if you look close it has ice on it. Just took it to show you it's not always 80 degrees down here. (We have to put up with Mother Nature at her worse.) LOL. After all it was 28 degrees that morning at day light. Had to get up early to get the pic of ice, as it went away fast when the sun came up. But still we had ice. Made me want to go ice fishing. (NOT)

Eating a lot of Oranges, as they are delicious fresh from the orchard. The tomatoes are good too. ways enjoy the fresh friuts and veggies when we get down here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-25T07:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all. This morning Romeo and I went out for a walk dressed in our Christmas clothes. Wished all we seen a Merry Christmas. When Denise was ready we took a family Christmas pic. Sebastian was not real happy about it, but had to put up with it.

Hope you all notice my heavy winter clothes I have on. (Winter is HELL down here.) LOL

Going down to the rec hall for Christmas Dinner at 1:00. I guarantee a lot more will be dressed in Christmas attire, as I think every one down here is in their second childhood. (At least they act like it.) Didn't know getting old would be so much fun.

Here is our Christmas pic.

Christmas Florida Style

2010-12-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

We couldn't find pine trees to decorate so we did as the Floridians do. Decorate palm trees. Here is pics of our decorations. It's not much just some garland with lights up the palm tree to the leaves , some lights and garland around the awning and across the front of the trailer. Denise also has a small Christmas Tree in the trailer. Only thing missing is the snow. (OOH SHIT DID I SAY THAT) Lost my mind for a second. We don't need no stinking snow.

We're in Florida

2010-12-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

It's good to be back in the warm weather again. Arrived Thursday 12/16 and it was beautiful in the high 70's. A little cool at night in the 40's, but that's OK with me.

Went crappie fishin with dad yesterday. We caught 8 keepers (or I should say dad caught 7 and I caught 1 keeper.) Oh well I have to let him catch some once in a while or he would quit fishin with me. LOL

Denise is all ready wanting to head to Ft. Myers to the Flee Market. The girls get a kick out of walking around and looking at all the junk.

The park has new managers and are very friendly. Taking a lot better care of the place. I think it will be a very enjoyable winter here. Everybody has welcomed us back and made us fell like long lost friends.

New Furnace in Our RV

2010-12-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

I woke up Sunday morning at around 4am and noticed how cold it was in the RV. First thing I did was go outside and check the propane. Nope it was OK, so I went back in and started playing with the thermostat. Nothing. Checked the fuses. All OK. Now what?

All I know is it is 28 degrees outside and the heater wasn't working. It is Sunday morning and nothing open. I did a little more investigating and decided that I thought the motor was bad. What to do ?

I got on line and started calling every RV place around to try to find one that is open on Sundays. Not having any luck, I went in and broke the news to Denise. We talked it over and decided that if we couldn't get it fixed that day we would just winterize it and go over to her daughters house for the night. About that time (7:00am) my phone rang and it was one of the RV places I called earlier. I told them our problem and they called their repairman and asked him if he would work on Sunday to help us.

The repairman came over to us (about 30 mile trip for him) and confirmed it was a bad motor. He had brought a whole new furnace with him and said it would be best to just replace the whole thing. So we did.

I watched closely so I would know how to it, if it ever had to be done again. Asked a lot of questions and he was very helpful in answering them. I would be able to replace one now. Would have tried with this one if it was warmer out, so if I didn't get it done in one day we wouldn't freeze. Sometimes it best left to the pros.

You find very nice and helpful people out here on the road.

Hiccups Gone

2010-12-02T06:51:00.001-08:00

Haven't had the hiccups since Sunday night. I guess the Prilosec is working now. Went in Monday and had Xrays and blood work done to see if anything else was wrong with me. Haven't heard back from the doc yet.

I thought it would be hard to quit coffee, but if you have the hiccups for 12 days straight and the doc says no coffee, then coffee is out. If I want a cup I think about the hiccups and it don't sound good any more. (LOL) Not saying I won't drink an occasional cup again, but a pot a day is gone out of my diet now.

God, it sucks to get old. The doc keeps proving he knows what he's telling me. Just when your younger you can ignore them and get away with it and keep abusing your body, but when you're older your body sides with the doc and not your smart a$$ attitude. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Alabama and Hiccups

2010-11-28T06:19:00.000-08:00

Arrived in Alabama on November 24th and got everything set up. It was a good trip with no unexpected problems and just a few crazy drivers that are in such a hurry that their life means nothing to them. I guess we will always have them.

Had Thanksgiving at Denise's sisters house. Most of Denise's kids and grand kids were there.

I think this is the first year I haven't over stuffed my self on Thanksgiving. It wasn't because of the food wasn't good. It was great. I've had the hiccups for 8 days straight and just didn't feel like eating much. Had a Esophagogastroduodenoscopy Exam done on the 25th. For all that don't know what that is (like me) they ran a tube with a camera down my throat to see what makes me tick. They said I had significant acid reflux. Put me on Prilosec.

So far Prilosec hasn't worked and I'm going in Monday for a cat scan. (Guess that will tell them what makes me tick). Any way it has been 11 days now I have been hiccuping and it is NOT fun. Hopefully the cat scan will find the problem. Will post later on what we do to get rid of these hiccups.

We're In Arkansas

2010-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

We left Oklahoma at 8:30 this morning and made it as far as Little Rock, Arkansas Staying at Trails End RV Park just on the northern edge of Little Rock. The weather was good in the mid 70s and mostly cloudy I like the cloudy days when driving as it don't give me a head ache like the sun does. Staying for the night and going to Alabama tomorrow.

Slideouts Working YEEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

Ok I finally got the slides working. The RV place here in Lawton wanted $180.00 service call to come out and look at the slides. Then if they had to come out with parts to fix it it would cost another $180.00. SO I DECIDED I COULD FIX IT MY SELF. Got the electrical tester out and checked everything out and decided I had a bad relay. Well maybe 2 relay switches bad. One was cheap at $13.00 and one more at $79.00. Well the cheap one didn't solve the problem alone so we ordered the expensive one. Finally received it today. It wasn't exactly the same but they said it would work. Took it home and hooked it up and NOTHING. Shit. Damn. Poopy. Now what to do. Called where we bought it and they couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything helpful. So I called American RV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and talked to the service manager Doug and he walked me through it. It was as simple as hooking a ground wire to the extra terminal on the new switch. That is the difference between the two places. One just wanted the service call money and American RV is willing to help any way they can.

Anyway I did it YEEEEEEEAAAAAA. Saved at least $360.00 in labor and know a little more about our house now. Some day I might know what I'm doing. LOL

Oklahoma

2010-11-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

We left Coldwater and spent a week in Marion, Indiana. Visited with Denise's family. I went fishing with a buddy of mine while there. The fishing sucked but the time with Sonny was fun. Denise spent time with her Mom and Dad and also her Daughter and grand kids.

We left on Sunday November 7th heading for Oklahoma. Took our time and arrived at Ft. Sill on Tuesday the 9th. The trip was smooth sailing except for the wonderful American highways. There is spots so rough it would be better off if they were dirt roads so they could just grade them. Seems like every time you would get close to a major city the roads just crumbled and be so rough it will tear up your equipment. Luckily we got through with nothing broken. Starting to think back roads would be a better rout. Will take longer to get somewhere but you can at least slow down when the roads get rough. Enough bitching about our wonderful highway system.

When we got to Ft. Sill our slide outs wouldn't go out, so I jumpered them and got them out. I guess I had some relays go bad. Will know for sure Friday when the new ones that I ordered come in. It's always something. LOL

A Good Time in Coldwater

2010-11-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

After we left Manistee we stopped in Coldwater, Michigan for a week to visit family and friends. We had a good time. Stayed in my Mom and Dads driveway. Always nice to spend time with family. My mom made dinner for my brother, his wife, my sister, her husband, me and Denise. Mom was in heaven having all her kids home at once.

On Wednesday night we went out to eat with friends. Ned and Beth Yearling, and Ron and Katrina Moser. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about old times and the camping trips we all went on together. Always enjoy getting together with them.

Spent some time over at my brothers house to change a coupler on my boat trailer. Seeing how he has every tool available to man it made the job easy.

Well off to Marion, Indiana to see Denise's family and friends. Hopefully I will get some fishing time in with my old fishing partner Sonny. Will write later about that.

4 Days Left

2010-10-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

In 4 more days we will be on the road. First to Coldwater, Michigan to visit Mom and Dad, my daughter Denim and the rest of the family. Will stay till the 29th and then to Marion, Indiana to visit Denise's family. After Indiana it's off to Oklahoma, Alabama then finally Florida for the rest of the winter.

The steelhead are biting pretty good now that I'm getting ready to leave.That's alright I don't need any more fish in the freezer anyways. Went out last night and caught 2 in less than an hour. Lost 1 other one and had 2 more hits. The pic is of the nicest one I caught last night. Wish I had a video of the fight with it as it was a good one. At least 4 big jumps and 3 good runs before it decided to come home with me for supper. (OOPS I mean to be supper)

Levi and His Family

2010-10-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

My son Levi, his wife Katie and my grand daughter Dakota came up to visit for a few days. We had a great time with them. They are on their way to Alaska to live.

On about the 3rd day Levi was getting bored and told me the leaves were getting bad around my lot, so I went up to the garage and got the leaf blower out and strapped it to his back. Solved both problems at the same time. He wasn't bored any more and he did a great job of getting rid of our leaves.

Then Dakota came out and liked the pile of leaves we made and had a ball playing in them. Of course her and Nana had a good time spending time together.

I can't wait till next summer and go to Alaska and see them.

Here's some pics while they were here.

Colors Are Beautiful

2010-10-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken right out side out camper. I guess it is worth the cooler weather to see such beautiful colors on the trees. If you go out driving around now it is hard to keep your eyes on the road, so if you're in northern Michigan now and see anybody wondering all over the road they aren't drunk. Just looking at all the beautiful trees. Might be just as dangerous as a drunk driver but won't get arrested for it.

Steelhead Fishing

2010-10-09T03:37:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got a good one. After 3 weeks of fishing for steelhead and only landing small ones it felt good to put a good one in the boat. 11 lb. 6 oz. Been out about every day fishing for them. Anybody that says steelhead fishing is easy has never done it. I have landed 4 small ones and had 2 bigger ones to the boat only to loose them before I could net them. One I had to the boat and turned around to get the net and it was not there. I left it at the camper. Senior moment I guess. LOL It was his lucky day as there is no way to land them with out a net.

The fall is taking over. Leaves are falling off the trees. Making work for next spring. In a couple weeks we will be on the road south. Stopping along the way to visit kids, grand kids and parents. Denise is ready. I think I am getting close. The fish down south are calling my name. The steelhead that haven't played with me yet will have to wait till spring to play.

Here is a pic of my steelie.

Fall is Here

2010-10-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well the fall weather has caught up with us and is making it harder to keep Denise happy with staying till the end of October. I think she has a bad case of hitch itch. For any of you that don't know what hitch itch is, to full time RVer's it is time to hook up and go. It don't matter where just GO. I know Denise is ready to GO SOUTH. She don't like this fall weather or what comes right after it. Me I'm loving the fall weather and seeing how I do the driving she's stuck here for a few more weeks. Well maybe not I seen her on line the other night looking at air line tickets. I didn't ask no questions I didn't want to hear the answers to. Maybe I will have to meet her down south somewhere.

Salmon fishing is over for me this year. Was not a very good season. Small amount of fish came in the river this year. Made me understand why they call it fishing not catching. Still got a few for the freezer and smoked some to can. The steelhead are in the river now and teaching more of a lesson of why they call it fishing not catching.

Went and bought a truck camper yesterday. It will be used to go to Alaska next summer and for get-a-ways after that. Cheaper to haul and maybe the fifth wheel will last us longer if we don't haul it everywhere. Here's some pics of it.

Fishing This Week

2010-08-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

The fishing has been kind of slow this week, but we did get a few. Dad and I have been out every day for a couple of hours in the morning and evening. Not a lot of fish to show you, but we won't go hungry either. Here is a some pics of our fish. The last one is a funny looking salmon, but I bet it taste reel good.

The Salmon Are Here

2010-08-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

I went out on the river this morning. Was doing a little fishing and drinking my coffee. All of a sudden my rod tip went down and all hell broke loose.

Yeeeee haaawww my first salmon of the year was on my line. Now if I can land it. After about a 10 minute fight it was in the boat.

As some of you know I won't be worth a shit the rest of the year. Salmon has a way of altering my mind. All I want to do is be on the river now.

Here is a pic of my first 2010 salmon. About a 10 pounder.

Sorry It's Been So Long

2010-08-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. I have been busy siding Office/House/Store. Trying to get it all done before the salmon come in the river, because once they do I ain't worth a shit around here. My mind goes blank and all I want to do is be on the river.

The siding job was a bigger task than I thought it would be. Had to put up wood over the concrete blocks, so I had to put up 2x2's and we insulated with 1 inch foam insulation over the whole place.

Anyway it's done now and I can fish all I want. Here is a couple of pics of the finished product.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July weekend was a busy weekend with a full campgrounds. Most campers were good, but you always have a few that over indulge. Only had a couple of complaints which isn't to bad.

It was hot and humid so the tube rentals went good. A lot of campers spent the days floating on the river. That is a good way to stay cooled off. Denise and I worked quite a lot, but did find time to hit the river and cool off. We spent a few hours at Rainbow Beach. That is a huge sand bar in the river that we all gather at and just relax in the water.

The siding on the house is coming along good. It a is slow process and with the heat it is even slower. I'm not good with the heat, but it will get done. Looks like rain today so I might just get to goof off all day.

Found out that my son is being stationed in Alaska, so I guess you all know where I'll be next summer. Been wanting to take a trip there anyways. This gives me the incentive to do it. Will probably come back to Matson's in April and help get it opened up. Then head to Alaska in June. Spend about 2 or 3 months on the trip and return to Matson's to help out in the busy salmon season.

Siding Going Up

2010-06-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Been working putting siding on the store/house for the past week. This has been a slow process because there is different levels to put fur strips on and when done we want it all one level, so I have to cut the fur strips to the right thickness. Then on the block wall you have to drill the cement to put the fur strips up. A time consuming process. What we have done is looking great. Also took the time to knock a hole into a brick wall for an air conditioner. This is all new to me and I'm learning a lot as I go.

The 4th of July weekend is coming up and will have to start getting everything ready, so the siding will have to wait for the next few days. We are almost full this weekend. Have lots of mowing and trimming to do, 1 water leak to deal with and general maintenance to do. Have tubes to get ready. With temps in the 80's and 90'S this weekend we will rent a lot of tubes. So I better get of my a$$ and get to work. Lots to do and so little time.

Race Weekend

2010-06-16T03:31:00.001-07:00

The Matson's went to their race weekend and left us in charge of the campgrounds. Was a pretty slow weekend. We had only 3 campers here so we took on other projects to stay busy.

I took on the kitchen floor. There was a water leak and it was rotting the floor out. I first started by tearing up the old floor to try and find the leak, This took a while because the floor was so rotten all you could get up was small pieces at a time. After I finally got the floor all up I found a drain pipe that had came apart that went to the bathroom sink. Cleaned the area and repaired the pipe. Built new floor to replace all water logged wood. Now it is as good as new. ( I hope! Never said I was a carpenter) Also I dealt with 2 water line breaks in the camp grounds. 1 was just something that happens every now and then. The other was caused by a camper backing into the water spigot and busting it off under ground. No problem a little digging and a new tee took care of it.

The Matson's had a great weekend. That is in till the trip home. They had 1 tire come apart at the tread and tear up the side of their fifth wheel and 20 miles down the road blew another tire on the fifth wheel. The guy they bought it from just put all new tires on it. Come to find out the new tires were 7 years old. The tire dealer screwed him by selling out dated tires. ALWAYS CHECK THE MANUFACTURING DATE ON THE TIRES WHEN BUYING NEW TIRES. If you don't how to check it ask the dealer to show it to you. NEVER BUY TIRES OVER A YEAR OLD. Especially when dealing with this much weight. Luckily no one was hurt and the fifth wheel is fixable. Scott and I are taking it to American RV today to have it fixed. Denise and I know how it feels to have your RV tore up while on the road. It is not a good feeling at all, but after the fact, you can just thank god that nobody got hurt and mark it as a memory of your adventures while RVing.

I will be starting the siding on the office/house this week. This is a good size job so I should stay out of trouble the next couple of weeks. I hope I'm smart enough to do the job right. Sounds easy enough from all I've talked to about it. The only thing that really concerns me is that I'm putting some of it over brick and I haven't dealt with that before. I have had lots of good advice so I think I can do it. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. Like the Little Train I think I can. Will let you know how it turns out in a later post. I THINK I CAN!!!!!

We had Visitors this Week

2010-06-08T04:59:00.000-07:00

Another week has came and gone. It gets more beautiful up here each week. The grass is greener, the flowers are blooming and the weather is great. Cool at night and warm through out the days.

Denise's mom and nephew came up and visited this week. Spent 3 days with us. We rented a cabin for them so they would be comfortable. I think they had a good time. Adrian and I went fishing 2 days and even though we didn't catch a lot of fish I think he had fun. We caught some pike and small mouth bass. Kept one nice pike so Adrian could taste it. He had never had pike before. Denise spent a lot of time with mom just reminiscing and they did go to the casino 1 night. (The Indians told me to tell you two thanks. The new addition you bought them will come in nice for the next suckers that come there way.) LOL It's always nice to have visitors come our way. Thanks for coming we had a great time.

This weekend is race weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The Matsons will leave Thursday for the races and leave me and Denise in charge. (WHOOO HOOOO FREE CAMPING FOR EVERYBODY WE KNOW) Just kidding, no free camping. They look forward to this weekend all year and we couldn't be happier to help them out so they can get away for 4 or 5 days and let loose with their friends.

This brain has run out of things to ramble on about, so till I think of more to yak about you will have to visit someone Else's blog or go to facebook and laugh at what everybody writes on there.

Till my brain has more.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is here and the weekend is winding down. All the campers will be packing up and heading home this morning. It has been a good weekend.

Had a great cookout Saturday. The whole campground ate and had a good time visiting with each other. The campgrounds furnished all the meats and table wear and most campers brought a passing dish. As always lots of good food and lots of B.S. flying around. We had garbage can turkeys and barbecued chicken quarters. Took a few pics to share with you all. One pic is of the garbage cans the turkeys were cooked in. A pic of the turkeys right after we took them out of the cans. A pic of the chefs at the grills cooking the chicken quarters. A pic of the chow line and all the food on the table and finally a pic of all enjoying the food.

A prayer was said before we started eating and part of it was thanking our troops past and present for their sacrifices for our freedom.

I hope everyone remembers what this holiday is all about as I for one feel it is one of the most important we have. We have 2 sons in the military fighting for our freedom and are very proud of them for the selfishness they give of themselves. They both spend A LOT OF TIME AWAY from their families for us to have the freedom we take for granted every day. And I would also like everyone to think of the courageous ones at home alone taking care of the family while they are gone. It is a tougher job than I have ever had or will have so THANK YOU LEVI AND LESTER AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF OUR ARMED SERVICES AND THE FAMILIES BEHIND THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At The Campgrounds

2010-05-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

Denise took some pics the other day and I thought I would share them with you.

One is of the wood shed I built, one is of me on my favorite piece of equipment here. This John Deere has saved me from so much back breaking work I should be paying it. The one of our 5th wheel is on our new lot. It is a very nice lot. Close to the laundry, across from the office/store so we can see if anyone is coming or needing anything from the comfort of our own home.

Denise has been busy planting potted flowers to make it homey and look nice.

The bird pics are taken from our dining room window. We have a feeder hanging just outside the window so we get a close up view of a lot of birds. The cat goes nuts with all the birds so close and yet not accessible to him.

We have deer come in the grassy area right beside the trailer. We call it our yard even though it isn't part of our lot. (We take care of it and use it so it is ours) LOL

May Is A Beautiful Time Of The Year

2010-05-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

I love spring. The trees come alive and grow their leaves. Mushrooms come out to play with your eyes. Everybody starts sprucing up the yards with flowers. The grass gets green and the birds come back and sing for us.

It is amazing the change we have seen since we have came here. We arrived back to Michigan in the beginning of April. It was still in winter dress. No leaves on the trees, they were on the ground and hiding the grass. What grass you could see was all brown and looked dead. No flowers or birds to sing for you. Now everything is coming alive.

I've been working on a wood shed this week. Before we just stacked our wood here at Matsons Campgrounds and covered it with tarps to keep it dry. Now it will have a new home. I am building a 12ft x 20ft wood shed. It is closed in on 3 sides and open on 1 side. A lean to style. Will post pics when I have it finished. It will look a lot better in there back yard that the tarped piles of wood.

Denise has been cleaning and remodeling the cabins and trailer rentals. She has them looking great. The Jayco is an older trailer and needed some TLC. Well Denise went to work and transformed it in to a great rental. It is amazing what a good cleaning and new curtains will do. In between the jobs I have for the Matsons she keeps me busy putting up curtains and blinds. She is always finding something that needs repaired or just not to her liking so she calls "SUPER STEVE". She thinks I can fix anything. (of course I can)

Today is a day that I try to get our 5th wheel looking as good as the rest of the campgrounds. We have been neglecting it sense we've been back. It needs a good outside cleaning to get the road grime off. Yesterday I took the time to put our new window in. After I get ours cleaned then I will Plant some trees for campgrounds. Cheryl has been planting flowers and getting the place looking nice this week end. We planted 4 new trees and will plant 7 more today. Of course we have to build protection around the new trees because the deer really like them, so 1 more job for us to do. (Oops I all ready built them yesterday.) Mark them off the to do list.

OK I'm rambling now so I will get off here for now and go get some of that to do list done. Life is GOOD. I should have started this life years ago.

Later

1024 Mushrooms

2010-05-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

We did pretty well on our quest for the ALL MIGHTY MUSHROOMS. We found 1024 in 9 days of hunting. Had a great time with my Aunt Vicci, Uncle Muddy and there friends John and Deb (AKA Hoover). They call her Hoover because when she leaves the woods it's cleaned. I can attest to this as I have seen her in action. She doesn't miss many mushrooms.

We are now back to Matsons in Manistee, Michigan. Good to be back and lots of work to do. The to do list seem to grow while we were gone. Oh well, I'll work hard for a few weeks then sneak out for another vacation if I feel the need. (I Might even if I don't feel the need.) Places to go and people to see ya know how busy this lifestyle is. I don't know how I had time to work full time before. I might have to go fishing today just to calm myself from thinking about it.

Later

Romeo tried to find a new Friend

2010-04-30T03:49:00.000-07:00

We always take our dog Romeo out in the woods with us when we mushroom hunt. He loves to run and play in the woods. He is very curious and checks every scent out. He sticks his nose in every hole in the ground or tree he can find.

Well he found a scent and hole he should have left alone. It was a baby porcupine. Romeo came out with a snoot full of porcupine quills. He was not a happy camper.

I tried to take them out, but he wouldn't even let me get close to them. Took him to the animal hospital in Gaylord, Michigan and they put him out and removed the quills.

Hopefully he learned a lesson and will be more carefull about where he puts his nose from now on. That is if Denise ever lets him out of the truck again. She took it harder than Romeo did. I don't how she raised 4 kids the way she looses it when Romeo gets into a little trouble.

Wish I had my camera when he had a snoot full of quills. You never have it when you need it, even though I carry it most of the time.

Every thing is good now and Romeo is recovering just fine. Denise is going to make it too.

Mushrooms

2010-04-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just a little update on how we are doing. This pic is from the first morning. 138 shrooms. Not great but not bad either.

Clear Lake State Park

2010-04-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

We are at Clear Lake State Park near Alanta, Michigan. Arrived today around 3:00 pm. We took the afternoon setting everything up. Denny and Vicci came in later in the afternoon. John and Deb gave them some mushrooms that they picked today. Vicci fried them up and invited us over to help them eat them. Boy were they good. We will be here a week or two. Depends on how the mushrooming goes. Will post with how we are doing later.

Leaves All Gone

2010-04-23T03:17:00.000-07:00

Well it's been fun but the leaves have been BEATEN. I won. They are all over the hill now. The only leaves in the campgrounds now are on the trees. That's where they belong, now stay there.

OK, so I've lost my mind. You come up here and tackle these leaves and see if you aren't a little crazy when you are done. I did lose 10 lbs. in 3 weeks. Needed to do that after being lazy all winter.

Now I can start on that 3 page to do list that Cheryl has been so kind to furnish us with. I think there is more than enough to keep us busy this summer.

But first I need a vacation. Yeap you heard right a VACATION is what I need. After all I am retired, so I can do that. Work 3 weeks and take a 2 week vacation. I think I like this, besides the mushrooms are starting to pop their heads out of the ground and someone has to find them. Wouldn't want them to go to waste would we.

That's all for now. Stay tuned in if I do happen to find any of them mushrooms I will post pics. If I don't find any I will take pics of someone else's and post pics anyways. I just won't tell you that. (Oops I just told you)

Later

Leaves,Leaves,Everywhere Leaves.

2010-04-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I've spent 10 days now raking, blowing and hauling leaves and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It isn't done yet but getting close. Maybe 3 or 4 more days of LEAVES and I can call it quits for this year. What's ironic is now that I have most of the leaves off the ground the trees are really turning green with a new batch of leaves for me next year.

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere Leaves. They look prettier on the trees.

The best thing about these wonderful leaves is that i have lost 8 lbs of weight of the 30 I put on this winter. I needed the exercise any way so I should quit griping about LEAVES.

Went out fishing 1 day and lost a nice steelhead trying to net it. Sometimes that can be tricky by yourself. It was still fun just to have the fight and be back on the river again. I guess I'm just a river rat at heart.

Denise has all the cabins cleaned and ready for the summer season now. Has the bath house cleaned and looking good. She scrubbed it from top to bottom. She does a really nice job of making this place look good and clean.

Well gotta go for now. One of our neighbors John Wilcox just came over for coffee and I'm running out of things to say any ways. Later.

We're In Michigan

2010-04-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

After almost 5000 miles of travel this winter we arrived back in Michigan safe and sound. It was a great winter. We made new friends and visited family for extended stays that we hardly could see before. Got to know our grand kids better and even spoiled them a little.

Now we are back at Matson's Big Manistee River Campgrounds helping out for the summer. Started on getting the leaves picked up. Boy what a job. After that is done they have a list that needs to be done. I think they will keep us busy and maybe I can lose some of this weight that I found this winter in Florida. Denise has been cleaning the cabins and restrooms so they are ready for the guest. We both are enjoying the exercise we are getting from the work.

Been wanting to hit the river and fish for some steelhead. Just haven't took the time yet. The mushrooms should be coming up any time now and I have informed the Matson's I need a vacation to go find them. (after all one or two weeks of work justifies a vacation doesn't it)

Been in touch with our friends up here and will see alot of them this weekend.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more. The best is yet to come. (I hope)

Made it to Indiana

2010-04-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Indiana on Tuesday afternoon. Hit the road at 5:30am and arrived at 3:30pm. Had good weather and traffic was not to bad.

I didn't do a great planning job as we hit Nashville at 8:15am. If anybody doesn't know that is rush hour traffic. Nothing better than pulling a 70 foot long rig in rush hour traffic in a big city. A couple of extra white hairs came out of it. It will definitely make the rest of your trip a breeze.

The only excitement we had on this trip was our bedroom window blew out just before Indy. If I had listened to my darling wife and taped the window shut before we left it wouldn't have happened, but I know what is BEST and I didn't tape it shut. Just because it was giving us a problem staying shut and had to be reclose at a rest area a few hours into the trip doesn't mean it will blow off. Even at speeds to up to 70mph and gusts of wind from semis hitting it. Well I guess She was right. (ouch that hurt to say) The Few I told you SOs that I received were well earned and I still won't listen because I'm a man and we don't have to. (ya'll know how that is don't ya) And just look at the experience we would have missed if I had taped it shut. Now I can get the new sliding window that I've been wanting for the bedroom.

Well we will spend a few days here in Indiana visiting. I'm going fishing with a buddy of mine that I always fished with when I lived down here. Then to Coldwater, Michigan. Easter at my sister's house, then to Manistee, Michigan for the summer.

The Road Back to Michigan

2010-03-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well we left Florida on 3/22 and are making our way back to Michigan. So far this winter we have been in 12 states. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. We will go thru Kentucky and Tennessee on our way back making it a total of 14 different states we went thru and some of them twice.

We traveled as far as Albany, Georgia the first day. It took us about 8 hours to get there. Spent the night in Che Haw campgrounds. It was a real nice park with lots of tall pine trees. They had a zoo there but we arrived to late to see it. A real nice play grounds and lots of area to hike or picnic. Would be a great place to take the family for a get-a-way.

The next day 3/23 we went to Tuscumbia, Alabama. About a 7 hour drive. We are here now at Heritage Acres RV Park. We are spending about a week here visiting some of Denise's family. The park we are staying in is a nice place but not a lot to do. It has all we need as far as hook ups and laundry, but nothing for the grand kids to do. Just a parking place and reasonably priced. Took some pics of both camp sites so you could see the differences. If I was staying long term it would be at a place with trees and things to do, not a parking lot. This works for the week as it is close to everybody, neat and clean. We will be here till probably Monday 3/29. Will update when we move.

So far it has been a boring trip. No deer jumping into our 5ver, no tires falling off, not even a good disagreement between me and Denise about any thing like how long to drive each day or where to stay each night. SHIT; we might be getting good at this. Ooh ya did have to replace the rear shocks while here in Alabama. One was leaking and Just couldn't go the whole trip with out some kind of repair. :-)

That's all for now. I can only think for a few minutes at a time. So you will have to tune in later to catch more. After all, I'm retired now and don't have to think or work or, or, or, or, or, or ( whoops senior moment) anything now.

Life is GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

What else can I say. The pics pretty well say it all. Just look at that sunrise. What a way to start a day fishing and a sunrise like this.

This is our last week in Florida. We will be leaving Monday morning and slowly making our way back to Michigan. Stopping in Georgia to visit Denise's sister and family. Then to Alabama to visit kids and grandkids. Then to Indiana for a visit with Denise's family and finally to Coldwater for a visit with my family. We will be back at Matson's this year helping out at the campgrounds. Any body gets that way stop and visit.

Update on Water Balloon Incident

2010-03-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I found a person that happened to take a picture of Denise right when she squeezed that balloon to hard. In case you don't remember what I'm talking about here is what I wrote.

"We had a water balloon tossing contest and Denise and I were in it. ( I know, I know she wasn't thinking right when she decided to be my partner. I think to much pie affected her judgement.) Any ways we came tied for first. Would have won but I lost my head for a second and thought I was pitching in the major league's and let one fly. She did good. Had it in her hands. Just squeezed to tight and popped the balloon.Water all over her. She has to be more careful of how tight to squeeze a water balloon. ( That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! )"

Anyway just look at the picture and decide for your self. Look at them fingers just squeezing the water every where. I couldn't have thrown it any better. Right at her face so she could see to catch it. I think that she just got excited and lost her head for a split second and thought she had to squeeze hard so she wouldn't drop it. It's still my story and I'm sticking to it but with evidence now. You can click on the picture to make it full sized and get all the details such as her fingers squeezing the water right out of that poor balloon. You will see that I'm not the mean person that she is trying to make me out to be, saying that I thew it to hard on purpose.

Key West, Florida

2010-03-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

We left Monday 3/8 for a trip to the Florida Key's. We were waiting for some nice weather to take the trip, boy did we get the good weather; high 60s at night, high 70's during the days.

We stayed on Islamorada at the Pelican Cove Resort. It was a very nice place right on the ocean. The view from our room was beautiful. We had an ocean front room on the first floor over looking the pool, hot tub and beach area. One of the pics is off our balcony. There was a sand bar about a mile out in the water and a party every day out there.

About a mile down the road was a huge lobster sculpture. Denise seen it on the way by and wanted to go see it. As you can see she got her way. (I think she saw the junk shops behind it. She don't even like lobster so why would she want her pic with one. I know it was the junk shops behind it; she can't fool me.) Well, to make believe it was the lobster she wanted to see, she had me take a picture of her with it. (I didn't fall for it though, I wasn't born yesterday ya know.)

On Tuesday we went to Key West, Florida and did some site seeing. Went to the southernmost point of the continental U.S.A.. Took a pic of the buoy. There was a line waiting to stand by it for a pic so we just took a pic without us in it. (Would have waited but, Denise had to PEE real bad and I didn't want to see her PEE her pants.) Then we went to Duval St. and looked around. That is mostly junk shops and bars. Tourist traps for sure. We saw Hemmingway's house and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

The streets are very narrow and was fun taking a dually truck down them. It was more fun finding a place to park it. We finally parked on the street with the inside set of wheels up on the side walk. It fit that way. It didn't take long for me to get tired of the crowd and want to go. So we started our trip back to the hotel.

The drive down and back was better than Key West. Breath taking views. The water is so blue it's hard to believe. Denise seen a dolphin surface and was impressed with the homes she could see.

It was a nice trip but, if I went to the Keys again it would be in the area of Islamorada to Marathon Island. To me that is the best part of the Keys. Not as much tourist trap and very beautiful.

OOh yea almost forgot about Denise's big thrill. We stopped at one of the beaches along the way and went for a walk. A ways down the beach we came upon a secluded spot on the beach. Looked up and there it was; the skimpiest G-string we have ever seen. I would have loved it if it was on a female but, it was an older guy standing there with it on. Denise turned red faced and giggled a lot. After we went by she was trying to sneak a peek of the front with out being to conspicuous. I didn't think I was ever going to get her off that beach but I did. Sorry I didn't get a pic for ya'll but when we went back by he held his mug over his but. What a kill joy.

Aruba all Park Party

2010-02-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

We went to the Aruba all park party yesterday. That is a party they have here at Aruba RV Resort. That is where we are staying. It had a carnival theme this year.

I think all down here is going thru their second childhood. Everybody looks to be old enough to be retired but, they go to something like this and they act like kids. Ooooh yeah I fit right in. I like acting like a kid.

We had food, games and prizes. They had the grill fired up and all the food you could eat coming off of it. There was funnel cakes, deep fried Oreos and popcorn. Don't forget the pies. They had a pie baking contest. 27 pies entered and judged. After the judging we had to get rid of the pies so we put them out and everybody helped them selves to all they wanted. Will power went away and I had to try a lot of them. After all I wouldn't want to hurt anybodies feelings by not trying theirs.

We had a water balloon tossing contest and Denise and I were in it. ( I know, I know she wasn't thinking right when she decided to be my partner. I think to much pie affected her judgement.) Any ways we came tied for first. Would have won but I lost my head for a second and thought I was pitching in the major league's and let one fly. She did good. Had it in her hands. Just squeezed to tight and popped the balloon.Water all over her. She has to be more careful of how tight to squeeze a water balloon. ( That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! )

I entered the egg throwing contest and won. We all stood in a circle and tossed the egg around at random. Last one in with out breaking the egg when you caught it or dropped it was the winner.

Lots of other games Like throwing whip cream covered sponges at some poor sap that was standing behind a board with a hole cut in it for their face to go thru. ( I don't know how they talked me into being that SAP.) We had ring toss. dart throwing, jump rope, bean bag toss and a duck race. Now that duck race was cute. They put all the plastic ducks on the ground and had a dog go and retrieve them one at a time. who ever had the number on the duck won a prize. That dog must have liked Denise cause she won twice.

Don't forget the clowns. As you can see in the pictures we had clowns painting faces. That was a big hit. I wanted to have my whole head painted as a pumpkin but, I was working in the sponge throw and whip cream covered sponges and make up doesn't mix well. (THANK GOD)

All in all it was a good time. Now I know what they mean when it is said in a second childhood.

Fishing on Okeechobee

2010-02-25T05:16:00.001-08:00

Well, the weather finally warmed up enough to warm the waters so the blue gills would start biting. These Florida fish act like the people down here; if the weather gets below 70 degrees they hibernate. The last few days we have been able to get into some nice blue gills.

I went out one day and wasted a lot of gas looking for them, I put in at the launch in our park and went right across from the launch and caught dinner for me, Denise, Mom, Dad, Denny and Vicci. Now, that was a long trip to find them. About 50ft. Might have to go to town and refill the boat after that trip. LOL. Mom cooked them up for us; boy were they good, fresh from the lake into the skillet.

Dad, Denny and I went out yesterday and caught 30 nice gills. Then something told us it was time to go in. I think it might have been the rain that we didn't notice coming at us. Well we noticed it when it was hitting us on the head. We looked up and saw a wall of rain heading our way. Of course we had to go in the direction that it was coming from to get back to the truck. Yep we got wet but, we didn't have to deice our poles or line at any time like I do up there in them northern rivers this time of the year.

I included a couple of pics so maybe you can enjoy like we did.

A Day In The Everglades

2010-02-17T04:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Mom, Dad, Vicci, Denise and I laoded up in dads truck and spent the day going to Everglades City, Florida. we also drove down to Chokoloskee, Florida which is an island just south of Everglades City.

While in Chokoloskee we stopped at a store/museum. Decided no to tour the museum. It was real small and you could see from the door it didn't have much in it. Took a couple of pics there and went on. Chokoloskee is small and not a lot to do or see so we went back to Everglades City.

At Everglades City we stopped Miller's World Famous Oyster House. It was a nice place with good service. Dad had Oyster Rockefeller's and I had Raw Oysters on the half shell for an appetizer. The Oyster Rockefeller's were the best part of the meal. My raw Oysters were great too. Freshest I have ever had.

For the meals I had spicy alligator tail. It was good but not enough of it. Mom had fried alligator which, we all decided she made better. Dad and Vicci had the Blue Crab and we all decided that Blue Crab is OK but there is better on the menu. Oh ya don't forget Denise she had CHICKEN STRIPS. I know, I know we were at a sea food place but she is not real daring and the ole faithful chicken strips are a safe bet.

After we left the restaurant we went to Everglades City National Park to look around.Took a few pics and down the road we went.

Made it about a half mile when the girls all started yelling. Dad and I finally figured out what all the commotion was. There was an Ice Cream Stand and we almost drove past it. Glad we didn't I had an Key Lime sundae and it was good.

When we got back to Immokalee, Florida dad took us to a place where they sold fruit. It was like a fruit flee market. Vendor's every where. We got some oranges and strawberry's.

It was a fun day with good company.

Space shuttle launch

2010-02-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

This morning I got up early because the space shuttle was launching at 4:14am. We are only about 100 miles from Cape Canaveral so at 4:10am I went out side and was watching the northeastern skies. Sure enough at 4:17 I could see it. Watched it till it went out of sight below the horizon. Something I always wanted to see. Now I have. Didn't need to be any closer and fight the crowds. It was neat to see it from here. Dad and a couple of other neighbors were out there too.

Sorry no pics cause at 4:00am it is to dark.

Babcock Ranch Tour

2010-02-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

We went to Babcock Ranch on Friday the 28th and took a tour of it. It is a sod ranch and they raise cattle too.

They called it a swamp buggy ride but it was far from a swamp buggy. It was a school bus with all the windows out and a camo paint job.

It was interesting as we did learn the history of the ranch and area. They have a lot of wild life to see. I use the term wild life loose too as all the animals are trained to come running when they hear the bus coming. It's like kids when they hear the ice cream truck coming. We stopped and fed them at certain points.

We walked across a small swampy area on a raised platform. This took us back to the cougars they advertised in their brochure. They were the surprise at the end of our swamp walk. That is where they were pinned up.

A lot of creative advertising went into their brochure but all in all it was a fun day with Mom & Dad and the group from the camp.

There's Gators in Florida

2010-01-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful day today. The weather was in the high 70's and sunny. So we decided to make it a day on the water. We put in on the rim canal and headed toward Moore Haven and boy were the gators out. Everywhere we looked we saw gators. Must have seen at least 50 today. The fishing sucked though. We only cought about 5 little blue gills, but who cares with weather like this. Here's some pics we took today.

Did I make a wrong turn

2010-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

OK We have been in Florida now for 2 weeks and the only beautiful day was the day we arrived. It has been unusually cold. It has frosted 7 nights in a roll now. Everybody says that it will only frost once or twice a year, never more that one night at a time. LOL

Mom told me that I couldn't bring that cold front (that has been with us from the time we left Michigan) this far south. I showed her that truck of mine has more than enough power to pull a BIG cold front to Florida. LOL I think everybody here is ready to tar and feather us, but that's OK at least the tar would be warm while they are doing it.

We have had some days warming into the sixties. Whoopee!!! It's so bad the damn fish won't even bite.

So in conclusion I must have made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up farther north than I planned. I even have the GPS and Onstar lost, because they think I'm in Florida too.

Still can't complain this is better than the weather in Michigan. What a great life. Seeing and doing things we never could before.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr in Florida

2010-01-06T05:03:00.001-08:00

OK this is ridiculous. Everybody is mad at us, saying we brought the cold with us from Michigan. That might be why my fuel mileage is so bad, pulling that cold front with us. It has been everywhere we stopped. LOL We've had a frost 3 nights in a roll now. 28 degrees this morning. I was thinking I should be out steelhead fishing. Sounds likes price of fruit will sky rocket. Fishing down here sucks with this cold front. Here is a couple pics of the frost.

Playin with Gators

2010-01-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Denise said she wanted to pet a gator,so I took my camera and her to the water. Sure enough we found one and the pics tell the story. Poor gator had to die because I told her it was the gators head or her hand. Well it was easier to fight the gator than argue with Denise about taking her hand off. LOL

We're in Florida

2009-12-31T14:19:00.000-08:00

Yahoo!!!!!!!!

After 3 months we finally made it to Florida. Have a New Years Eve party to go to now. Will post more later.

We're in Georgia

2009-12-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

We had a good visit in Alabama. We were there 7 days. Now we are in Leesburg, Georgia at Denise's sisters house. Going to stay in their drive way for 2 days. Had a good trip over here. Nothing exciting on the way. More later going to bed now. YAWN.

A couple of pics

2009-12-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a couple of pics from Texas. 1 is of Levi, Katie and Dakota by one of our many campfires. I think Levi enjoyed relaxing by the fires. There is one of Dakota opening her Christmas present from us. The one of the fifth wheel is during the repairs after the wheel fell off.

In Alabama

2009-12-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

After a two day trip we made it to Alabama safe and sound.

First day we had a tire fall off the fifth wheel. Broke all 6 studs off. Did a little damage to the trailer but not enough to stop us from traveling. Good Sams sent us a mechanic out and he fixed the broken studs. While I was waiting I did a patch job on the the trailer. Then we went to a trailer place and bought a new rim, then to a tire place and had the tire mounted to the new rim. In just 3 hours we were back on the road. Oh ya a few dollars shorter too.

We like excitement in our travels I guess. After all we had the deer incident and now the rim. Lucky nobody was injured and we will have memories that we will never forget. Just driving down the road with no excitement is BORING.

Will post some pics tomorrow of the time we spent in Texas with the kids. To tired and had enough excitement in the last 2 days to down load them tonight. Good night for now.

Here is some pics of Christmas in Alabama with the grand kids. One of Kristen, one of Ben and his mom Mindy and one of the whole family Jamie, Ben , Kristen and Mindy; Denise's daughter.

A Day with the Kids

2009-12-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

Levi, Katie and Dakota came over and spent the the day yesterday. We all had a good time just relaxing. Took a drive into Lampasas to visit a hunting shop that Levi wanted to go to. Then went to Dairy Queen for a snack.

Back at the campgrounds we built a fire went for walks and just enjoyed each other. here is some pics of the day.

Animals in and around the campgrounds

2009-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

Here is some pics of the animals in and around the campgrounds. The llama and horse is on the property right behind the campgrounds. They see you come to the fence they come running to see you. The rooster is part of the owners chickens that roam free all day. The goat is one of the other campers pet. The goats name is Emma and very friendly and lovable. Then you have our own Denise and Romeo in their matching jackets. POOR DOG!!!

A Day With Dakota & Katie

2009-11-30T05:39:00.000-08:00

We went over to the kids house yesterday and had a great day. Started off we just went to Wal-Mart and picked up some hoses to finish hooking up bathroom new faucet Katie was replacing. Then Dakota wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese, So you all know where we went next. Yep grampa is a big sucker and off to Chuck E Cheese we went. Had a great time. I took a few pics for all to see.

After that we went out to the campgrounds and just hung out. While there I hooked up the bike stroller. At first Dakota didn't want anything to do with it. After I got her to go for the first ride you couldn't get her out, so we went around and around and around and around and around and around the campgrounds. LOL After that we grilled some chicken and had a good meal with them. Took them home alittle after dark. IT WAS A GREAT DAY.

We're in Texas

2009-11-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

We left Oklahoma at 8:30am Friday 11/28. IT was sad to leave,as we became close to the kids in the five weeks we were there. But it was time to move on.

We arrived in Lampasas Texas at 2:30pm. It was a nice drive. Not alot of traffic, which surprised me seeing how it was Black Friday. The rout we took US281 all the way from Lawton,Ok. to Lampasas,Tx. Alot of small towns, but no big ones that draws all those shoppers, thank god.

The campgrounds is really nice. It is very laid back and easy going. Very friendly owners and guest. Very pet friendly. It has chickens running around. One camper has a pet pygmy goat that thinks it is human. Dogs and cats just roam free but well mannered so they are not a nuisance. I think we are going to enjoy our stay here.

The landscaping is nice. You can see they take pride in their park. I put some pics in to show the park and our lot. The one pic of the building is the laundry and bath house. Although it looks small from the pic it is real nice.

We went to see Katie and Dakota last night and had a good visit. Dakota wanted to go home with us so we took her and tried to keep her the night. NOT. At 10:00pm it was MOMMY time and home we went. LOL. WE tried. She had fun till then playing with puzzles and coloring. Even played hide and seek with us. Lots of fun having the grand kids around.

Staying on a Army Post

2009-11-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

Staying on the Fort Sill Army Post can be noisy at times. We aren't very far off the area that they practice artillery. We hear daily gun fire and alot of bigger stuff that I don't know what it is. Helicopters all the time and sometimes they practice shooting their guns just over the hill from where we are. What really got are attention was the jets flying right over head, then the really big boom right after the passed. They were dropping bombs just over the hill from us. Now that will get your attention quick. The whole area shakes and you can feel the percussion thru your body. Denise was freakin out. I told her to relax, they weren't mad at us and I think that they are good shots.

Here's some pics that you can see how close the bombs were and some helicopters.

Another Week IN Oklahoma

2009-11-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well we survived another week in Oklahoma. The grand kids spent the weekend and Tuesday night. Wednesday we took the boat out on Lake Elmer Thomas. It's a beautiful lake that is alot bigger that it looks from the campgrounds. It is an idle only lake, so it took a while to get around it.

We got over to the north side and Jake asked what that was. He was pointing at a Buffalo. It was standing on the edge of the lake and was not afraid of us at all. We went back to the truck because we forgot the camera. Got the camera and went back to the buffalo and took some pics. We also took some of the Long Horns grazing near by.

The weather has been beautiful, in the mid to high 70's every day. Some days the wind is gusty but alot better than rain or SNOW !!! LOL

Oh ya Denise's cactus is doing good.

Sight Seeing

2009-10-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

While in Oklahoma we have been checking out the area we are in. As the earlier post show we visited Scott Mountain. Since then we have drove around the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. We have seen Longhorns, prairie dogs and Bison on free range. We have checked out a campground in the area. Doris Campground is in the Refuge and is a nice camp if you like being in the wilderness. It has full hookup down to rustic sites and the deer come right up to you looking for a hand outs.

Oh ya I have to mention that Denise is very fascinated with the Prairie Dogs. I think she wants to take one with us. I don't know who was more fascinated her or Romeo. Romeo wants to get out and play with them.

Denise has already stolen a couple of cactuses and has them planted in a cut off softener bottle. By the way don't handle these without good gloves on as the stickers will stay in your hands. LOL

Went to the Holy City and spent a couple hours looking around. This is the web site if anyone wants to look at what it is about. http://www.theholycitylawton.com/aboutus2.htm

Went to Meers, Oklahoma just north of the refuge and had Oklahoma's best hamburger. That is rated by the Food Channel. Here is the web site on that. http://www.meersstore.com/ it is pretty interesting as it is out in the middle of nowhere and the place was packed when we got there at 11:30 am on a Wednesday. A lot of military eat there. The Meers Burger was everything the web site said it was. Will go back again and again I'm sure.

I'm putting a few pics of these adventures for all your eyes to see.

A Day With Grand Kids

2009-10-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 10/25 we spent the day with Jake & Courtney. Denise took them to play Putt Putt. The Putt Putt is right in our park so that was easy.

We went to Scott Mountain which you can see from our park, but it took us almost an hour to get there because we had to find a gate open to get off post on Sunday and it was on the other side of the post. It was worth the drive as we really enjoyed the scenery. Took lots of pics. I included a few pics for you to see. 1 is just a pic of scenery from the top. 1 you can see the campgrounds we're in off in the distance if you look close. It's on the back side of the lake. If you click on pic it will enlarge it and you will see the camp easier.

Oklahoma

2009-10-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

We arrived on 10/24 a 5hrs drive from Coffeyville, Kansas. The weather was 75 degrees and sunny. What a change from Kansas.

First thing we did was pick up the grand kids, then we went and found the campgrounds. Courtney and Jacob helped set up camp then spent the night with us. BOY IS THIS BETTER THAN Amazon.com. LOL

Here is some pics of the camp and the surrounding area. It is on the Fort Sill post. We are real close to the lake and it is beautiful here.

Gotta go now as Jake is making me find all the words in the word search.

Last Week Of Work

2009-10-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well I just quit our job at Amazon. Found out we are not cut out for warehouse work, or slave labor as I seen it. This poor G.M. retiree just didn't want to work that hard for 10.50 an hour. We also didn't like living in a swamp. If the mud wasn't bad enough the smell around here was enough to gag you. Smells like an oil field.

Just a warning if anybody is thinking of working at Amazon.com you better be ready for 10 hours of hard labor. By the time you get to your break area it's time to go back to work and you don't even get a chance to sit and rest.

Ok enough griping now. We are heading to Fort Sill, OK. and visit with Denise son and family for a while. Then off to Fort Hood, Tx. to visit with my son and family.

Then to Alabama, Georgia and finally end up in Florida for the winter.

Talked to Scott Matson today and told them we would be back next summer and work for them. We are both very excited about working for the Matson's again.

That's what's great about this life style everything is wrote in Jello and can change in a heart beat.

First Week Of Work

2009-10-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

WHAT WAS I THINKING ??????

The first day wasn't to bad as we went thru orientation and was only there for 5 1/2 hrs. Then the second day hit me and I found out how easy I had it GM all those years. Being on your feet for 10 hrs a day is not easy.

I'm on the shipping docks so I'm finding out how many of these boxes fit into a semi trailer. Good thing it's only for 10 more weeks.

If I was a younger and had this job I guarantee I would go to school and get a degree to an easier job.

I even dream about boxes at night. Yikes!!!!

They say it gets easier as time goes by. I hope so. If that's the case by the time we're done it should start being tolerable. Will see at the end of this if we decide to return next year.

Can't wait for fishing and relaxing in Florida.

Not complaining just letting everybody know what we're doing and still love this life style.

A Visitor Today

2009-10-09T16:14:00.001-07:00

We had a visitor today. Must of came from our new lake. He wasn't very friendly as you can see in the pic. Did not like me picking him up at all. I told him if he would go get alot of his friends we could have a crawldad boil. Still waiting for him to come back with all his friends.

Lake Front Campsite

2009-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

We didn't know we had lake front campsite when we parked. Hope the price don't raise to much since they filled the lake. If I wanted this kind of camping I would have stayed in Coldwater, Michigan and camped with the Yearlings and Moshers.LOL. It has rained all night last night and all day today. Lucky the park added more stone where we park or we would have sunk in to the axles.Here is a couple of pics of our lake front property. Ron, Katrina, Ned and Beth enjoy.

Going to Coffeyville

2009-10-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

We left Saturday morning for Coffeyville Kansas. I decided that we should get thru St. Louis before we stop for the day. OOPS I should of checked with the other 1/2 before making such a major decision like that. LOL It all went great till we got close to St. Louis and we were all getting tired from the days ride. Denise thought we should stop before St. Louis and I had other ideas. Well I had the steering wheel in my hands so you all know who had control. Yep, it was me and we went right on thru St. Louis. No problem till we started to look for a place to spend the night. By the time we started to find campground signs after St. Louis it was getting late and sun was going down fast. We decided to check out a State Park and drove forever to find out it was full. So back to the high way and losing day light fast, we decided a Wal-Mart would be OK for the night. Guess what! the one we picked had bars 9ft high so RV and truckers can't enter. I don't think they wanted us, so we decided to go to the Flyin J's truck stop just down the road. Guess what! they were full.
By now I didn't want the steering wheel any more and she wouldn't take it, but she was letting me know it was time to get out of the $%#^*%$ truck for the day and I was not in the mood to hear it.
So Onstar to the rescue. Pushed that magical button and told them we needed a campgrounds, RV resort or divorce attorney which ever was closest. Well they saved us and our marriage with a very nice camp that had pull thru sites that would accomadate all 70ft of us with no unhooking. That was great. Got a good nights sleep and was all better in the morning.
We got on the road early and arrived around 2:00 pm in Coffeyville, Kansas. Found Walter Johnson's Park and got set up. Of course I let the better 1/2 know how nice it was to have such a short drive today. See I am always right! LOL LOL LOL

Marion, Indiana

2009-10-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well we finally have internet service again. We had very sketchy service if any since I last posted.
We went to Marion, Ind. and visited with Denise's family. Went to our grand daughters soccer game. Here's a pic of her on the field.
We also went to the reenactment of the Mississinewa 1812 battle. Very crowded with school kids. Still interesting though. Here's some pics of that.

Coldwater

2009-09-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Coldwater, Mi. on Saturday sept. 26. Went to Potawatomie campgrounds and got set up. Visited with our friends Ned & Beth Yearling and Ron & Katrina Mosher till around 7:oo then we all went to Butler Motor Speedway to watch my daughter Denim race her car. Butler is a 3/8th mile dirt track. It was very exciting to watch my dare devil daughter race even though her car did not cooperate the whole race. It lost power 1/2 way thru the race. Here is a couple of pics of Denim racing. They didn't come out very well cause it was dark. Sorry.
Spent the day Sunday relaxing and going over to mom & dads for dinner.
On Monday we took the 5ver to mom & dads to repack the wheel bearings and check the breaks. My brother and sister inlaw Greg & Laura Allen came over to visit and of course mom made a big dinner for all of us.
On Tuesday mom & dad came over to visit. While there my aunt Vicci & Denny came over. We all went to Angola, In.to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Good food and company.
Tomorrow off to Indiana.

A GREAT LIFE WITH GREAT FRIENDS

2009-09-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 9/19/09 the Ohio gang had their annual walleye and perch fish fry; while there we were surprised with a going away cake and cards. We have met alot of friends here. hoping we all stay in touch. It's going to be a sad day when we pull out, but a new and exiting adventure is ahead of us. Hope to keep meeting good people and making friends all over the U.S.A.
Thanks to all that surprised us that day.
Here is a few pics of that day.

It's Almost Time !!!

2009-09-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well time is running out here at Matson's. In just a little over a week we will be on the road. Leaving the 26th heading to Coldwater. Mich. to visit family and friends before we leave the state. While there we will get to watch my daugther Denim race at Butler Motor Speedway. Looking forward to that. Will be at Potawatomie campgrounds 26th to the 30th.
Then off to Marion, Ind. to visit more family and friends and watch Mississinewa 1812 reenactment. Will be staying at Salamonie Reservoir Lost Bridge West State Park from Sept. 30th till October 3rd.
Then off to Coffeyville, Kansas. Will arrive on October 5th. Set up camp and stay the night;then drive to Fort Sill Ok. to visit Denise's son and family. Will be great to see our grand kids again. It's been a long time. TOOOOOOOOOOOOO long.

Denise's Fish

2009-09-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

This is Whopper that Denise caught the other day. It's not the biggest salmon but it will be one of the tastiest. I would like to have a dozen like this.
Ooh ya, she also skunked me that day with it !!!!

Time Flies

2009-08-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we will be leaving for Kansas in 4 1/2 weeks.
Can't figure out where summer went to. Everybody said that the last few years of work would fly by. NOT!!! But the first summer of retirement has.
We had a good time here at Matson't helping out around the campgrounds. We learned alot that will help us in future camp jobs. Scott and Cheryl are great to work for.
We took a trip to see Vicci and Denny. Went mushrooming with them. Had a great time with them and found lots of mushrooms.
Went to Coldwater and camped with Ned,Beth,Ron and Katrina. As always had alot of fun with them,
Mom and Dad is leaving today, Sad to see them go. Can't wait to we get to Florida in January to winter with them.

Fishing With Dad

2009-08-17T18:13:00.002-07:00

Well we went out this morning and they didn't bite. Went to Traverse City and ate dinner at Olive Garden then went out fishing this evening and dad got 1. I had 1 on and broke him off.I guess I need lessens on how to fight them. Or maybe it was just to big to land. LOL. Here's a pic of dads and one I got the other day.

Mom and Dad Visiting

2009-08-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of pics of mom and dad. Dad and I went out fishing this morning and got 2 salmon.Dad's going to smoke them.