07/27/09 Getting ready

We have a list of things that need to be done before we leave, and it seems like a huge list!  Probably the most critical thing is insurance. I am looking at various insurance options now.

Over the weekend we went through everything in the RV again, except the storage bins under it. We pulled everything out of the drawers and cabinets, decided if we could get rid of some more, and reorganized. We had a bunch of cooking pans in the storage area under the bed, and that was not working well. We have to lift the mattress to get to that area, so we didn’t use those cooking pans. Now we have winter clothes and Christmas stuff under there, as well as my 2 quilts. I hope to use those quilts again someday but for now, they are safely stored away. We used vacuum bags for the quilts so they don’t take up much space. Randy has found a place for some of my photo albums, so now I need to see if they all fit. I will work on putting most of the pictures onto disk but that will take some time, and I will always have a few things that I want to keep in a book. This weekend we will do the same cleanup and organization for the storage bins under the RV.

Randy has already installed the new bookcase. It looks great, and it holds a TON of books! Randy was able to fit all his cookbooks in it. We don’t have room for any other books there, but that opened up a lot of space elsewhere.  

07/22/09

We are enjoying a very mild summer. We finally pulled up our 2 tomato plants.  They got a few blooms but never produced a single tomato. It turned out they did not have good roots. The chives and flowers in the pots are doing well though.

We biked the Tour de Donut again this year, but it didn’t go well. It started raining hard right after we started. For a few miles I could not see anything. Then, as I was biking up a hill, the chain slipped off the gears of my bike. I fiddled around with it but could not get it to slip back on. Eventually it did go on but by that time, between the rain and the chain and the fact that I hadn’t practiced much, I lost the will to finish it. I met up with Randy at the first stop and we both agreed to stop. We caught a ride back to the starting point on one of the SAG wagons.  We loaded our bikes on the bike rack on the van and rode back inside the van.

We have found a place to spend the winter! It’s just a few miles south of Phoenix, Arizona, called Quail Run RV park. It looks good – pretty area, good weather, a pool and a workout room. I’m looking forward to this now! Randy is going to work 3 days on, then 6 days off.  That should allow us time to get out and see the country around there. We still have a lot to do to get ready. I already told my boss that my last day will be September 3^rd.  

07/10/09 Friends and a Bike accident

It seems I just got swamped at work, with my co-worker quitting and the big release coming up.  

Frank and Kathy Miller stopped by recently (although it was before the family reunion).  This spring they decided to buy a house in Texas and live there half the year, and travel the other half.  They have a lot of friends in this area so they try to stop for a few days when they are near.  They stayed in an RV park in St. Charles, which is just west of St. Louis – not too far. We spent most of a day with them. We went to Pia’s for dinner – that’s an Italian restaurant in St. Charles.  We had a really great meal – fried artichoke hearts and pizza Pia’s makes the best fried artichoke hearts EVER! And it turns out their pizza is really good, too.

While Randy and I were biking with Aaron and Dezina a few weeks ago, Aaron's bike got caught in an old train track and threw him off, hard. He got up but couldn't walk, much less bike. Randy is the best rider among us so he decided to bike back to our RV and return with the car. I think the accident happened on the Missouris side of the McKinley bridge so it was almost 3 miles to the RV park so naturally it took awhile. It started getting dark and we were waiting not in a very good place - no business around, just old buildings. The only people who came by were some guys who looked like they could be trouble; they didn't offer to help so Aaron stood up straight to look like he was someone who could keep Dezina and I safe, although it almost killed him to do it! Randy made it back before total darkness and we loaded Aaron and the bikes in the car. 

When he went in for treatment he learned that his hip was broken; it sort of cracked in two. They put a pin in his knee for a couple of days to keep him in traction, and then decided he didn’t need surgery. He’s getting around OK now but will need to use a walker for a few more weeks. He sure won’t be riding a bike in the Tour De Doughnut this year.  

A couple of weekends ago Randy and I went to Sherrard to visit Lonnie and Chris.  Theresa and Tomm went too, so it was a nice family get-together. Theresa and Tomm stayed in their 5^th-wheel RV, Randy and I stayed in Lonnie’s 5^th- wheel RV, and Lonnie and Chris just stayed in their house, of course. That was a great arrangement but unfortunately a fierce storm blew through and caused a tree limb to break, bringing down the power line. No more air-conditioning! And because Lonnie and Chris get their water from a well, no running water either. We had lights because the RVs have batteries but we could not run the air conditioners in the 5^th wheels without draining their batteries (we would have been OK in our RV).  It wasn’t too bad but we were sure glad that the power line was fixed by the next evening.  We spent the day sight-seeing in nearby Rock Island.  Lonnie had worked for the Armory for around 30 years before he retired, so we went to see that. It was really interesting – it looked like they had every type of gun or rifle ever made on display.  There was also a small, restored house where one of the first settlers’s lived, and a replica of a trading post.  

This past weekend Lonnie and Chris drove their RV down to see us. They came in on Tuesday and stayed until Monday morning, so it was a nice, long visit.  We took them everywhere – Italian grocery stores and bakeries, Soulard’s market, the indescribable City Museum, and the beautiful St. Louis Basilica. The St. Louis Basilica is a large cathedral with beautiful mosaic tile scenes over the entire ceiling and most of the walls. It is simply breath-taking. And as usual when someone comes to visit, Randy wanted to take them to many of his favorite restaurants, so we were almost always stuffed!  

We have started looking for a place to spend the winter. We want to be somewhere that will stay warm, is in an interesting location, and will not require too many hours of work, so we can get out and see the area. We have found some opportunities that look good, so we’ll start checking them out.