Winding Down

 Hi all

We are beginning to close in on the end of Summer. 

It has been a hot, dry year and with a break from the smoke in the air, the sunsets are back. Windy all day and at sunset the wind stopped so the lake could accent the beautiful sky. 

Today was also a nice break from the heat. Upper 70's and a nice breeze was sure a welcome, although temporary, relief. Tomorrow back to the 90's.

Starting to plan for some travel this Fall. Hope the fires are under control and the smoke goes away. Also hoping the Delta variant is overcome so things can stay open. 

Company this weekend for some good food and great times. 

Make your day great and live!

Tom and Millie

 Happy July 3

Start of what looks like a great, although hot and dry, weekend for the holiday. Getting to spend it with family at the cabin. I might even go swimming to cool off!

We are in the middle of severe drought. We have not yet had water restrictions. I only am watering the pots, not the "pot", and the garden. Even with watering the heat is so brutal many of the garden items are suffering. We rarely have to mow the lawn, either at home or the cabin. I don't know if less fuel mowing will make up for the carbon footprint of higher A/C use.

I have been working on balancing and assembling the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery for the RV.

It has been balanced, all cells at the same voltage, and going to wait till after the holiday to assemble to the 12 volt configuration. Been a good project during the hot weather. Still have some roof work to do on the RV, but that will have to wait for cooler weather.

We are hoping you all have a great weekend, whatever you are choosing to do. Stay safe and make good decisions. Most of all, have fun!

Make your "bigadventure" great and be thankful for what this holiday is about.

Tom and Millie

We are still here!

Hi all

Yes, we are still at our Stick & Brick. 

The past year we have been homebound like many of you. We chose to not travel this past spring and spend the time with our family. Doing a bit of daycare for our grand daughter and working on projects.

Summer now brings us hope to travel again and we are busy enjoying our family at the lake cabin, yard work, garden and working on projects. Millie is actively quilting and I have been working on some upgrades on the RV along with kids homes and cabin projects.

One of the lake cabin benefits.

I have 2 major projects for the RV. After trying to rig a work around for the failing backcheck valve in the water pump and failing. I gave up and will now be installing a new pump, later rebuilding the old one for a back up. Biggest problem is the location, I can only get one hand in there at a time, making many operations very frustrating. Just have to practice patience and stretch often.

The 2nd project is adding an additional solar panel on the roof along with building a LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery. Hoping for the ability to dry camp for at least 3 days with no charging input. This would allow us to park in the shade with solid overcast sky. Not a real likely hood. Besides, traveling in the fall to the mountains and desert, the nights are cool and the days are often not as warm. So, sunshine feels really good and will keep the batteries charged for unlimited use.

Still often so busy we can't figure out how we had time to work. Hoping that staying active will give us the most possible time to enjoy family and enjoying traveling this great country.

Life is good.

Make your day great.

Tom and Millie

Missouri

 Hi all

First stop was Hunnewell Conservation Area in NE Missouri. A very nice small campground with sites for tents to Class A's. No hookups, and there is a dump station and fresh water fill available. All sites have views of the lake and are well spaced. Not only are the campsites free, there are row boats, just have to provide your own safety equipment. They don't allow any personal boats so it is nice they provide. 

Spent one night at Hunnewell and would have enjoyed more. We had to move on as cold weather is beginning to shrink our weather windows to get home before Nov.

Drove across Northern Missouri to Hamilton, MO. NE of Kansas City. It is the home of JC Penneys. Unfortunate for us the museum was closed, along with most of main street. Hamilton is also the home of the Missouri Star Quilting Company and home to many Quilt and sewing shops. Millie was sad and told me we will have to return on a future trip. We are spending the weekend here and the little RV Park is very nice with helpful and friendly staff. We will stay here when returning.

This weekend they had their Fall Festival. Sort of a cross between our Steam Threshers Reunion and a flea market. Many old engines, steam tractor, blacksmith and an operating sawmill. Many crafts, food, and "cast off" items for sale. We were there when the Sheriff had to chase the bad guys out of town. Gun fight and all. Not a professional production, just lots of fun to watch.

Then off to the local brewery. Are you surprised? Levi Garrison and Sons. Excellent little place off Main St. serving several tasty beers and an Apple Pie Cider that was just like a slice of pie. We ordered in food from a local burger joint, delivered as fast as any restaurant and among some of the best we have had.

Found the signs for this brewery and think that they were bought by Levi Garrison, the sign was on a building right next door.

Lefty found a great place in the sun while we hook up the trailer.

The first half of the weekend has been fun in Hamilton. When it all opens back up it will be a very interesting place to visit.

Make your day great

Tom and Millie 

Turn around point

 Hi all

We made it to the end and now time to turn and head (sort of) back home for the winter, brrrr. 

We had a wonderful time in the Shipshewana area with all the sights and people. On our way out of town we stopped for our appointment with JC Refrigeration and they made short work of replacing the cooling unit on our fridge. We had a 12 volt compressor unit installed replacing the gas/electric absorption unit. Only worries with that now is being sure we have enough battery power to keep it going. First night out worked OK. With heat and CPAP machine the batteries were down about 80%. 

While JC Refrigeration was working on our unit we went to the Shipshewana Flea Market. It is a cross between a rummage sale, a junk store, craft fair and a bit of the Fargo Street Fair. Lots of Amish families, tourists ( including us), and people on "scooters" that had never been on one. Kind of a hazard, they should be tested before being allowed to operate in public.

We also went to some of the shops in town. Lots of pretty colors interesting construction, places and full parking lots.

We moved on to Bryan, OH to a Walmart parking lot. Picked up needed items to restock the fridge. Surprisingly quiet night now that Walmarts close at 10 PM. Now we have Ohio on our RV Map. In the morning we headed south to catch the road back West. That was the furthest point we have gotten from home. 300 miles yesterday to a really nice County park in Illinois. Arrived with enough light to sit outside with an adult beverage and enjoy just being. Comfort food for supper and a walk with the "boyz" rounded out the evening. Edited some photos and off to bed.

One of the advantages of traveling in the fall and finding places during the week, is being able to socially distance. Often the County, Township and City campsites are some of the best.

Today we are off to a Missouri Conservation Area. Again hoping to get a great campsite and dry camping so we will be testing the system again.  

There is a few that will appreciate this.

Make your day great turn off the TV!

Tom and Millie

Hi all

 Shipshewana, IN is a very interesting place, basically an Amish and Mennonite community that has learned the art of tourism. Most of the stores are of an Amish nature, of course that is what the tourists are coming here for. Great place to browse and enjoy the hometown flair and colors.

It is also beautiful with the fall colors and so many well kept farms. In Minnesota Amish communities you can usually pick out the farms that are Amish by the lack of electrical service lines. Here with the combination of Amish, Mennonite and "English" (the rest of us), it may look Amish although with power lines. I also noticed "telephone booths" that looked more like outhouses. The location was wrong for an outhouse and the phone conduit and box on the building was a give away. This shows in the first photo, the little white building on the right. We think it is because they will not have a phone, power, tv or computers in their home. To keep the outside world out of their home and religious life. Business life must be different, at least with some.

However different around here, we have found people to be courteous and friendly. But those buggies..... seemed to go late into the night up and down the road along the RV Park and the noise from the horses' hooves was so loud. Guess it really means it was a nice quiet place to spend several nights. It really was peaceful.

While here we have found several breweries and a couple of wineries.

We also found the RV/MH Museum in Elkhart, IN. Lots of old and unique RVs. Made for a fun afternoon. 

We have also found lots of wonderful fall colors as we traveled around. 

The Shipshewana area made for a fun visit with great sights, people and things to relax and do. Definitely worth the time if you are going to be anywhere near. It is also the RV and Motor Home capital of the world. Although not all are built here, many have facilities in other parts of the country, making different models. There are a few manufacturers that are not located here and our Arctic Fox is one that is not.

The morning after we first arrived, we watched this woman, whom we suspect is Mennonite, climb up on our neighbors rig and install roof vent covers. She knew what she was doing and did it much faster than I took doing mine. In my defense, I believe she was likely 30-40 years younger than myself.

From Indiana we say adieu.

Make your day great and enjoy the ride.

Tom and Millie 

Finally back and furthering our travels.

 Hi all

Now I have to go back a week or so and remember what we have been doing.
Not always an easy job for an old guy that is busy.
Moving along in the UP and over the Mackinac Bridge on our way to
Petoskey, MI on the East shore of Lake Michigan.
While crossing we got our only view, on this trip, of Lake Huron.

Millie enjoying the bridge.

Now remember we have a 13ft - 6inch high, 12,000lb RV behind us.

But, we did great, the bridge clearance was 14'6" and the lane was 12' wide, lots of room.

Stopped at a KOA outside of Petoskey, MI and over the weekend found some adult beverage producers.

I did find a great use for a mask, keeping the critters out of the beer.

Interesting sights in the Petoskey area.

Landscaping for that North Woods look.

On to our next stop, Luddington State Park on the East Shore of Lake Michigan.

This is where we got technology free for four nights.

We had to drive into town to get service and that was short.

Beautiful State Park and walking on the beach was incredible.

Right at the mouth of a crystal clear river flowing into Lake Michigan.

And the sunset, what can I say?

Campsite was nice and roomy.

Alas, it was time to move on.

Quick stop along the lake at a Roadside Park.

Followed the road South to Indiana, a quaint little town named Shipshewana.

It is a major area for Mennonite and Amish and there were lots of buggies on the road.

Got settled in and went exploring and those images and stories will come in the next post.

One of the place we stopped was JC Refrigeration, where we lucked out and were able to get an appointment to have our refrigerator cooling unit replaced. I anticipated we would have to order one for me to install. Sure glad we could get an appointment.

More to come and more photos.

One more for your enjoyment.

Make your day great.

Tom and Millie