Finally We are Camping Again

It has been one long cold Winter/Spring since we last were able to get the trailer out for some camping. We decided no matter what the weather was we were going to go. So over the weekend we hitched up and traveled south to our favorite campground in the area. That is Bo Wood COE. Once we are out of Bloomington/Normal we head south on Route 51 then onto Route 20, Route 35,Route 105, Route 32 through Sullivan, IL then about 3 miles south of Sullivan a right turn takes you to the campground gate. We checked in and had reserved site #103. Glenda likes full hook ups and with my new Senior Pass we pay half price for our site. That's $12/night. Can't beat that even figuring in the gas we used. The weather was supposed to be cool but warming through the weekend. Friday night got down to 30-31 degrees so I didn't hoop up the water hose just in case. We thought it would be better to be out in the open where the sun could worm us during the day and I brought plenty of firewood to keep us warm in the evening.

 Site #103

 

We got to our site around 6:30pm and got set up. Glenda had made some chili at home the night before so we heated it up and with some veggies and dip. Food just tastes better when you're in a campground. We decided to run the space heater instead of running the furnace. Out trailer is pretty small so a heater and an extra blanket is all we needed. We slept great.

 

The next morning we got up late and had our usual oatmeal, blueberries, walnuts and cinnamon. Orange juice with the vitamins and we are good to go. Once we got the dishes cleaned up we took a nice long walk around the campground. We figured if we walked all the loops we would get about 3 miles of walking. There was little wind and the sun was out in full force so we had a pleasant outing.

 

Once we got back to the trailer we decided to go into the town of Sullivan and I got a big cup of coffee and Glenda had her usual Diet Coke - fountain style, of course. Then it was time to do some exploring. We like to visit the nearby town of Arthur, IL. This is Amish country and we enjoy seeing the Amish folks living their simple lifestyle.

In Arthur there is a nice little ice cream/coffee shop so we stopped and had some ice cream. Outside we saw a couple of horse and buggies.

RoseLens is where we had the ice cream

We stopped at the Dollar General nearby and got some batteries for a new lantern we had gotten over the winter and picked up some other items that we didn't know we needed.  Then a drive through Amish back roads we saw houses with laundry on the line, horses in the fields and even this donkey.

I think it's a miniature donkey

 

 

Once we got back at the site we got a fire started for the evening and decided to grill some turkey burgers. Baked Lay's BBQ chips and veggies for sides. The rest of the evening we sat by the fire and enjoyed the warmth and flames.

Once the fire burned down to hot coals we moved inside to watch some TV, read and play some games on the I pad. With all the activity on Saturday we again slept very well.

Sunday for us is always a bit of a sad day since we have hitch up and head back home to start a new work week. However at Bo Wood the check out time is 4 pm so we always stay as late as we can. We had out usual breakfast and got a few things packed up. We took another walk in the morning and noticed it was warming up even faster than on Saturday. The winds were coming out of the south more. This also would make for a smooth drive home since we would have a nice tailwind. We decided to build a small fire and relax for a while before we did the full pack up, clean up and hitch up.

This is the opening weekend for Bo Wood and I was surprised their weren't as many folks out as we thought there would be. In our loop there were only 4-5 other trailers. The other loops had about the same numbers in each.

Looking north from our site

 

Looking a little more east of our site

 

 

We had a great first outing of OUR season. The trip home was as I thought - very smooth with a great tailwind. Excited about next year when we retire and begin the full time life where we don't have to think about packing up to go home. We will be IN our home.

Looking forward to retirement and it won't be long. 

 

 

 

 





LaCrosse and Grandkids

Well after our weekend with the oldest daughter and our new grandson we wanted to visit the other grandkids in Indiana. Our oldest granddaughter, Jasmyne, is a freshman in high school and tried out for the Women's Lacrosse team and guess what she made the team. As a matter of fact she is the only freshman that made the VARSITY team. Quite an accomplishment. This young lady is a very talented athlete and could do just about anything she wants. Anyway, we went over to their home last weekend to watch her play her second and third games of the season. It just so happened she was playing 2 games on Saturday. The first was in Noblesville and the second was just a few miles to the south east in Fishers. Since this is her first year she didn't get to play much but it sure was fun seeing her in her uniform and gear.

This is Jasmyne



We went to their home on Friday evening and it just so happened that her husband's family(Mother, Uncle Ron and Aunt Ellie) were there to see our daughter's husband, Todd's, son Mason play Rugby for Davenport College in Grand Rapids, MI. When ever we get together we always have a good time.

So the next morning Sommer(our daughter), Brooklyne(the next oldest granddaughter), Glenda and I jumped in our car and made the rip to Noblesville. Jasmyne was able to catch the ball a couple of times and made some good throws down the field to the other team mates.

Jasmyne is #28

 

Having never watched Women's Lacrosse it was difficult to understand the penalties. But we still had fun watching her participate.

 

Doesn't she look official?

 

Unfortunately since the team is somewhat young and the other team had home field advantage the other team won. It was a close game at 5-4.

 

Once the game was over and she came to say hi we then worked our way over to Fishers and found a Monical's Pizza. We ordered the Individual Pleasers(8 inch pizza with the toppings you want on it) with  salad and drink. We all got the thin crust and I got a root beer for my drink.

 

We found the second field at the Fishers High School and it was actually the football field and had artificial turf. Now this is something the Penn High School Women's Lacrosse team had not played on before and with home field advantage again the other team won. This time it wasn't as close in score BUT that just gave Jasmyne more time on the field. Since the score wasn't as close they could allow the newer, younger players to stay in the game and get some additional practice.

 

It was hard to get action shots since the game moves so quickly but at least I did get her on the field.

 

It was a little cool so the players brought blankets to cover up with while waiting to come into the game. I just happened to catch Jasmyne as she opened her blanket to reposition it. She was all the way across the field from us and I had to zoom pretty far. She had no idea I was taking her picture but it looks like she was actually posing(pretty cool). We all had a good time and I had to get photos of my daughter.

This is Sommer(Jasmyne's Mom)

 

This is Glenda and Brooklyne

 

As you can tell Brooklyne is pretty tall for her age(She's 12). The photo is a little deceiving since Glenda is only 5ft tall.

 

We had a great ride back to Sommer's house and the rest of the crew that went to the Rugby game had already had supper. Ron made chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and corn. Since it was pretty late and we had a lot of pizza earlier we just snacked around until bedtime. However the next day we did finally get to taste the wonderful food that Ron had made. Leftovers are the best.

 

Now we are getting ready to go back to Chicago for another visit to see Aiden, his Mom and Dad. I know that it is going to get busy this summer so we need to get as much time with ALL the family before it gets crazy. Still working toward retirement and it won't be long. We even moved up the date on the countdown clock. October 2014. I have all the fulltime RV bloggers that I read on my list to thank for that. Reading about your lives and the way you are living each day makes me want it even more. Thank you for sharing and I look forward someday soon of reaching my dream too.