Thursday, May 14, 2015

Rain, Rain go away....Dinner with friends

Well we've been at Comlara Park for about 4 weeks now and we had to move from a nice pull through to a back in site that has very little gravel and lots of mud with all the rain lately.

Site #7 pull through
Site #94

What a mess
 
 
The last 2 days were dry so most of the mud had dried but tonight as I type this the rain is back and will be until we leave on Sunday. Not looking forward to closing up and stowing gear in the rain. I'm ready to find some new adventures some where else. The good thing is when we move on Sunday, we will going to see the grandkids again and watch Jasmyne perform in a school dance recital. We also will be there for Memorial Day weekend and then we move to Charger Enterprises for some RV repair and installing 2 new 6v AGM batteries along with a battery monitor. Preparation for some dry camping in the future. Now I need to save up for a generator and an inverter. Once we leave IN, we'll head to Sycamore, IL so we can visit with our daughter, SIL and Aiden in Streamwood, IL. When we visited them last time they had their townhouse sold and we went house hunting with them. Well.....unfortunately the buyer backed out and it is back on the market. No house hunting for a while. We're all very disappointed. I try to keep a positive attitude and keep my fingers crossed for them.
 
After our visit in IL we'll come back to Bloomington/Normal and Comlara Park on June 1 with Dr appts for Glenda and I and make our plans for a trip to Wisconsin. Ready for new scenery.
 
We had a nice dinner with some old friends that I used to run with. I mean run like with our feet. Not just run around town with. Jana has run many 5k races, 2 1/2 marathons and a couple of ultra marathons with me and Steve also ran some ultra marathons and trail running. We all enjoy a good beer so we met up at Destihl  in Normal, IL They have good food, nice atmosphere and tasty craft beers. We got a table shortly after we got there even though it was a local college graduation weekend and the place was busy. Jana and Steve arrived and the conversation really started to flow. Just like we had been together without a break. That's how good friends do it. The cool thing is Jana is planning on going full time next spring after she retires in January and gets her house sold. She's been to a few RV shows and decided on a 31-32 foot 5th wheel. We talked about what truck she might want to consider, the hitch and got caught up on our lives. Steve retired 2 yeas ago and loves his home and enjoys working in his garden. He recently lost his dog, Sophie, due to an illness but was able to take in a rescue dog, Casey and they are getting along great.
 


Lots of activity here at the park being so close to a lake. There are a number of geese families that gather on the road in the evening and get  their fill of grass along side the road. The little baby goslings are really growing fast.


Well that's about it for now. Wish us luck on getting out of this site on Sunday without getting stuck or drowning. Indiana here we come. The adventure continues.






 

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Where it started, Indiana visit and Aiden visit....catching up again

We left Bo Wood COE on April 20 and headed to Comlara county park about 10 miles north of Bloomington/ Normal, IL. We checked in about 3 pm and got set up on our pull through site #7. We booked it for 2 weeks so we could visit family and friends and attend our Dr appts. This is our kind of "camping" Nice landscape and room between sites.

 
 
 
 
We can only stay on one site for up to 2 weeks then we have to move to a new site(which we did on Sunday). The plan has been to make this our base for about a month(and it's already been about 3 weeks). Since then we traveled to Indiana to see our SIL's son, Mason, graduate from college and visit with the grandkids. We had a great time and also met up with some our SIL's family too.
 
Our daughter, Sommer, and her family

Todd, Glenda, me and Sommer

Glenda and I with the grandkids

Todd's Aunt and Mom

Todd's cousin, his Mom and kids
 
 
We had a great time visiting and of course, eating. Todd's Aunt and Mom are great cooks and totally out did themselves. The next day we drove to Grand Rapids, MI to watch Mason, Todd's son, graduate with his bachelors degree in sports management. They had a big screen to watch as they crossed the stage so I got a good shot of Mason.
 



Mason and his half sister

Caden mugging for the camera

Brooklyne and Jasmyne

Jasmyne, Brooklyne and Ryleigh

Pizzeria after the graduation 


More pictures being taken
 
We had a great time celebrating his accomplishment and so much fun visiting again. We headed back to our daughters home and left the next day. We are going back with our rig the 17th of May and stay for a couple weeks through Memorial Day weekend.
 
This past weekend we went to see our other daughter, Heather and youngest grandson, Aiden. Heather and her husband, Paul, just put their townhouse on the market and just be fore we got there they said it was sold and they needed to start house hunting. We went with them to see several houses and they liked a couple of them. They planned on doing more looking this week HOWEVER the buyers of their home backed out of the deal so looking at more homes right now is off the table until they get it sold AGAIN. She is very disappointed as we are also but I know it will sell soon. The market in the area is beginning to heat up and I know they will get a new buyer soon. Looking forward to helping them move and have a yard and all the cool things that go with being in a neighborhood. We had a great weekend and even went to their favorite restaurant/winery. Coopers Hawk....    Aiden was so good at the restaurant and is quite the character. He has such a great disposition. Paul and Heather are doing a great job as parents.  
 



Aiden enjoying ice cream

Entrance to Cooper's Hawk

Nice display

Wine tasting area
 
After dinner we took a walk around the outdoor mall where Cooper's Hawk is located and went to a great chocolate shop....Anna Shea's. They make specialty chocolates that are from molds and decorated in very upscale designs. Sorry no photos. 

 
 
The next day we lounged and watched some TV before we headed back home. Aiden is really into a kids show called Bubble Guppies and can not be distracted when watching
 
Bubble Guppies

Hello Aiden? Are you there?

Paul, Heather and Aiden

Grandpa, Grandma and Aiden
 
We had s much fun the last two weekends. So good to be back with family. We took Aiden for walks in his wagon, walked the dogs and just simply hung out.
 
We are spending time with my Dad and brother and I'll have some photos soon. Dad likes Bob Evans, so we've been there a couple times with him and my brother. Glenda and I have hung some pictures in Dad's apartment and I helped him with his DVD player so he could watch some of his DVD's related to WWII. I know there's not much detail in my post but I assure you we are having a great time and it's is good to be back where it all started. At least for a while. Getting that hitch itch again.