A Day in Amish Country

Since you cannot take pictures of the Amish people, I take pictures of the land in which they live. These people enjoy a calm (and sheltered) life - what a joy to visit.


This picture was taken from inside a small church that was founded in 1865 - This is near Amish settlements around Harmony, MN, but is an "Englisher" church.

Things Happen For A Reason ...

We were just supposed be in Minnesota this May. Mom has been in the hospital 4 times in three weeks and because of our change in plans, I was able to be with her for three of those visits. Her last trip to the ER by ambulance gave us all a huge scare... I thought I was going to lose my mom. When she was admitted she had a body temperature of 85 degrees - four hours under a heating unit and her temperature was up to 95. During that very scary time, I was asked to contact the oldest member of the family for directions regarding life support. Jim was called and caught the first available plane from Florida - he arrived just 8 hours later. There was a brief period during which she did not know my brother Rich or me.


Four days and many tests later, we don't know why her temperature fell so low. She is home but very weak and a little afraid of what the future holds. Mom is a proud lady and finds it very hard to accept help and even harder to ask for it. She may have to give up driving and that will be viewed as a serious loss of independence.


I am glad we are here close to our moms and our families. And when they drive me crazy (as is bound to happen), I am thankful for our wonderful retreat at "The Country Club".

A family dog, Shawnee, is 14 years old and moves kinda slow ... except when she sees a rabbit - then it is full speed ahead! The bird feeders are in place and this fellow always sings for us before he settles in to eat; gotta love that face.

Our newest family member visited the motorhome and made herself right at home - the hat she is wearing was a find at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO.
This pair of parents, who are currently calling Lake Jefferson their home, were keeping a close watch out for danger.
This heron struggled for quite some time to get the bullhead and finally stuck her bill right through the fish and proudly strutted off. I witnessed the skirmish and took this picture from a chair by the motorhome - what a place!

We're In Minnesota!

When I wrote last, we were in Springfield, MO waiting for a part. We had a nice "campground" at Reliable RV and the fuel pump came in on time, was installed and we hit the road for Minnesota...


You guessed it, the story of the engine was not over. About 250 miles north, the light came on again. Mike called back to Reliable --- but hey, what could they do... So, Mike decided we would let it cool off for 10-15 minutes and drive it another 100 miles or so.

(Only in Iowa would you find a casino that advertises this way.)
And then drive another 100, cool it down and so on - we did and we arrived safely in MN on Thursday.

While we were nursing the old crate north, I got a call and found out mom was in the hospital. She got out the day we got to MN, but was back in a couple of days later. Trying to find the right combination of drugs and diet is never easy and is harder as you get older. She is now home and anxiously waiting for the garden to get planted.

We decided a while back that we would spend most of the summer in southern MN at Bob and Corky's place. If you look at the state above, we are located below the "m" and right from the "u". We spent a month here last summer and found it very relaxing. AND it is close to moms and the newest great grandbaby. Wanna see a picture?

We may be biased, but I think she gets more beautiful every day! Look at those long lashes...

OK, back to the motorhome. Mike was aware of a dealer in Faribault that worked on Workhorse so he called and made an appt. to bring it in on Monday. We did and we ended up spending the next 5 days in their parking lot... One thing nice about MN, you are never far from water. This was the scene across the street from "our" parking lot. It worked out alright as ABC Bus is in the same town where mom was hospitalized and only 14 miles from her home in Kenyon. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time with mom and Mike spent a lot of time with the motorhome (and he did a little fishing). During the week, we also managed to get in a Dr. appt. and visit with "McDonald's" friends from North Branch. It now has new "head pipes"; sounds like something from the '60's to me but it is really part of the exhaust system. Seems the pipes had hairline cracks near the oxygen sensor and that could have been what set the whole thing off in the first place... hopefully it is now FIXED FOR GOOD!

So, on Friday we took it back to the lake and settled into our summer home. This is the view from the window of the MH - can't beat the surroundings!

Today, we went to the nursing home in St. Peter and celebrated Mike's mom's 88th birthday. This is Marion with her sister.
And this is Mike with his mom and his sons Terry and Brian and their wives, Janet and Tammy.
It is nice to be around family. In the coming weeks, we will celebrate a baptism and a graduation and I know there will be lots of quiet family times inbetween...



There is just something about being "home" that allows the real me to come out...

Till next time...

Laundromats, Beauty Shops, and Tow Trucks

So, what do these three things have in common? I'm thinking of two things actually...

Ah Come on, don't give up yet...

OK, I'll give it to you.

1. When you need one, you need one!

2. Finding a good one is hard to do!

We have often talked about how hard it is to find good laundromats and beauty shops over the past couple of years on the road, and recently we discovered the same is true of tow trucks. Since the last entry, we have had THREE more tow trucks attached to the front end of the motorhome ... and I hope to never see another!

When we were about 85 miles from Springfield on Interstate 44, the engine light came on, just as quickly, the engine gave a couple of good backfires and quickly lost power. Sound familiar? It was just like last time . Mike maneuvered to the side of the road and we were lucky enough to be within a half mile of an off ramp. We limped to the top of the ramp and found a safe place to park. Yep, you guessed it - the calls started again. Since we were traveling with the Lyons and there really was nothing they could do - heck there was nothing we could do - we said goodbye and sent them on their way to Indy. This was late morning on Thursday.

Coachnet finally decided where we should be towed and by whom. We told them there was a Workhorse dealer in Eureka, just outside St. Louis (it would have been going in the right direction, too), but they had other ideas. When the tow truck finally came, it was into the afternoon and we were bound for Lebanon (back west).

When we arrived, the tow truck driver and Mike agreed that the chances this place was going to be able to help us was pretty slim. It really was a tire shop with all open bays (never a good sign). They did have one larger bay and at one point they actually measured it to see if we might fit... (never a good sign).
It seems the owner of this place goes to auto auctions and buys used cars to fix and sell - probably the only way they get any work! After a couple of very frustrating hours, during which both Mike and I thought they were going to blow up the engine, the fellow finally says that he has "no idea" what might be wrong with it. By now, it is 5pm - closing time and we are sitting, towless, in their lot. After yet another phone call and finally a call from the owner of the shop to Coachnet saying he can't do anything, we are told to wait till morning and we will be towed to... Yep, you guessed it - back to Springfield to Reliable RV, a real Workhorse Shop.

Just an aside here - Lebanon, MO has a beautiful library and very caring people work there. A lady told us to park in the bus parking area overnight and then she told the folks inside to keep an ear to the radio as storms were predicted that night. I was having a hard time staying calm by this time, so I went in search of a beauty shop - when all else fails, do something to look good is my motto! The hairdresser at cost cutters was so nice, she actually gave me a free hair wash and scalp massage - I think she felt sorry for me. Anyway, $12 later, I looked better and felt better, too.

The rest of the evening was uneventful with just a little rain. The next morning, as we await the next tow truck, I discover a wisteria in bloom - they smell wonderful. I even convinced Mike to go down and take a smell - told him it was calming...

I don't think they have these in the Midwest; at least I have never seen them there and they smell wonderful - better than lilacs!
So, 8:30 comes and goes and we decide to call Coachnet one more time... they hadn't even requested a tow truck - good thing we called or we would still be sitting there waiting...

Sometime after 10:00 on Friday, a tow truck shows up and Mike and I begin to worry... the long haired doofus driving the thing didn't really seem to know what to do. He couldn't really figure out where things went. An hour later and with both of us getting more nervous, he tries to lift the motorhome, and a seal breaks - oil all over. Mike says, "Put her down!"

I could just see this setup destroying our new front tires!
After a few more calls, a larger tow truck is dispensed from the same outfit. It is after 1:00 by the time he arrives. This time the driver is a true Ozark Redneck, complete with missing teeth and a goofy grin. He seems to know what he is doing and within an hour, we are finally underway ... back to Springfield. Here Mike is saying, "Here we go, one more time."And what a trip it was. This jerk actually drove 70-75mph the whole time with our motorhome swinging and swaying in back of him. When Mike passed and slowed down to give him a hint, the bozo actually passed us! But, we made it to Reliable RV in Springfield before closing. A quick diagnosis was done - they think it is a fuel pump so one was ordered but they will do more checking next week. In the meantime, we are safe and sound at the campground they provide for customers. Yesterday, I did laundry at a very nice facility and today, we went to church and had a relaxing day - Mike went to Bass Pro to check out fishing stuff and I sat in the sun and read and took pictures of this fellow playing in our "backyard".

We will probably be here a few days so Indy will have to wait for another year. We will miss our friends but it will be good to get to MN for Mother's Day - hopefully!