Just Hanging Out

Not much going on around here…we have just been hanging out and relaxing.

Friday, we picked up the RV from the Heartland Factory and went through our repair list with Steve Kennel. They were amazing! They had fixed everything on our list, plus a few other things that we didn’t even know about. We parked back at Elkhart Campground for the few days that we were going to still be here.

Our plans were to leave on Monday morning, but we put it off until Tuesday. We told Kevin & Arlene goodbye and with plans to meet again in a few days…

and off they go…

We decided to go over to Goshen and have lunch with Chuck & Kathy. Well, we picked them up at the Dodge dealer where they were having some repair work done and we were off to lunch. After lunch we headed over to Hobby Lobby to do a little Retail Therapy…lol

Trees are sure starting to change colors here…and the temps are dropping. Time for us to think about heading a little farther south.

Well when we got back to Elkhart I said to Mac…”Let’s just stay and leave on Wednesday.” and he agreed…..where else do we have to be??? We don’t have to be anywhere until Oct 6th for Lisa’s Campout.

I made a big pot of Broccoli & Cheese Noodle soup to eat on the next couple of days, along with the batch of Goulash that I had made on Sunday. Now we don’t have to cook for a few days…sigh….

We will be leaving Elkhart, IN tomorrow morning heading to the Indianapolis area. We will be staying in an RV Park in Anderson, IN. It is about 20 miles north & east of Indy. We will be there for Wednesday & Thursday nights. We are hoping to spend Thursday exploring the area.

On Friday, we will take off to Shepherdsville, KY, just south of Louisville for 5 days. We will meet up with Kevin & Arlene, and also Bill Donovan, an RV-Dreams friend.

We plan on visiting the Slugger Museum, Coca Cola Museum, Kentucky Derby Museum, and a few Distilleries while in the area. There are some other things we want to see if we have the time.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Indy and then on to Kentucky…

(((HUGS)))

Lunches with Friends and a Trip to Lake Michigan

…but first I need to back up a few days and catch ya’ll up. Last time I posted we were just getting started on the Escapade…wow, has that been 2 weeks ago already. How time flies.

We had a great time at the Escapade with several breakfasts, lunches & dinners out with friends, lots of card playing, and a few seminars thrown in. Mac won one of the Door Prizes on the 2nd night. He won a $50.00 Gift Certificate to Camping World…I’m gonna enjoy spending it for him…lol.

We had our final Happy Hour at Keith & Donna’s MH on Friday, Sept 17th before everyone started down the road in separate directions. We met Larry and Melissa Beahm, who are a musical act that played at the Escapade…they are very talented. Melissa’s maiden name is McHenry and was curious if her and Mac may be related!Maybe we will find that out.

On Sunday, we packed the RV up and got things ready to move into the motel later in the day.Our RV had to be taken to the Heartland  Factory on Monday morning to have some repairs done. We got all settled in the Jameson Inn….already not liking that we are away from our own bed.

Monday, we took the RV to the factory and just went back to the motel and kicked back. It sure was nice not having to do anything….just resting.

Tuesday, we met Chuck & Kathy in Shipshewana for lunch at the Dutchmaid Diner and then on to a little bit of shopping…Retail Therapy as our friend JB says.

We sure didn’t add to the towns income for the day. After a little shopping, we headed over to the Menno-hof Museum. This is a wonderful place to learn the history of the Anabaptist….Mennonites, Amish.

This is from the Menno-hof website: Click here for website

Menno-Hof is a non-profit information center that teaches visitors about the faith and life of Amish and Mennonites. Located in Shipshewana, Indiana, Menno-Hof invites groups and individuals to learn about and experience Anabaptist history and lifestyle. Menno-Hof’s multi-image presentations, historical environments, and colorful displays take you on a fascinating journey inside the unique world of the Mennonites and Amish. See where the Anabaptists had their beginning in a Swiss courtyard and how they were persecuted for their faith in the dungeon. Travel with the Anabaptists down the cobblestone streets of Holland and board a 17th century sailing boat on a journey to America and freedom. Take a virtual tour for a glimpse of what Menno-Hof has to offer.

 

View Full Album

It was very interesting and I learned a lot that I did not know.

On Wednesday we headed back to Shipshewana to have lunch with Ed & Marilyn Dray at the Blue Gate Restaurant.

We haven’t seen them since last February in the RGV. We had a nice long visit and then parted ways with promises to meet up again next time we are close.

After lunch we went over to the Flea Market to walk off the lunch we had. I finally found the booth with the bowls that Kathy had told me about and bought a few.

On the way back to Elkhart we stopped at the Rise’ n Roll Bakery. They were about out of everything, which is a good thing, but we did manage to buy a container of their special Cinnamon Caramel Donut Holes. OMG these are wonderful. They just melt in your mouth!

Today, we were going to go over to Lake Michigan and look around.

My first Michigan Barn…

 

the colors are starting to change…it is sure getting pretty.

We didn’t leave until about noon, but it was a pretty short drive and we stopped in New Buffalo and headed for the City Beach first. You could almost think that you were on an ocean beach. No land in sight on the other side…wow.

 

View Full Album

After looking around, we headed back toward Elkhart with a stop in in South Bend, IN and also in Mishawaka. We had dinner at Five Guys Hamburgers…we love that place. It was a great day, and now we are back at the Motel trying to get things ready to pick up our RV in the morning and get it over to the RV Park for the weekend.

I think that about catches us up through today…Stay tuned for more adventures!!

(((HUGS)))

Ending of Gypsy Journal Rally & on to Escapade

Sorry everyone…I am really far behind in my blog. I think the last I had written was about the Hoosier Honey Contest.

Well the rest of the week passed really fast with a few seminars and lots of Happy Hours with friends.

We went out to dinner a few times…Lunkers, Bob Evans, El Camino, just to name a few of them.

We also made a trip to Goshen to have Breakfast with several friends. Everyone was following different directions from their GPS and it took a while for us all to get there…lol, but we had a great time and yummy food!

We picked up the new Desk/Dinette from Focal Wood and had it installed…we Love it!!

Before we knew it, it was time to start getting things ready to travel a whole 12 miles over to Goshen, IN for the Escapees 50th Escapade. When we came back from having our desk installed, we just stayed hooked up so we didn’t have much to do on Friday morning, September 10th.

There were four in the group that had full hookups and we took off about 7:30am…the other groups broke off in to 2 groups since there were about 11 of them…I borrowed this photo from Dortha…Thanks Dortha!!

everyone made it to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds safely. Mac & I got the RV backed in to our site, but didn’t get anything set up…Mac was having a really hard time breathing and was really laboring to get any air…after much discussion I talked him in to going to the hospital…we jumped in to Dortha’s Jeep but before we could even put it in gear, Mac decided that that form of transportation was not going to work. He was really hot and it made his breathing issues worse. So some friends of ours on the parking crew called 911 for us and gave them instructions on where we were.

The ambulance came to pick up Mac and we were off to the hospital with Dortha & Arlene following behind to give us some needed support. After several tests, X-Rays and a picture of Mac’s Heart the doctor determined that he was not in A-Fib as we thought but had fluid built up in his lungs and around his heart…Congestive Heart Failure were the words he used. Mac was given a large dose of Lasix and we waited for him to rid himself of some of those fluids. After about 5 hours at the hospital he was released to go back to the RV.

We want to say Thanks so much to all of our friends that helped get Mac ready to go to the hospital and the ones that set up our RV while we were at the hospital…the Medics crew here at the campground, Bud Carr, Mark, Kevin, Donnie, Bob, Molly, Paul, Connie, and of course Arlene & Dortha for being at the hospital with me..and if there was anyone I forgot to mention…Thank You All So Much!

Saturday he was back to his normal ornery self and ready to get on with the Rally. We walked around the Hospitality Room and went to the Vendor’s Pre-Rally Sale.

Sunday was opening Ceremonies and several of us set together for that. After that we attended the Class of 2007 Happy Hour. We were surprised by Howard & Linda Payne of RV-Dreams. They saw that a lot of the RV-Dreamers were attending the Rally and they were only about 6 hours away so decided to come and see us.

Also, they were asked to sit on a panel for Full-Time Discussion on Monday night. Mark & Dortha Hall were also on that panel.

Monday all of us kind of went our separate ways..seminars, shopping, and just doing nothing. It was a pretty emotional day for me…it was the one year anniversary of my mother’s passing, so I was pretty weepy all day. Mac took Shadow to the Vet again. He is just not feeling very good. The Vet gave him a Steroid shot and he is doing better. Several of us met for dinner at Lux Cafe for dinner and then attended the Full-Time Discussion Group.

Today, we went back to Focal Wood to pick up the Coffee Table that Carlyle had made for us. It wasn’t ready last week when we went to have the Desk/Dinette installed.

Mac is attending a seminar on RV Electrical Systems so I am trying to get this blog written…I am sure that I have forgotten a lot of things we did, but I haven’t taken any photos since we have been here at Escapade…Mac has taken the few we have.

Stay tuned, the week has just started….there’s lots more fun to be had here in Goshen, IN at the Escapade.

(((HUGS)))

Pre Rally Gathering and Rally gets Started

Thursday we all got up and gathered…we were going to the RV and MH Hall of Fame. This is a great place to see all the history of RV’s.

 

It started out with a video…then we were all on our own to browse through all of the exhibits.

There were Travel Trailers, Motor Homes, and 5thWheels from all shapes and sizes.

We had to take a little time out for some fun…Donna, Marcia, and me…

After going through the Museum we all were hungry and had different places we wanted to go, so we separated in to groups and had our own lunches and activities for the day.

 

We gathered again later for Happy Hour…this seems to be a daily occasion. Friday we just hung out and had Happy Hour..then 8 couples went to the clubhouse to play Hand & Foot…and I am happy to say that the ladies won at all 4 tables!!  WooHoo!

 

Saturday, Mac & I and Kevin & Arlene headed over to Shipshewana to have lunch and visit a few of the shops over there.

We had lunch at the Blue Gate Restaurant. Mac had homemade Chicken & Noodles, Arlene and I had the Roasted Turkey Dinner, and Kevin had the Fried Chicken Dinner…OH my goodness…it was really good. We also took a slice of pie home for later.

Sunday, Mac and I headed out to do a little shopping…he has volunteered to be in a Beauty Contest on Tuesday and needed to find himself an outfit…lol. I won’t go in to that now…photos to follow later in the blog.

 

Monday, the Gypsy Journal Rally started so we went and registered and walked through the Vendor Booths.Later we went out to Focal Wood to check on the status of our desk/dining table and for Chuck & Kathy to pick up their dining chairs that were finished. We will be having our desk/table installed on Sept 9th and I will post photos of it after that.

Of course Happy Hour followed all of this..lol. Our good friend Jim Beletti, Director of  Heartland Owner Interests arrived today and bought 10 Pizzas for all of us to enjoy for Happy Hour.

He is a really nice guy!!

Tuesday, I went to a seminar about aircards and things you can do to boost the power…didn’t really learn anything that I already knew.

Tonight was the Hoosier Honey Beauty Contest that Mac had volunteered to participate in…well the photos tell the story…Mac didn’t win, but is was soo much fun, and they raised $450.00 for the Escapees Care program.

and the winner is…Jim Guld

Click link to view the video of the contest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIuLgUDa8R4

After the Contest we headed back to our RV and set around with friends and then headed over to Jim’s RV…he was making Margarita’s…

Wednesday morning Mac & I had volunteered to be Door Monitors for a couple of seminars so we were off to be door police at 10:30. After we were finished we went to lunch with Keith & Donna, Kevin & Arlene, and Chuck & Kathy. Now it is sprinkling so not sure what the rest of the day will be…

Stay tuned to our Indiana Adventures…

(((HUGS)))