Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana

Driving through Indiana was similar to going through Illinois. The countryside was beautiful farmland in rolling hills, mostly planted in corn. Everything looked so fresh and green. Look carefully at the roof of the barn in the picture. The picture of the flag and eagle is not painted on. It is done by using roofing shingles of different colors when the roof was put on. We saw several different ones done this way.

We stopped tonight just south of South Bend, Indiana. Sandy wanted to see Notre Dame, so we went to town and drove around the campus a bit. The tower picture is actually the admissions office for St Mary's which is part of the Notre Dame complex. Very pretty campus, but Notre Dame had LOTS of construction going on.

As we traveled north, diesel kept coming down in price, largely following the reduction in crude oil prices. About 40 miles west of Indianapolis, we filled up for $4.27 a gallon. So when we got into South Bend, still in Indianna, and about 90 miles north, we looked for diesel. The first sign we saw said $5.09 a gallon. We thought that must be a joke, but it was not. We finally found some for $4.79, but the pump would only let me have $50 on one card swipe. I was so PO'd by then, I refused to get more. We will look for fuel when we get into Michigan.

We drove into a strong storm front east of St. Louis

Sandy's back is much better, so we left Lake of the Ozarks this morning. We only drove about 200 miles just in case the ride got to her back. It did fine, fortunately. After we set up in our park for the night and turned on the local TV stations, we saw that a strong storm front was headed this way. It moved through about 8:00 pm and I got some video of it. We will get into Michigan on Friday, and I hope to start getting some good still pictures to post.

The wind is shaking the trailer right now. We have the slides rolled in, but we can still sit in our recliners and watch TV.

Us

The welds didn't hold short term

We are now using epoxy resin and super glue to strengthen the welds. The fix on Sandy's back hasn't gone as well as we had hoped. So, we are staying in the Lake of the Ozarks area at least until Monday July 28. Then she will go back to the back mechanic at least one more time. It might require more treatment even then. Not a problem, as WE DON"T HAVE TO GET BACK TO GO TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!!

Retirement is great...... I'm glad some of you are still working to support our Social Security payments that support our traveling. :^)

Well, time to take a nap I suppose. Then maybe some brunch, and maybe then some more reading and napping. (Well someone has to do it!!)

Us

Major equipment failure has delayed trip

On Sunday, while camped in Lake of the Ozarks State Park, we had an equipment failure that has delayed our trip and will cause us to miss the Alaska trip people reunion in Illinois. (The deer was in back of our rig last night.)

The equipment that failed was Sandy's back! She pulled it significantly last Sunday when she tried to get up out of a recliner with something in both hands. The failure was immediate and readily apparent. She has been to an equipment specialist (chiropractor) every morning since Monday, and is slowly being brought up to normal functioning. Sitting in a tow vehicle for long periods is the worst thing for her equipment. Tomorrow will probably be the last trip to the Dr., but we are going to stay tomorrow night just to make sure that no welds fail.

We now have no time deadlines, so we are going to wander northeast and eventually follow the eastern shore of Lake Michigan all the way to the Upper Penninsula (the U.P. as the locals call it). We will take a ferry out to Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island for a day and then cross over the Mackinac bridge to the U.P. and eventually into Canada.

We'll start posting more pictures as we travel into the north country.

Us

Trees in Kansas

A lot of you probably think that Kansas is just a treeless plain. The photo shows that this is just not true. Note the tree just to the right of the farmhouse.

Doggie Heaven

7-11-08
Wichita Falls, TX.
We stayed in the “Wichita Falls RV Park” for the last two nights while we visited relatives. The park has the most unique dog walking area I have ever seen. I call the picture “Doggie Heaven”. By the way, just click on the pistures to view them full screen.

Getting ready for the 2008 road trip

I got the trailer back yesterday from the annual preventive maintenance inspection. I had noticed that the rear tires had worn excessively on the extreme inside edge, almost off the tread. I asked the RV shop (Bob Jones RV repair in South Houston) to check the axles. The rear axle was both bent and twisted. The front axle was slightly bent. I don't know when or how this happened, but it was probably from the Alaska trip last year. In the end, I now have 2 new axles. Everything else is OK and the trailer is clean and ready to roll.

We won't load it until probably Monday. We leave on Wednesday, July 9. We will first head north to visit some relatives in northern Texas and in Kansas, and then go to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a few days to meet our friends from Ely, Minnesota who are there for a national rally of their RV club. Then we head north to Utica, Illinois for a reunion with the Good Sam Alaska Caravan group. After that, we head for the upper peninsula of Michigan. Then we will go east through Canada to Niagra Falls, NY, and then wander home through NY , Pennsylvania, West VA, Kentucky, Tennessee, and then come home on the Natchez Trace. We will be in no hurry, if we stay healthy. We should return home to Texas sometime in late September.

I will post minimally until we reach Michigan, and then I'll start posting pictures. Look for the next post late next week sometime, assuming we can get Wi-Fi.

Dutch