Settling In At The Cabin

We have a small cabin on 3 acres that we've used as a weekend retreat for many years.  When we went full timing we kept the cabin and use it when we are in the area since our daughter Cassie & her family live nearby.  Our neighbors near the cabin keep an eye on it and we don't have any expensive furniture or valuable stuff there so we don't really worry about it while we are gone.  Plus, we have it insured.

It's been over 10 months since we were last here and the cabin came through in good shape, but needs a thorough cleaning to get it livable again.  Having a hookup for the motor home makes it nice since we don't have to rush to finish the cleaning job.  We also want to paint the cabin this year so that will take some time.  

Doctors appointments start on Tuesday for us and continue through September due to other events on our schedule.  A short trip to Charlotte, NC is in order and our daughter Barbara and husband Henry will be coming to the cabin for a long weekend.

I also have to clean up some brush and stuff near the cabin area.  The plan is to burn a lot of the burnable debris and possibly haul off some that won't burn that well.  At least I don't have to worry about forest fires like those poor people out west.

Blogging will be taking a lower priority for the near future.  My brother is scheduled for a serious operation on Monday.  He has a number of issues going against him but remains positive about having the operation.  Once he recovers from the first operation the plan is to perform another one that is going to take 7 hours.  He has a rough road ahead of him for the next couple months.  So, our plans have been put on hold to be able to see him between the operations.  

I will try and update the blog when I can, but there may be weeks that go by without an update.  Gerry and I are doing fine.  Just tired from all the work around here.

Take care.

Last Few Days of Our Trip

Sunday, August 23, 2015

We left Grandpa's Farm in the morning heading for West Virginia and made great time on I-70.  There was some road construction but nobody was working on Sunday and we breezed through.

Everything was going well until we stopped to fuel up in Belmont, OH at a Pilot fuel stop.  I pulled in the truck fueling pumps and the pressure coming out of the hose was so great that the pump kept stopping.  Finally, a couple maintenance workers came out after I called in about the problem.  They checked it out and said I was right and went in to reduce the pressure at the pump.  Then I was able to take on 88 gallons of diesel fuel in a few minutes.  All in all it took over 45 minutes to fill the tanks.  Diesel is much cheaper in Ohio than Maryland or Pennsylvania.

 One of the problems traveling I-70 is the lack of RV parks or camping parks.  The state parks are far off the road for the most part and the few private campsites are full of seasonal campers or construction workers.  I finally decided we would stop at Cabellas near Wheeling, WV and after checking with the store manager received permission to stay the night.  

Monday, August 24, 2015

We were up early the next morning and had a light breakfast and headed over to the Russell Stover candy store next to Cabellas.  Gerry went in and bought some necessities for the remainder of the trip.


 Construction around Washington, PA was a mess and we had to slow down and navigate some very narrow lanes with barriers on each side.  I cleared some barriers with about 6 inches to spare on both sides of the motorhome.  I think I should have been in another lane at this point, but all went well.

We dropped down on I-79 to Morgantown, WV and caught I-68 east toward Hancock, MD.  Our destination for the day was Rocky Gap State Park near Cumberland, MD.  They have a number of campsites, however only 30 of them have electric.  We called Cassie and invited her and Belle to join us there for a few days.

We lucked out and managed to get a nice end site that was long enough for 3 motorhomes.  It had a picnic table and firepit away from the motorhome so we went around to other sites and picked up some firewood.  Most people leave firewood when they vacate a site since they don't want to take it home with them.

Site 9 at Rocky Gap SP, MD

 
Rocky Gap SP is one of the premier state parks in Maryland with a championship golf course, casino, hotel, numerous covered pavillions, campground, 243 acre lake set in the mountains.  It is beautiful there and very popular so they limit entrance on busy days so it's best to get there early.  Since school is back in session and the campground isn't used much during the week, we were good to go.

I grilled some "whopper burgers" and Gerry prepared some side dishes to go with it.  A whopper burger was a staple when we used to camp with the daughters those many years ago.  It consists of two hamburger patties with cheese and relish stuffed inside.  The cheese melts and the relish sets it off nicely.  It is almost a meal in itself.
 
We called our son on August 24 to wish him a happy birthday but caught him at a restaurant having his special dinner.  We chatted with him a few minutes and said we would call him later. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARRY JR

One of the boat docks and ramp.

Hotel and Casino at the top left on the lake.

 Tuesday August 25, 2015

 Belle wanted to show us how well she could climb a tree and scooted up the pine tree next to the motorhome.  She said the roof of the MH was dirty so the cleaning job goes on the work list.

Cassie and Belle wanted to go swimming so off they went in the afternoon.  I dropped Gerry off at the casino and then went geocaching in the area.  I found 4 caches and then decided to drive around and sightsee in the area.  We all got back together around 5:30pm and I grilled Salmon for Cassie, Gerry and me, while Belle had a cheeseburger..

Then it was time for a campfire and roasting some marshmallows.  It was cool in the evening so the fire actually felt nice.

Wednesday August 26, 2015
 
 Wednesday morning arrived too soon and we were up bright and early preparing to hit the road.  I noticed the front tire on Cassie's car was low so I pumped it up to 35 lbs and it went down to 20lbs quickly.  Oh oh!  She talked to a Ranger and he directed her to a tire repair place about 4 miles from the park and they found a screw in the tire.  Thankfully, they could repair it and she doesn't need a new tire.

We left soon after and Gerry and I drove separately since we were so close to our cabin.  It was smooth sailing by then except for the heavy traffic on I-70E around Hancock and Hagerstown, MD.  

Gerry got this picture of the motorhome and Welcome to PA sign.

 

I stopped and fueled up at a station near the cabin and we parked the motorhome in the driveway.  Diesel was $2.73/gallon and we paid $2.44/gallon in Ohio.  A quick hookup to our 50amp service and water and we called it a day.  

October 23, 2014 was our departure day last year and we were gone a little over 10 months.  We managed to travel through 26 states and covered 8,800 miles in the motorhome.  It was a great trip except for Gerry's sinus problems and a few breakdowns along the way.  We saw a lot of the country and met some nice people and can't wait to hit the road again.  But first, we have to rest for a while.

Rough Outline of  our trip.  Ignore the numbers

That was our last 10 months, what did you do?  

National Museum United States Air Force

Saturday August 22, 2015  Dayton, OH

Gerry and I have made the trip from Maryland to Illinois more than 60 times over the past years and have driven by Dayton, Ohio and Wright Patterson AFB.  We've never taken the time to stop and check out the museum there and finally decided it was time to see what it was like.  All I can say is: WOW!

We've toured the Pima Air Museum a number of times and really enjoyed it also, but the one at Wright Patterson AFB is different and equally as nice.

National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force 

I decided to take a route to the museum via cross country rather than taking the interstate and that was a mistake.  The GPS routed us down old country roads with stop signs about every mile.  Add in the detours and it took us forever to make the drive.  It was worth it though.

B-52 Bomber

F-84E Thunderjet

 

B-26C (A-26C) Invader

F-82G Twin Mustang

 We spent a lot of time in the Korean War section and Gerry wanted to see the Cold War display, so we split up and she went that way.  

 I headed for the Vietnam War section and was quite impressed with the displays in that area.  It was difficult to get clear pictures since the aircraft were so close to each other.

Jolly Green 22

 I hurried through the WWII displays and enjoyed them very much.  There have been so many films made of that war and it was neat seeing some of the aircraft that flew then.

Spitfire. WWII

 

German ME 262A  WWII

 The plane below delivered the 2nd atomic bomb to Japan in 1945.  It was the deciding factor in ending the war without having to invade Japan.

 There was a small section devoted to the early years of flying and since the Wright brothers were from the Dayton area, it was only fitting that a model of their plane was on display.

We could have spent the whole day there but unfortunately we didn't have that much time that day.  We hope to revisit the museum sometime in the near future.
 
 There was a very nice "Memory Garden" outside the museum and we checked out a number of the monuments to American Air Force pilots and personnel.

 All the walking made us hungry so we sought out a proper watering hole for dinner.  We managed to get a table outside and enjoyed the nice day and some good food.  The nice cold beers helped revive us. 

We drove around the downtown area a little to see what it looked like.  One street close by the Dublin Pub had a number of restaurants and nice shops, but there weren't any parking spots open so we kept driving.

Dublin Pub

We took the interstates back and it was 1/2 hour faster that way.  Of course, you don't see anything interesting that way, but we were worn out by then.

That was our day, how was yours.

Over the Interstates to Grandpa's Farm

Today we bid a fond farewell to Cedar Lake, IN and headed down the interstate to Grandpa's Farm.

We took I-65 south and breezed along fairly well in spite of the potholes, pavement upheavals and generally a poor road.  

I-65 passes over the Kankakee River and it was flowing nicely.  The river originates near South Bend, IN and flows into the Illinois River 133 miles later.

A couple weeks ago while the construction company was repairing a northbound bridge it began to sag.

"Engineers closed the bridge late Tuesday afternoon. Construction workers adding a third lane to the structure felt unusual movements on the bridge as traffic moved over it.
"As they were working on one of the piers, the roller bearings fell from this one pier," said Debbie Calder with INDOT.

Four of the five steel bearings fell out. They sit between the steel beams and the concrete pier, allowing the bridge to expand and contract with changing temperatures.

The bridge is 46 years old. INDOT engineers suspect its age, combined with the heavy construction work, caused the bearings to fail. They don't have enough information yet to know whether this is an isolated problem, or a warning sign of similar problems with other bridges."

We drove by the bridge and Gerry managed to get a good photo of it as we whizzed by.  Notice the big sag in the middle of the bridge as the piling sank into the ground.  Think about it as you motor down the interstates.  Many bridges are nearing 50 years old and have taken a pounding over the years.

 I-65 northbound is closed from MM140 past MM 178 until further notice.  It was really strange driving down the road and not seeing any vehicles in the northbound lane for almost 40 miles.  Traffic was rerouted and it took a lot longer to make the trip north. 

We skirted north of Indianapolis and caught I-70 East with Richmond, IN being our destination for the night.  Reservations had been made at Grandpa's Farm and it was nice getting off the highway after our 210 mile drive.  We had a nice pull thru campsite waiting for us and I opened a cold one to celebrate our arrival here.

In 1995 we left our home in Maryland on our first ever time in our new motorhome,  We drove 500 miles after leaving around 1pm.  It was dark when we arrived then and the real Grandpa directed us to our site.  He was directing me into one site and Gerry was directing me into the site next to it.  I almost ran over a table and tree before it was discovered what was happening.  From that day on I have always paid attention to Gerry's directions when backing into a site. Ah, the memories!  Now the son of Grandpa and his wife are running the campground. 

We were very tired and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.  A busy day was in store for us the next day and we needed the sleep.

That was our day, how was yours?

 

Celebrating Our Wedding Anniversary

Gerry and I were married 58 years ago on August 17.  We heard from many different people how great The Lighthouse Restaurant in Cedar Lake was.  Since we wanted to make it a special night, we picked it for dinner.

 They have patio and indoor dining available but we made the reservation for indoors due to it being windy and with a threat of rain.  Again!  Reservations weren't required for the patio area and it looked like a nice place to enjoy a meal.

 The bar was shaped like an old wooden speed boat and it was polished to a high sheen.  It was being put to good use while we were there.

We left just about sunset and almost captured a nice sunset photo.  It was overcast and the sun couldn't push through all the clouds.

 We were seated in a small room with a window view of the lake.  Gerry had a taste for steak and ordered a nice filet mignon and I ordered the Chicken Parmesan.  We had a spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer and it was great.  The whole meal was fantastic and we managed to walk out very satisfied with the meal and the service.

Here we are at our table just before the meal was brought out.  Doesn't she look great for being married to me for 58 years?  I sure picked out the right girl those many years ago.

We went back to the motorhome after the meal and enjoyed a nice glass of wine.  (Happy Anniversary, love of my life, Larry!)

Cassie, Jack & Bella were here on our anniversary and we shared a fantastic pizza with them.  We enjoyed the pizza with them at the motorhome.  It was a stormy night and we didn't feel up to going out and getting soaked.

That was our day, how was yours?