Summer is here and Candy and John are on the road again!!
We loaded up the new RV and were once again off for some summer fun and adventure.It was a hot day on Tuesday, May 24th when we put the coach in gear and found ourselves in Walterboro, South Carolina for the night. Wednesday we made it up to Gaffney, South Carolina at the Freight liner factory to get some maintenance done on the coach. They do a great job. We had stopped there last year to have some work done on our old coach so decided to take the new coach back to get it checked out. The work done and the next day we were off again, this time we ended our day in Newport, Tenn. It was another hot and humid day!
Friday our travels brought us to Walton, Kentucky. This day we encountered rain. We were glad that the heavy rain and hail held off until we were parked and set up!! Saturday morning after the cold front had gone through with the rain, the temperature had cooled to 59*, much nicer than the 90's we had for the past several days. We made it Galesburg, Illinois for the night. Along the way we had crossed the Ohio River, it was still way over its banks and running very fast along with being very muddy. Sunday we headed to Waterloo, Iowa, however we delayed our departure and watched the weather for awhile. It was 10am and the sky was a dark as night with the storm approaching! With all the awful weather this summer, we do not want to get caught up in any weather that a motor home could not handle. So.... we delayed our departure until the skies cleared....and then we were off again. As we crossed into Iowa we crossed over the Mississippi River. I was surprised again how high the river was. I realize that the flood waters were hitting further south however the water was still over the banks of the river this far north, although there has been so much rain this Spring. The ground in many places is so wet, with water in the fields, that the crops have not yet been planted.
We did make it to Waterloo, Iowa, where we met up with our friends, Chris and Jan. We stayed overnight at the Casino there in Waterloo. We had a great time!
Monday, Memorial Day, and we both headed to Forest City, Iowa. Chris and Jan also own a coach made by Winnebago. Forest City is the home of Winnebago. Chris and Jan had some items that they needed taken care of and John had also found a soft spot on the roof of our coach that he wanted them to take a look at and fix. Winnebago has a rally park so we pulled in and parked... we had the place to ourselves. As it was Labor Day, we had a picnic. What fun!! Brats, fried chicken, potato salad, and cold beer, it just doesn't get any better than this!!!
At 7am the next morning we were over at Winnebago. Chris and Jan had an appointment but we did not so we had to wait for an opening. Forest City is a small Iowa town, but they had a great pub with good food and cheap drinks. Jan and I also found some re-sale shops and a wonderful quilt shop!!
We did get our roof fixed and on Thursday, June 2, we headed north to Minnesota. We plan to spend a month here in Minnesota. Daughter Angela, husband Jeff along with Michael (6) and Abby (5) live there along with son Keeth, wife Kristy and little Emery (1).
I surprised the kids by picking them up from school. They love to come to the "bus" park and see Nana and Papa's BUS! They have a playground there and have such fun.
Well, that is all for now.... as I said, we will be here for about a month seeing family and friends.
Love to all. Remember, that we love to hear from you also.......
Candy and Johnny
