Monday, February 19, 2007

We were up and rolling this morning by 9 having only to make it to Sikeston, Missouri 140 miles away.  We would be having lunch at Lambert's Café, the Home of the Throwed Rolls.  It would take us the better part of 3 hours and we would be rolling in around noon.

On the way we would be stopping in Matthews at the Flying J which would be our last chap gas stop all the way home.  The gas would be $2.039 with an extra penny off with our Flying J card.  Although we didn't require a full load of Petrol we topped it off for the final push toward Michigan.

Just as we had planned, we drifted into the parking lot at Lambert's right around 11:45.  Surprisingly enough, as we walked in, there was no waiting line as there usually is.  A bunch of people waiting to leave, but none waiting to enter.  We got right in and plopped ourselves down and waited for the feast to begin.  We both ordered our usual Chicken Wings and the "pass-arounds" started.  We started with Fried Okra and were hit almost immediately with a "flying roll."  As we sat and dined on the Rolls, Fried Potatoes, Tomatoes and Macaroni, Blackeyed Peas and our giant Glass of Iced Tea, Sharon broke down and ate one of her Wings.  I held out and took all of mine home with us.  When we got to the door to leave, the waiting line stretched out onto the porch.  Now this is what we're used to at Lambert's.  We had hit the place just at the right time.

As we left to get on the Interstate we ran into a headwind that billowed out our awning.  We limped to a spot on the road where we could turn in and rewind it.  The wind was blowing so hard that it took the two of us just to hold it down.  Sharon drove the motorhome around in a circle so the Driver's side was TO the wind and we had better luck rolling it back up again.  As soon as we hit the Interstate we realized that it wasn't going to work so we stopped at the next exit and Duck Taped the arms and the front of the roll so no wind could get inside it.  It took about a half hour before we were back on the road again.  It seemed to work find as the wind also seemed to die down a little.

We managed to make it to Rantoul, Illinois before we stopped for the night.  I spent 3½ years of my youth in Rantoul in the 60's when I was in the Air Force.  The old town didn't look the same, and they never do after 38 years.  We were just looking for the Wal-Mart to spend the night and we found it after driving through town.  We settled in and set up the dish for Prison Break and "24".  The wind was all but gone at this point and I was happy to say the least.

We settled in for a night of entertainment and weren't disappointed.  Sharon hadn't seen the 2 hour "24" last week so I was explaining things to her during the show.  (During the commercials of course) We both saw Prison Break last week so she knew what was going on there.

At 10 we cancelled our subscription on the day and rolled into bed.  We were both pooped from driving all day.  Riding and Driving are both tiring and we did both.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

We got on the road this morning right after Breakfast.  I had a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Bagel this morning since I hadn't had one in several days.  Besides I had plenty of time since I was up early again.  5:15 in my book is early.

We were on the road for about an hour when a Semi flagged us down.  He was concerned about our spare tire which had slipped and was wedged in it's holder about 12 inches from the ground.  It didn't seem to be emergent so we continued up to the next exit before we pulled over.  I got under there and tried to lower it and then crank it back up again but I didn't have the tool to accomplish the task.  The tire seemed to be wedged in solid, not going anywhere so I left it since I couldn't facilitate a fix out here on the highway anyway.

I got back in and drove on.  We would be stopping in another 100 miles anyway at my sister Marge's in Racine, Wisconsin.  If necessary I'll do something about it there.

When we got over the Wisconsin-Illinois Border we decided to stop for a quick lunch since it was after 1 PM and she probably wouldn't be holding lunch for us.  We actually had made no plans to have lunch with them anyway since we didn't know what time we would arrive.  We stopped at McDonald's about 20 miles before we got there and it was a quick in and out and back on the road again.

About a half hour later we rolled into the driveway looking like we had come through a mudbath before we got there.  We encountered a little rain on the way so the vacuum of air behind the motorhome picks up all the dirt.  The car was almost unrecognizable.

We sat around the rest of the afternoon until just before Dinner when my nephew Eddie came home from work.  He's back in Racine for awhile without his wife Barbara after being between jobs and thinking about returning to Racine.  He joined the conversation for awhile before leaving to order a pizza and eat Chicken Wings.

We played our usual game of cards tonight but I was so tired I only opted for one.  I left to go out and go to sleep and Sharon stayed for awhile.  By the time she came out she realized that we had no power.  She went out and fiddled with the cord but was unsuccessful.  I wasn't about to go out and fiddle with it tonight so we just ran off battery all night.  We had new batteries in our coach so it wasn't going to be a problem.

By morning the furnace was running a little sluggishly but it was still going strong.  When I got up I went out and fixed the power to give our batteries a little charge before we leave today.  They will charge up while we're running but it doesn't hurt to give them a little boost for good measure.  We'll probably stay here til early afternoon today before we head out to West Bend, WI and my Son Sean's House.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

We got a leisurely start this morning as we ate Breakfast and Lunch at Marge and Wally's.  For the Ash Wednesday "no meat" lunch we had Kidney

Bean Rarebit.  We had that over slices of toast.  It tasted much like Refried Beans with a little spice in it. It was actually quite tasty.  My Great Nephew Eddie stopped over just before lunch and sat down with us but he had last night's leftover pizza instead of the Rarebit.

My niece Luann stopped for lunch also and it was good to see her again.  She always makes it for lunch when we are here.  She and Rhonda are the only nieces that we see with great regularity.  The others, Jeannie and Michelle live out of town and we see them only occasionally.

After lunch we got into a very dirty motorhome and headed toward home and more north.  We made our last fuel stop at the Oak Creek Flying J and filled up for $2.299.  Not a great deal but we suspected it would be about that price according to their website.  Wisconsin regulations also prohibit the Flying J Rewards Program so we couldn't save an extra penny on the gas.

We were back on the road in a flash and after about an hour and a half from my sister's we rolled into West Bend.  We settled into our usual spot in front of Sean's House.  We no sooner got there and Sean came home.  We didn't expect him til about 4:30 and it was only 3:15 now.  So he came into the motorhome and we sat and talked for awhile before he went into the house and we tried to take some naps.  Neither of us was successful so we went into the house after plugging in the motorhome.  Sharon looked for the necklaces that we bought for the girls but had no luck.  The necklaces were the kind where the vendor writes their name on a grain of rice.  We bought them in Mexico.

Stephanie and the girls came over and Mark came later.  He and Sean had Trap Shooting competition later tonight so they would be gone for an hour or so.

We had KFC Chicken for supper tonight and it was very good.  We bought 3 buckets and that was just the right amount.  By the time we finished up it was time for Sean and Mark to leave for shooting.

Sharon and I sat around with Julie and Stef and the girls until Sean got back around 9.  We visited about another hour or so and everyone was yawning and we decided to go back out to the motorhome.  Sharon looked for the necklaces in one drawer and found them.  They had fallen out of the drawer into the cabinet.  We decided that tomorrow would be early enough to drop them off.

It felt like it was really late and we had had a long day so we dropped immediately into bed. The wind started to pick up and by 3 o'clock I put the slide in to save the awning.  The wind blew the rest of the night and was still howling in the morning.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

When I noticed that Sean was still home this morning I brought the necklaces in to him.  Apparently he was under the weather and not going to work.  The wind was still blowing in gusts this morning but I think we'll be all right once we get on the road.

After leaving Sean's we found a McDonald's just across the street from City Hall and we pulled in to Aldi's parking lot and went for something to eat.  It didn't take long and we were on the road.

The wind was stronger than I had first anticipated and it was blowing us all over the road.  It wasn't quite as strong as when we left Sikeston, MO but it was certainly close.

We pulled in to Appleton Camping just off the highway and 30 miles from Green Bay to dump our holding tanks and get ride of the remainder of the fresh water that we were carrying.  That was about a half hour stop by the time we got back into the wind on the highway.

We had intended originally to stop at Lambeau Field in Green Bay to have lunch but neither of us was hungry at that time so we just cruised on through.  There were a couple of places that we figured we could stop if we got hungry.

And true to form we finally got hungry around Crivitz, Wisconsin so we pulled in to Charlie's Island Café, under new management and a new name.  We were only stopping for a burger anyway so Charlie's would be just fine.  And the food was very good, and we had a very friendly waitress.

By 3 PM we rolled into Iron Mountain and made our fist stop at my mother's house.  After our hellos and good-bye we were on our way again.  A stop at the Post Office was in order to retrieve what mail had collected in two weeks and we were off again.

We weren't on the road more than a mile when Jennifer, our daughter, passed us up with the kids waving frantically.  They were waiting for us at home by the time we got there.  It took a few minutes for the hellos, kisses and hugs before we could unhook and pull into the yard.  We had our troubles on the way home but nothing we couldn't handle ourselves on the road. It didn't feel good to be home, but it did feel good to finally be here after a long 15 day trip.

THE END, FINALLY

  Thursday, February 22, 2007