Wednesday, October 2, 2013

This is our last month on the road for this trip. We will soon return to Florida for the winter. Already looking forward to our next outing. May go west next year if we can get away from Florida early enough.

We had a really good time in Kentucky at the Diamond Cave Resort. It is a really nice facility with an excellent restaurant nearby. On Friday there were about 50 cars coming in around our site. We had all these folks coming out of their cars and putting up tents! There were two tents per site. I said to Linda, we may have to move!  Not so! The folks were really great. Turns out they were Jehovah Witnesses out for their bi-annual campout. They were from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. I did not know that blacks were Jehovah Witnesses. In any case they were wonderful folks and left the area cleaner than when they arrived. We had nice visits with them and hated to see them leave. What nice things happen when you travel in an RV.

We are now in Lenoir, NC at the Green Mountain Thousand Trail Resort. A really beautiful park. In a forest and the satellite receiver would not  find the satellite through the trees so we set up the portable dish. Didn't get it perfect as there is one satellite we do not receive so some of the high definition channels do not come in. I could align it again but Linda said it is fine the way it is. We are ready to watch the Gators Saturday now. We met a fellow gator across from us. He graduated from Florida a couple years after me and they are coming over Saturday  to watch the game with us. 

really nice kids playground

one of the lakes we were parked on

a few of the Jehova camps

more camp sites

still more & we didn't show them all

Lenoir NC site - secluded

we are in the mountains here - see the sat antenna

sure is a beautiful place

Thursday September 5, 2013

We have really enjoyed our stay in Michigan again this year. The weather has been great and the folks really friendly.

We travelled to Plymouth, IN to visit our friends that left Florida a few years ago. They are a couple years older than Linda and I and a little over a week ago, he fell off a ladder and broke his hip. He had a hip replacement and  was getting around really good. He would probably be a lot worse off if he had just had the break repaired. We had a good visit and on the way back to Buchanan we stopped and took a picture of the cement mixer graveyard. Hard to believe that there is such a place but the picture below will prove it is true.

Yesterday we again visited Shipshewana, IN. It is one huge flea market. It was a beautiful day and not to warm. The crowds this year were a lot smaller than during our last visit.

The coach continues to perform well and the only thing I have to do before we leave for our next park is pump up one tire on the motorhome. It is down to 94 lbs. This is an important reason we have the tire monitors. I had to add air in North Carolina on our trip here.  I guess if we only have to add air every 2 or three months it will be ok until we get to Lazydays in Florida for our yearly maintenance. If you travel in a motorhome, invest in a tire monitoring system. It has prevented us from having a real big problem twice in the last two years.

We had a great cookout for labor day as I BBQ'd ribs and roasted sweetcorn and Linda made her famous potato salad. Really great day.

So far we have had (this year):
 $ 780 in camping fees. (included rally at Talladega, AL)
$ 2519 for groceries.
$ 1537 in Diesel fuel
$ 237 for car gas
$ 1037 in Coach maintenance
$ 2190 in car maintenance (including new tires and power steering motor)

nice roomy rv site

concrete mixer graveyard

Linda and Otis

Amish at a cattle auction

one of the Amish rigs

August 29, 2013

Another month about gone! 

We are in Buchanan, MI now at the Mid Atlantic park, Bear Cave. It is a smaller Thousand Trails Park of only 171 spots and a lot of them are yearly rentals. It is a nice park on the St. Joseph River. It has been a lot warmer here but still nice. 

While at Saint Clair the General RV dealer had a party for all there. They gave us pizzas and cokes. They also had a raffle and I won a director's rocking chair and a string of globe lamps. They had some great prizes including 2 Apple Ipads! Nice company. They are building a new facility near Lazydays in Tampa, Fla.  I understood him to say it was at exit 14 on I4. They said they were going to open in November but I don't remember if he said this year or next. General RV has 10 locations already so they are a large dealer. Tiffin considers them to be a quality dealer.

We went to the Entegra plant yesterday and took the tour of the manufacturing plant. It was a private tour as Linda and I were the only ones with Dave, our guide. We were very impressed with the coach and the management personnel. We met one of the owners and was even invited in to see the president. Looks like they  have the same open door policy as Tiffin. Dave, the rep that took us on the tour, happens to be the sales rep for Lazydays so we will see him again in October when we return to Florida. Even after the positive impression of the Entegra coach and management staff, it would be a push to leave Tiffin for another manufacturer. A wonderful coach and if your are looking, look at the Entrega.

Monday August 19,2013

Today is Linda's birthday. It was 54 when we got up this morning to go for her birthday breakfast at Denny's. It is about 25 miles from our site here in Saint Clair and by the time we arrived at Denny's it was already 73. It is warm enough now at 3:30 that I turned the air on. A beautiful clear wonderful day at 79 degrees. We have been very blessed with wonderful weather again in Michigan.

On the 4th Linda and I celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary. I took Linda to her favorite place to eat - a really nice Chinese restaurant.  It was so good that when my high school buddy and his wife came for a visit that we took them there for dinner too. Had a nice time with them playing hand and foot and talking about our high school days together. They stayed with us in our coach while they were here. Worked out fine.

We have one more week here in Saint Clair and then we move on to south west Michigan to our Mid Atlantic camp - Bear Cave. We got the mid atlantic sites when we upgraded to the elite Thousand Trails membership. It has proved to be a good investment as we already have 99 days in our membership of Thousand Trails and Resorts of Distinction. 

We have two hummingbird feeders out and they stay very busy. I have seen 6 at a time. They could all have been eating, but if you know anything about humming birds, you know they will not sit idly by and watch another eating. They have been a joy to watch.

The resort had a black jack game last Saturday and Linda and I went up to play. You played for chips (all free) and then you cashed in the chips for raffle tickets. You got an additional ticket for each 1000 dollars of chips. Then they had the drawing. I won a gallon of window washer fluid, which I did not want as it was to heavy to carry back from the lodge to our coach. Well, luckily they drew another one of my tickets so I could trade the heavy gallon for the fiber mit washer - which I did. It was a fun evening, especially when they tried to get someone to take a prize which was the fruit filled tubes which you froze and then ate like a popsicle. They had some nice gifts and I think everyone went home with some kind of prize. 

 We are having a great trip and all goes well. Had the battery on my Gator watch die but we got that replaced. 

Up in the tree

one eating - one waiting her turn

a red throated male eating

waiting for customers

our camp site at Saint Clair, Michigan

Saturday July 27, 2013

We are really enjoying this wonderful weather here in Michigan. It has been as low as 52 degrees and never reached 80 during the day. We talk to our friends in Florida and it is the normal hot and muggy there. Waldenwoods is a wonderful Resorts of Distinction Park and we are certainly enjoying the services they offer here. Could not ask for a more friendly or helpful staff. We met three of the work kampers who stay here during the camping season and they have all been very friendly.

Last evening we were watching the campers come in for their stay. When we arrived there were lots of free sites and now they are nearly all taken. One new travel trailer (still had the sold sign in the window) was turning to look for a site and his wheels froze on the camper. I went out to see if I could help and found that when he was making his turn that his cable from the truck to the camper was  pinched and shorting out his brakes. We cut the cable off and he was then able to find a site. I told him I could splice the cable but he said he had roadside assistance and that they would take care of it. I am not sure that that falls under roadside assistance but told him if I could be of any further help to let me know. His wife was kind of anxious but I assured her that all the campers here would help in any way possible.


There are daily activities here at the park. Last night there was a hay ride for the youth and there were so many wanting to take the ride they had to have extra runs. Every Thursday they have a fish and chicken dinner that was really good. Ate too much so won't do that again next Thursday. They have a really large lake that is excellent for fishing and one can rent boats of all types. There is a nice beach for swimming and they have some water slides for the kids to enjoy.

The park is located close to the highway (23) but far enough away that it is very quiet. There is a walmart only 1.9 miles away and many restaurants and business within 2 miles. Just wish that the time did not fly by so fast.

Below are a few pictures.

dinning room

adult lodge

our site

beach area by lodge

Wednesday July 24, 2013

Our time in Ohio at the "Lutz Family Reunion" was outstanding as usual. My sister Pat, has been hosting these reunions for over 30 years. This year we had 123 in attendance  and there were five new babies added to the clan for this years reunion. What a wonderful blessing.

The weather was very cooperative as when it rained it was before or after our scheduled activities. The showers did cool the temperature down for the contests that were held (fishing contest, hayride, cornhole and the fireworks).

In addition to all the visiting and family activities, my sister Linda and her husband Richard, took us to the Amish Country west of Minerva for a day at Mt. Hope and Mt. Eaton. It was a great day as we visited a very large Amish flea market where they had not only the normal flea market items, but also every kind of animal and all things pertaining to Amish carriages. We also visited an Amish store where they sold their canned items and home made candies. They had samples of their wares  and that resulted in us buying everything for which they had samples. All delicious. I am sure it is too good to add to your weight.

Our trip from Ohio to our new home for 2 weeks was a very nice drive. It was cloudy but cool and the rain held until after we were nearly set up here in Waldenwoods, a Resort of Distinction resort here in Michigan. The park is not full and that is unusual for this time of year.  I talked to one of the work campers here and he said it was really packed over the 4th.

My three wonderful sisters

In a carriage at Mt. Hope

my 88 year old big brother

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Supposed to get hot today. It is up to 82 at 1:14 pm. It is dry so that is good and we have great air so all is good.

Went down to the Sunday services at the Chapel on the Hill. It was a great service and the place was really nice. The preacher's wife (an ordained preacher herself), on the closing hymn, did sign language on Amazing Grace and this was very moving. This was, in my opinion, the highlight of the service. She reminded me very much of my sister Linda as you could feel her spirituality. We went down with our next door neighbors and had breakfast together before the services. The more you learn about this resort the better it is.

On the way back to our hill top site, I took some pictures of a couple of the activities available here. As I said, the more you see the more there is to see here at Rocky Fork Ranch Resort Kimbolton, Ohio.If you are ever in this area I am sure you will agree that it is worth the time and effort to visit. You will not run out of things to do.

Breakfast at club house

Chapel on the Hill

Inside the Church

The Amptheatre

The rodeo and miniature golf area