John and Derek's personal blog

Since John's posting was not exactly bright and happy - I decided that the blog needs some dancing hamsters!! Everyone dance along.... I'm still not sure why John has become a grump in the last few months.... Perhaps he is a product of his environment working at the RV park. Perhaps his favorite vices are altering his mood... perhaps it is the long winter and now the wet spring... who knows... he does not seem depressed - just grumpy....

Once again, my work day went by really fast - the application that went into Production on Monday is still having lots of changes made to it. Most of the changes I made today were to help improve how fast it runs when it has a slow network connection. I consolidated some lookups so one lookup is bringing back data for several fields and etc... I expect to have all of hte outstanding changes done tomorrow....

My toe is starting to feel better - it only hurts when I walk and flex it... so I expect to go back to working out afterwork next week.... I think I will purchase some new music videos and a movie to watch while working it....

I've been looking for some local IT training for SharePoint. I contacted the local New Horizons training center and they send me a list of 8 different classes they offer. Their classes are self-study at their training center. You go in for three hours at a time and go through the training book. I like how I can go in after work from 6:00pm to 9:00pm - so I called and signed up for SharePoint Designer Level 1 and planned to start next Wednesday. Then I received an email from the training coordinator letting me know that the list of classes they sent me are not available yet - and they are not sure when they will be, but they will let me know.... so this has me a bit depressed. I want to get some training in as a good resume builder..... Now I'm thinking about taking some basic .Net Visual Basic classes - I used Visual Basic back in the late 90's... but I'm sure lots has changed....

We watched American Idol last night and it was very predictable with Dave and David being the top two..... My guess is that David Archuleta will be with winner - but who knows. He seems like he would be at home performing on Teen Disney..... I'm not exactly looking forward to a 3 or 4 hour finale next week.... it's amazing to see how long they can stretch out a show about almost nothing....

Alright... I'm posting now, so get off my back will ya?

Anyone who blogs understands this... Sometimes you just don't feel like spending an hour and a half writing about the doldrums of my boring life! Frankly, it can be a bit depressing. Depressing, the weather here has been optimally shitty, which I think is the bulk of the reason my mood has been pretty close to that too.

Moving on, Last week Friday, I decided I had enough of the Battery problems we have been having. The House batteries, those that control most of the 12 volt house functions have been acting up. They were 2001 batteries, made by Trojan, which some people regard as good batteries, I think they are crap, but that is another story, not destined for this blog. The fact that they are 7 years old is enough to warrant their replacement in itself, however I did maintain them quite meticulously, and even 2 months ago, the specific gravity of the batteries didn't indicate a problem. In any case, I needed to replace them since they no longer would hold any kind of charge. This isn't a huge deal when plugged in, since the inverter/charger will take the load if it has 120 volts to it, but, I didn't want to wait around and have to do it under time of money constraints.

My old batteries were Group 27, 12 volt batteries. The group number is basically the size of the battery, and for some reason when Winnebago installed these, they choose a battery that was smaller than the tray could handle. We don't do much Boon-docking, so it really wasn't a big deal. I really wanted to put in 6 volt's in series, but my tray was about 1/2 inch too narrow to accommodate 4 of them. With 4 six volts I would have more available Amp Hours than with the 3 Group 27's. The advantages of 6 volt batteries are that they tend to last longer, they have larger (thicker) plates, which take the abuse of deeper cycling, and frequent charging, both of which are common in RV applications. The disadvantage is that they tend to be an odd size compared to 12 volt groups, and since you have to install them in pairs (2 6's in series will make a 12 volt bank) you need an even number. So that Idea was quickly nixed, and moved on to see what other options I had. I really didn't want to go back with Trojan since they are not only hard to find, they are usually more expensive, for unknown reasons. I do like JCI batteries, and have always had good luck with them. I ended up going back to an Interstate Distributor, since I have had good service form them in the past, and all their batteries are made by JCI. So, I measured my tray to find that a Group 31 would fit nicely, but then found a number of reports that JCI has had some recent problems with their Group 31 line, and has actually suspended making them for the time being. I'm glad I read that and found that the replacement is the Group 29, which actually is about the same physical size to the 31, but has a bit better numbers in regard to power. So, I ended up with 3 Group 29 Interstate Deep Cycle's. This gives us about 630 Amp Hrs in our bank, which is about 200 more than the 27's, and even about 60 more than the 6 Volts would have been. Since we don't boon-dock much, I just couldn't justify the higher cost options of AGM's or Gel-Cell's, though, if we were more dependent on solar or being off the grid, they can be a pretty attractive option just from the easy of maintenance. So here are a couple pictures....




OK Moving ON. HAM Radio... A while back the antenna I had purchased at the STL Winterfest, I had temporarily mounted in a bucket of concrete. The Wind caught it and blew it over a couple weeks ago, which shattered two of the fiberglass sections. I Contributed it to the dumpster fund, and we have been without a viable antenna for a while. I still had the wire up on the phone poles, but being that it is under high voltage lines, it picks up LOTS of noise, and just really doesn't work that well. So, I have been searching for a good portable antenna solution for the FT897D. Being that we are on a blacktop lot, it is difficult to lay out ground radials, and what I have available to hang wire antennas are typically not good options. I wanted something that could be taken down and stowed in a reasonable amount of time, and something that didn't require ground radials. I was looking at some High Dollar HF compromise antennas and just could not bring myself to pay $400.00 for something that got mixed reviews at best. I decided the Solarcon A99 which was just was we found at the fest would be the best option. Really it is a CB antenna, but it does work well on 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, and 20 with a Tuner, and will even tune on 40 and 80, though I am sure the efficiency isn't the best. So, I found an ebay'er that sells them and ordered it up. This one came with the radial kit, which seems to make a big difference on 20, but with it I lost the ability to tune 6 meters, which really, I never use 6. This time around I put it in my bucket again, and used some of the green military poles we picked up in Shelby, SC to put some height to it. I then placed it at the back of the motor-home, and tie strapped it to the ladder. The wind doesn't seem to bother it as much as the last one since it is supported somewhat now. My goal is to have a telescoping aluminum "mast" made that will attach directly to the ladder, which will give it a bit more height, and a bit cleaner look.



Ok, Moving on again... responding to the UNKNOWN shout it outer, that wants to know why I don't like Fleetwood... Well, since you can't sign your shout it out, and tell let us who you are, you're fair game... Let's just say, if you have to ask that, you are an Ass-Clown! Do a bit of reading an research, and it won't be a difficult conclusion for you to come to yourself. I will admit to a bit of "Bagoitis" as I do like Winnebago, and blame Dunlap and Buck mostly for pushing me in that direction. I agree with both of them that Winnie tends to give you the most of your dollar, and the factory support even after warrantee has been fabulous. You all have read that we aren't without our problems on this Motor-home, which unfortunately is the case with most of them. I think Winnie does an excellent job in design and engineering, and those are the major reasons I was comfortable buying this unit when we came across it. I do like other brands, Newmar builds spectacular units, though I am not impressed with the chassis they use, I think their RV's rank up with Winnie. I would seriously consider a Tiffin product also. As for a trailer or 5th Wheel, I would certainly look at CrossRoads again, we had good luck with ours, and at the time I did lots of research before buying it which pointed me to them as a great dollar for value unit. Again, Newmar would certainly make that mark, along with Peterson (Excel) and New Horizons. I'd look at Carriage, but I do not know as much about them. High end Motor-homes; Blue Bird, even though it is way out of my dollar bracket, would be a serious contender if I could afford it, Marathon's conversion would certainly get a look, but I would need to make some changes as to options, but again, I highly doubt I will ever be in that bracket. As for most of the rest... Until I see them drop one on their roof, intentionally to see if the structure holds, not sure I am even interested. I know my Winnie is safely engineered, repairable by me for most things, and suits our needs. Mystery Poster...If your Happy with your Fleetwood, I am happy for you, I just wouldn't own one.

So, ya miss the Ass-Clownery eh? Well, I have been tring to be nice, since I suspect a number of park residents are stalkers (readers without comment or reference they read the blog) I try to keep my tongue bitten lately. I have been becoming increasingly frustrated with the administration here, even though personally I adore both Lynn and George, you all know how I hate doing things incorrectly, or HALF ASSED. I have a difficult time taking the follower role, and a more difficult time when asked for advice, giving that advice only to be overruled to do something they way it shouldn't be. I remind myself everyday that it isn't my park and to just shut up and do it, but it is very difficult for me. So, along with the weather my shitty mood has been driven from some of the ass-clownery going on here. Work Camping is supposed to be FUN, which is why we do this for little to no pay, but when things start piling up and your expected to do this stuff when no one else does, it gets annoying, and then to be expected to do things a way you disagree with, it gets really annoying.

Ok enough ranting, I am sure I got myself in enough trouble already. You asked for it... Have a great day, and hopefully the Sun comes out sometime...

John is being grumpy and refuses to do a blog posting..... Bad John!! Bad, Bad - BAD!!

John installed new house batteries and since I'm "not the mechanical one" around here - I have nothing to say about them. The lights turn on - so I'm good....

Yesterday one of my Lotus Notes applications at work went live and I've been busy taking care of everything that goes along with that - documentation, security, fixing bugs and making more design changes as requested. This will keep me busy for a few more days and then things will return to normal and I can get caught up with items that I have been pushing to the side....

For lunch I was going to grab something at the company cafeteria, but it was very busy. It was raining out so I assume most people stayed at work. Not wanting to fight the crowd and wait in line to check out - I braved the weather and drove over to Novaks. I had a Chicken Artichoke wrap with a side of sweet potato fries.... was yummy, and it was nice to get away from work for awhile. Novak's is not very busy during the lunch hour - which is good for me because I get great service.

Over the weekend I aggravated the toe on my left foot and woke up on Monday morning with it throbbing. It seems like I reinjure it every six months or so.. I have been limping around trying to keep weight off of it and taking lots of Extra Strength Tylenol - which is helping with the swelling and pain. As a result I have not been able to use the treadmill after work - but I'm going to attempt to tomorrow.... if the treadmill is uncomfortable, I will switch over to the stationary bike....

Today John gave Prince a bath in the kitchen sink. Prince was a stinky pussy but now smells like conditioner and is very soft. Prince dislikes being bathed, but you can tell that he enjoys being clean and fluffy....

Not much else going on... I think John needs some encouragement to do another blog posting.... so please do some shout-it-out's with some topic suggestions for John to blog about - he has lots to say about the Presidential Candidates, diesel prices, why Winnebago makes the best motor homes and why "friends don't let friends by Fleetwood", or why twinks with black hair and long fingers are most choice... but since he does not blog anymore - I guess no one, except myself, will know what he thinks about these topics - and more....

It looks like John was not a very prolific blogger this past weekend... he was probably too depressed, despondent and filled with loneliness to operate the computer with me away for the weekend.

I had a very nice weekend visiting my parents. The trip on Friday evening from St. Louis to Thomson, IL was not much fun - I did not get out of work until 5:15 pm, and traffic in East St. Louis was all stop and go....

On Saturday I spent time doing stuff around the farm with Mom and Peggy the dog. We cleaned out some flower beds, pruned some bushes that were damaged during the winter.







We went mushroom hunting in the timber. It was nice walking through the woods and looking by the dead trees in hopes of finding the elusive morel mushrooms. Dad says that the last few years have not been very good for them. I found the first three mushrooms and then dad found 6. By the time were were done we had a dozen mushrooms....

On Saturday evening we went out to eat at the Forrest Inn outside Morrison, IL. They were very busy with groups of kids all dressed up for Rock Fall's High School Prom, groups of people from a motor cycle club, and lots of families taking mom and grandma out for early Mother's Day meal. After a long wait the food was actually very good... I had steak with mushrooms in a breadcrumb reduction on top - it was yummy!!

Today Mom wanted to go to a craft sale outside of Dewitt, IA. This is a unique sale that is held twice a year in a former horse stable. The sale was well done with lots of unique items displayed in a very country setting. I didn't find anything that would really go with the interior of the RV - I used some restraint and did not get a little pillow that had "Everything tastes better with a little cat hair in it" stiched on front - at first I thought it was cute, but then it became kinda gross and creepy to me.... Mom picked out a few cute items that go well with her kitchen...





After the craft sale we made it back home by 1:00pm and had some lunch. I hit the road by 3;00pm and made it to St. Louis, MO by 8:15pm. The drive back was easier - less traffic and it was all in the sunlight.... John and Prince were happy to see me. John had some beef stew prepared in the crock pot that hit the spot.

John cleaned the interior of the RV, polished the RV rims, went out to eat with Perry over the weekend. He is feeling better - I think he appreciated being able to rest and recuperate.

Now I need to get ready for work tomorrow... My two large projects need lots of work still - more last minute changes and etc... so it will be a long week for me.... I have a feeling that I will not be able to get everything done that I want too....

I've been very busy at work - lots of unexpected changes and minor issues with the application I'm putting into Production tomorrow is keeping things interesting.... I was hoping to be further along today, but I received more changes then expected and did not get them all done..... I'm hoping to get caught up tomorrow....

Last evening we did not do anything too exciting - watched Jason Castro get voted off American Idol... it took an entire hour to get the job done - which seems like an excessive amount of time.... most hour long show at least have an interesting plot.... on CSI someone dies and the murder is solved in the same amount of time that it takes American Idol to vote off a single person.....

It has been very wet and rainy here - it rained all night and it finally stopped this afternoon. The wet conditions has kept John indoors with not much to do.... so he gets some time to rest and get over his nasty cold. It seems like he is feeling better tonight...

I'm off to see my parents in Thomson, IL this weekend. I plan to leave directly after work tomorrow - so I'm getting laundry done tonight and all of my clothes packed. It will take me around 4.5 hours to complete the trip.... John is going to stay in St. Louis to keep Prince company and keep an eye on things. We considered driving the motor home up, but it is too expensive of a trip just for the weekend....

It seems like all of our short-term camping trips are not going to happen.... The Happy Kampers are going to St. Francis State park - but all of the reservable sites are already taken and it's too far to go not knowing if there will be an open non-reservable site.... Then Bernie and Mike were going to camp with us somewhere close to Bloomington, IL - but that has also fallen through..... one of Mike's daughters will be in Chicago and they want to spend time with her.....

This week on the Feast of Fools podcast, they mentioned the efforts of a group of entertainers in San Francisco who are working on a ballot initiative to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W Bush Sewage Plant? Here is their website: Presidential Memorial



It is such a clever way to honor our current, shitty, president - makes me giggle. I hope they get it on the November ballot and that it passes.....

Not much else going on tonight... I'm going to watch this week's Top Chef that was recorded on the DVR, get laundry done and get packed for my trip.....

Short blog posting tonight..... John is still not feeling very good.. .he spent the day sanding the sides of the cement swimming pool to prepare it to be painted. He used an electric sander that made lots of dust.... not good for his cough.

I had a long day at work - still working on getting one of my applications ready to go live next Monday.... After work I went and had my hair done with Tracy at Dramatic Designs. I did not get home until 7:45 pm. On the way home I stopped at Walgreens to get some medicine for John. I could not get all of the medicine that I wanted because the purchase exceeded the amount of Pseudoephedrine that the state of Missouri allows - thanks to the meth labs....

I just got done watching American Idol that was recorded on the DVR - I think this will the week that Jason Castro is voted off.... his two performances were really poor....

Yesterday, a 19 year old girl was killed by a hit and run driver at 1:00 in the morning a few blocks away from where I work... very sad. And today a new born baby was found in a dumpster less then a mile away from where I work... It's depressing to see how mean and callous people can be....

I'm off to bed... I did not sleep very well last evening so I'm dragging ass.....

John is not feeling very good today - he has caught a nasty cold - complete with chest congestion and a nagging cough... Today was his long day of working and he helped George clean blinds. The blinds were from two different ghetto libraries - they were quite large - the vertical kind. After doing blinds he worked at the front office.

My work day was not much better. My two large projects are in the process of being tested this week and one is going live next Monday. I'm working hard to make sure everything is working properly, security is in place and etc... I'm still receiving lots of changes to both projects - which makes things interesting.... my goal is to get everything working properly the first day it goes live - but with these projects that goal is a big difficult to achieve.... it's going to be a long week....

We received our weekly shipment of mail today - nothing too exciting - my pay check stub, Advocate, Family Motor Coach Magazine, cell phone bill. Our cell phone bill was actually under $100.00 - not to bad for two phones and John's excessive usage. I use around 50 minutes of air time, and John as around 600 minutes...



On Sunday I went to the Soulard Market and purchased some veggies and a bouquet of mixed cut flowers for $5.00. Prince really likes the flowers - he smells them, admires them - and then proceeds to nibble on some of them. He has not gotten sick yet - so all is good...

Not much else going on tonight.. I need to pay the new bills and file paycheck stubs and etc...

Today we are enjoying some of the nicest weather we've had this year - it is sunny out, in the mid-80's with a cool breeze. I sat outside for awhile and read a book while John was helping Jim and George remove the tarp over the swimming pool. The pool will probably be open by the end of the month - they still need to clean, sand and repaint it. The pool here is actually quite nice and well maintained - it will be a happy day when I can go for a swim after work...

I've been doing the treadmill everyday after work for 30 minutes - but now my legs are getting sore.... so it is time to add some variety to my work out... I like the stair step machine, but it is broken.... I'm going to put together a workout using free weights and exercise balls.....

Last evening we went to Perry's house for supper along with Rich A. He grilled 1lb porterhouse steaks out on the grill and they were yummy. He marinated the meat in a mesquite marinade - they were so tasty that they did not need any steak sauce. Rich A. brought along his dog, Bailey and it was fun watching Zeke and Bailey play in the back yard. This morning at breakfast Perry said that Zeke was all tired out and slept soundly throughout the night....

Now I'm off to go on a walk around the Zoo. Then laster on we will be meeting Perry at Hodak's for fried chicken. He have not been to Hodak's for a long time and we are all prepared to wait for a table - as long as it takes.....

6:27 pm Update:

We're back from Hodak's - we did not have much of a wait. We were ok with sitting in the smoking section so we got seated after waiting less then 5 minutes. I can't tell much difference between the smoking and non-smoking section - the whole place smells like fried chicken... and the chicken tonight was outstanding - it was hot and juicy and oh so yummy!! John had a little chuckle when he saw a large African American women with her best church dress and over the top matching hat on also enjoying her chicken. I dared John to take a picture, but he was a bit intimated by her chicken eating ability and didn't even consider doing so.... John's order got messed us and the seasoned waitress gave him a free piece of cheesecake while he was waiting for his chicken strips to arrive. The waitresses that work at Hodak's are alway very busy will lots of tables, but they do a good job of keeping eveyone happy.... I think being a good waitress is a skill that is under appreciated - it can't be easy to be nice to people all day, keep order straight and keep up with everything....

Aunt Sharon sent us an email - they sold their home in Florida - which is great news!! I went ahead a removed the link to the real estate MLS listing this evening. It will be interesting to see what they do next, and where they end up at... Perhaps they will get a motor home and spend time tooling around the U.S..... They spent many years living in a airstream trailer and touring the U.S. back in the 70's and 80's and have lots of stories to tell about their adventures....

I checked the blog's visitor count for last month, and we had a total of 27,086 visits. This is up a bit from the last few months. The last time he had this many visitors in a single month was in September 2007. I'm not sure why the upswing in visits - John believes it is because he did more blog postings in April then he normally does... I'll let him keep thinking that so he does more postings in the future...

I need to be nice to John because last Thursday and Friday he took the Subaru into the dealership for service and then went to the local Firestone dealer and purchased new tires for it. The old tires had almost 70,000 miles on them - which is pretty good. The Subaru has Potenza tires which have softer rubber then some tires - so that makes it surprising that they held out as long as they did... New brakes, new tires, the a/c is working and the oil has been changed. I'm in good shape for the drive to my parents place in Thomson, IL for Mother's day next weekend.

Today the Subaru went in for service. John dropped me off at work at 7:15am and made it to the dealership by 8:00am. I then received a phone call from John asking me if I made the appointment at same Subaru dealership that he was at - the service department did not have my car on their schedule.... I checked my cell phone call log and I did call the correct dealership last Friday - so they must have messed up..... John said they were nice about it and got the Subaru in.... Perry picked up John at the dealership, they went to breakfast and then he dropped John off at the RV park. It was very nice of Perry to give John a lift...

The AC not working and the oil leak was both caused by a leak in a AC line. They need to replace it, but they don't have the part in stock - so they ordered the part overnight and are keeping the Subaru until tomorrow.... I like having John go to the dealership because he is able to wade through the B.S. and get only what is needed... I usually just agree with everything they suggest..... He probably saved us around $200.00 by asking for some non-essential service items not be done....

John picked me up at work at 6:00pm and we stopped at Crazy Bowls for supper. I had a noodle dish and John had sweet and sour chicken.. My dish was ok - just kinda bland and boring...

I've found a new frozen treat - Walgreen's had sugar free Flavor-Ice on sale - a box of 16 for $1.00.



They are made with Splenda and are 5 calories per treat... They are yummy - but I'm finding that certain colors are not freezing as quickly as some.... The red ones froze right away, but the green and purple ones are still liquid... this scares me a bit...

I watched another episode of The Love Boat on DVD tonight. This was the first episode where Charo appeared. She stowed away on the ship in hopes of making it to America, was found and spent the rest of the trip with the doctor in his office.... she then was in a variety show and Captain Stubbing was so impressed with her performance that he got her a job on another cruise ship with a salary of $300.00 a week.... I still think that Charo looks like Wanda Wisdom....


Not much else going on... I'm going to spend some time reading and watching TV... perhaps John will rub my feet and feed me bon-bon's....

I had a long day at work. I had another long list of changes to the main application I'm working on - I hope to get them all done tomorrow.... I had lunch at the company cafeteria, so I did not get outside at all until after I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill..... so it was 6:00pm when I finally got outside.... it was still nice out - in the lower 70's....

When I made it to the RV, I noticed that John had the grill setup and something was smelling good... John grilled some Omaha Steaks we had in the freezer. The steaks were good, but had a different texture to them - almost flakey... I assume they go through a tenderizing machine... it reminded me a bit of the steak at a cheap steak place - like Ponderosa..... The Blueberry Steak Sauce Wayne and Craig gave us when they visited helped the steaks out.... the sauce was kinda like A1 - only sweeter...

After the supper dishes were cleaned and put away, I got laundry started. Last week I did laundry on Wednesday in preparation for our camping trip. I did them again on Wednesday because we only have enough clothes to last us 7 days..... It was still nice enough to sit outside and read a book while waiting on the laundry... I'm reading "IBM and the Holocaust" by Edwin Black.

It is not exactly an easy book to read, but it gives an interesting history of the Hollerith Machine, the early years of the IBM corporation and it's involvement with supplying Nazi Germany with card reading machines...... I'm only 1/10th done with the book - so I'm sure it will become more depressing to read as I go on.....

I also received two books on Sharepoint 2007 in the mail today. I started reading one of them during my lunch break... I purchased them with gift cards that I received from my Mom for Christmas....

Not much else going on tonight.....

The weather here is still on the cool side with highs in the lower 50's. The temps are expected to be back in the 70's starting tomorrow....

Work is going ok - I was really busy today with support issues. My supervisor is away from the office for a few days, so supporting some databases that I usually do not.... I think some of the end users get a bit testy with me because I ask them more questions then they are used to.... mainly because I'm not familiar with their databases.... For lunch I went to Novak's and enjoyed a "Bailey Burger", small order of fries and a diet Doctor Pepper. They were busier then usual with a large group of what I assume were co-workers enjoying a meal together.... After work I did 30 minutes on the tread mill in the fitness center and then headed home..... John had supper ready - some type of Southwestern Skillet dish - it was yummy....

I received the first season of The Love Boat DVD's in the mail today. I have watched the first three episodes and they have exceeded my expectations.



It makes me giggle to see the tacky interiors of the boat - light brown paneling, dried flower arrangements, brown shag carpeting and orange furniture. It is also fun to see the various stars on the show - it reminds me of Hollywood Squares... lots of has-beens who needed work.... I've not seen Charo on the show yet......



My favorite episode is where John Ridder dresses up in drag so he can get the last available room and bunk with a lady. All this so he can spend time with another lady guest that he has the hots for. It was really corny.... and fun... I also find it amazing that every divorced man who goes on the cruise discovers his ex-wife is also on board....

I think John and I could come up with a motor home version of The Love Boat - "The Love Mo-Ho" - we camp at a different RV park each week and follow goofy the adventures of other RV'ers.... exploding black tanks, rv breakdowns, people fighting at 1:00 in the morning, crabby campers, overly happy campers and the lady who brings tainted potato salad to every pot-luck dinner she attends..... there's lots of possibilities....

John is all tired out tonight - he spent the day doing lots of work around the RV park... and is now firmly planted on the couch. We are both watching American Idol right now.....

The weekend at Lake Carlyle turned out nice. The only stormy weather we had was on Friday night. The rest of the weekend was sunny, but a bit cool - in the lower 60's... It felt good to sit outside by the campfire. On Saturday we did some hiking and mushroom hunting around the park. We did not find any mushrooms, but it was still fun walking around the woods. We saw some white-tailed deer and some rabbits. Then in the evening there was a pot-luck dinner with lots of delicious food. John made red beans and rice with Chorizo sausage. Then after supper we gathered around a campfire and spent the evening chatting and being social.

Here's some pictures we took:













Today I slept in until 9:00am and then spent time hanging out with the group having a casual breakfast of danish, fruit and etc. John then worked on getting everything stowed and the truck connected to the RV. We took off around 12:30. John drive 55 most of the way and we stopped at the Petro station in Illinois for fuel. Diesel was 4.299 a gallon and we needed around 20 gallons.... yuck!!

During the trip we noticed that our house batteries are not keeping a charge very long. Right now we have 7 year old 12 volt batteries and John wants to replace them with 6 volt batteries. He is going to do some research and determine how many will fit in the battery bay, which brand to get and etc.... John has a new project to work on

We made it back to the RV park by 2:00 and had no problems getting the truck disconnected, parked and setup. Shortly after getting setup it started to rain... The rain did not last long. We then meet Perry at 5:00pm at the Four Seasons for supper. I had a seafood dish with crispy fried rice noodles - it was different but tasty - the crispy noodles were really sweet..

Tonight we are watching TV, doing this blog entry and getting ready for work in the morning.....

John will start to make more plans for future camping trips this week - we will probably go camping again in 2 or three weeks....