From California to Arkansas and on to Indiana!

Don and I left California on Tuesday morning, Aug. 28 at 8:30 a.m. We didn't intend to do it, but we ended up driving all through the night! Guess I should mention that although we flew there we ended up driving back in Earl's Cadillac. Earl loved that car! Don decided that since we were building the house and now only had one car that we needed another car. Since you never get what it's worth, he decided to keep his dad's car. We weren't sure it would make it or if we would be buying a car in New Mexico or other parts unknown! We already had to have it towed one of the first days Don used it, but it made it and so did we! At 12:00 noon on Wednesday we pulled into Cabot, Arkansas to pick up Tess from Kim & Tim!! That's 25-1/2 hours only stopping for gas, potty breaks and food! Have to mention that Tess wasn't that excited to see us! I think she had a wonderful time playing with Bandit and Missy, being able to run in the yard and being able to go outside whenever she wanted! Once we got home, she even slept in her crate with her back to us! Not her normal!

Spent some time trying to get my mom unpacked since I had basically left right after her furniture and stuff had arrived! Kim & Tim had gone over while we were gone and helped tremendously where I had to leave off! I knew that we were due to leave again, so I tried to at least get the boxes out of her house!

Took off on Friday heading to Wakarusa, IN to have some things worked on in the motorhome. We had some warranty work done earlier and they still weren't working or fixed properly. Left fairly early in the morning and drove to Stanton, Missouri! It had been raining off and on since we left Arkansas and had let up by the time we stopped. Stopped at the first park, I went to pay and found out that it was the "honor system" (you pick your spot and then pay using an envelope put into a box). We started around a corner and quickly got buried in mud! Don tried a time or two getting out and finally we decided to unhook the car and back out a ways. Tried twice backing up but got stuck once we tried going forward again! A simple solution really...we backed right out of the park! Hooked the car back up and on down the road we went! Decided that we really didn't want to chance getting REALLY stuck! We would have had to unhook the car anyway and the chance of getting satellite was pretty slim! Although we don't generally like staying at KOA (Keep on Adding) parks, that's where we ended up!

Early start the next morning and headed out! Driving through Gray Summit, Pacific and St. Louis brought back lots of memories of when Kim, Nathan and I lived there for a few years in the early 80's! Again we had rain off and on but nothing like the rain we had as we were driving through Indiana north of Indianapolis! Shortly after the radio had an emergency broadcast siren warning of flash floods, flooding, etc. Decided we really wanted to get to Elkhart Saturday so we could have Sunday free. After all the rain and being gone, the coach needed some cleaning inside and out! Ended up getting to Elkhart about 5:00. We found a campsite at Camp Monaco, Elkhart with no problems. Lots of empty spaces on Saturday evening but by Sunday night we were glad that we had gotten there when we did! Sunday was spent cleaning the coach! Don did a nice job shining it up outside and getting all the dust, road grime and muck off!

Monday morning Don was up early and headed into the Monaco lobby to sign us up. They told him that we were in the wrong place! We were supposed to be 8 miles down the road at the Wakrusa facility! Since we were already "ready" to go into the service bay, it was no problem heading out and driving to the other facility! We decided that once we got here...we really like the Elkhart Service Center better! This Service Center has no hook-ups, there is only a dedicated parking lot. The lounge leaves a lot to be desired...in fact, Don and I were the only ones in there almost the entire day on Monday! In Elkhart, a local RV dealer brings donuts on Monday and Wednesday...nothing in Wakarusa! That really ticked me off...I missed the donuts! :-)

Don and I took a journey over to a couple of the Amish furniture stores nearby! Lots of beautiful furniture but right now we have no place to put it if we did get anything! Not to mention that at the rate the house is going...no telling when it might be ready to move into!!

Today is Tess' 3rd birthday! To help her celebrate we took off for a few hours and went to Shipshewana to the Farmer's Market/Flea Market that they have on Tuesday and Wednesday! I wasn't too impressed with the flea market so Don and I went into some of the shops. Found a few things that I couldn't live without and found an awesome bed, dresser and nightstands! The only bad thing is that since it's Amish owned...there is no website! :-(

Thought that we might finished today, but I told Don that more than likely we would be. Sure enough, once we got back...we weren't done! Won't be leaving on Wednesday morning! Might be afternoon, but it won't be in the morning! We can't get back to Shirley (RV Park) before Sunday anyway! The park is having a big "bash" this coming weekend, and they had already told us they would be packed! So there you have it...not sure when we'll head back for Arkansas and might stop off to "see" some things we haven't seen before!

The pictures on this post...lots of Amish around the area! I wanted a picture of one of the buggys driving around and lucked out with four in one! The horse on the end was very small! When I went to take "his" picture...found out there were a few kids inside! The horses must be very used to getting their pictures taken! They looked right at the camera and stood still!