'CATCH UP' TIME

Omigosh! Over a month and no blog additions... I'll try and catch up here.

When I left off we had water in our 'basement'. Well, it was solved when we went to Sheldon IA .... The RV tech, Dave, at RV Central solved it, finding there was a missing gasket in the shower drain. He also did a lot of other stuff in a day and a half, so our 5th wheel is doing well.

FORT DODGE

We went down to Fort Dodge, had some appointments, and had fun with our FD friends...the Provins, the Pendry's Mike Zahm and Marsha Storbakken, and as well a poker night at Brian McClain's, and Ellen had another night with her LLLL Book Group.

PATON and SPRING LAKE
We also were able to connect with daughter Erin's family in Paton. Had fun with the grandkids, and we found out 3 grandkids are too many for our home on wheels. 1 or 2 are great, but there just isn't enough floor space any more! We stayed at Spring Lake, a Jefferson County Park, which is very pretty, and very quiet. We found out why it is so quiet! We stayed at Erin's til almost 11 pm, and as we turned into the park, found out the gate was closed and locked! They lock up at 10:30!!! It was a very long walk in the dark to get to our site...plus a long walk back to the gate in the morning. It was the forced restart of my fitness program...

MAYO CLINIC

We headed up to Rochester again for another recheck for Ellen, plus she got into the Women's Clinic there, and she was super pleased with the staff and treatment. All is well for her, her functions checked out pretty good...although her spinal bone mass was down a nudge, and the doctor had her get an infusion of Reclast, an annual IV osteoporsis treatment. She actually was really glad to get it as it has been 4 years since she was taken off Fosamax. She is getting all her medical stuff at the Mayo now, and she is very glad about it..

We stayed at Autumn Woods RV Park south of Rochester, a very nice and clean park, with friendly and helpful staff. Park up the way from us was a monster 5th wheel .

A 'Space Craft' RV (made in Concordia MO) that must have been over 50 feet long, pulled by a big Kenworth tractor. We wanted to find out more about it, but there was never anyone around. 5 slides, and tons of basement access doors. Three roof air conditioners!!! Check out the stairway!

WHAT'S NEXT???

This morning we drove up to the Minneapolis area to stay at Lebanon Hills Park near the zoo in Apple Valley. We will be celebrating daughter Jenn's birthday, and as well, have grandson Mica stay with us at least two nights. We're looking forward to a nice week!!!

A MURAL AND A LEAK

This is our last day in Minneapolis (OK, we're in Eagan), and we picked up grandson Mica from daycare. The south side of Minneapolis is a unique and diverse bunch of peoples and structures. I think Caucasian is a minority, but I don't think any ethnic group is a majority.

As we were stopped at a red light, Ellen saw a mailbox at the curb, and having a couple of bills to post, she got out. Of course the light turned green as soon as she closed the door. I wheeled around the corner, and it gave an opportunity for a photo of one of the kajillion murals painted on store and shop walls. I passed the camera out to Ellen and she snapped a few digitals. Thought this one was nice, so enjoy.

Still hot, and today a bit more humid than Sunday. I discovered a water problem :-( in our basement (yes, our RV has a basement). I noticed wet edges on a piece of masonite laying on the floor under the ton of junk in the "belly". I found most of the floor's carpet was wet. Blotting as much up as possible, and looking for the source, we finally found our shower drain is leaking way up near the top of the drain pipe. A bucket under the u trap will prevent further wetness on the floor, but it was added to our list of warranty work we are hoping to get done in Sheldon IA later this month. We've got a fan under there now, with both bay doors open.

NOTHING WOULD FIT IN THE RV

We are staying at Lebanon Hills Campground near the Minneapolis Zoo. Catching up with daughter Jenn's family in the city, as well as taking Matt to the airport early Thursday morning for his flight to Miami and on to Colombia.

Today we went to the Powderhorn Park Art Fair, with more than 180 artists and lots of vendors, all ringing the little lake they have there. Saw some very interesting and creative stuff there, and reminded me of my art fair days. Hot, lots of lookers, and a very long day.

We were classified as lookers, that's for sure, because any purchase would have to be lightweight, stowable in a small space, and pretty much unbreakable...nothing else goes in the RV. Ellen did look at some small rugs, but colors weren't right.

I wore my 1-20-09 shirt (Bush's last day, "End of an Error" on the back), and must have had 25 people ask where I got it, plus lots of positive comments. The Powderhorn Park neighborhood is very diverse and very liberal.

SPAM MUSEUM in AUSTIN, MINNESOTA

We left Fort Dodge Tuesday morning and picked up Matt in Waterloo. After loading up his gear and bicycle (he went on RAGBRAI then skydiving), we motored toward Minneapolis. A great place to visit was the SPAM Museum.

Converted from an old KMart building, the museum is a bevy of history of canned meats which gave the George A. Hormel family a lot of money. It was deserved though, as many innovations were made throughout the decades in providing tasty meats that would last next to forever on the shelf. Bright blue and yellow was the color theme, as from the can label. It was amazing to find out how much SPAM was provided WWII fighting forces, both American and Allied.

Also interesting was the Hormel All-Girl band and performing group. They wore uniforms, hawking Hormel products across America, while promoting the show they would put on in a given city. This was post war time, and Hormel sales doubled in the 4-5 years the group traveled across the US in a fleet of white sedans with George A Hormel's name printed on the sides. It was also still radio's heyday, but as TV overtook radio as media leader, the group was disbanded in early 1953.

The museum is really done up nicely, colorfully, and humorously, and the best part is it is FREE!

We are now at Lebanon Hills campground near the Minneapolis Zoo. Matt flies out to Colombia tomorrow morning. We are also seeing daughter Jenn, Ben, and Mica

FORT DODGE, FRIENDS AND FAMILY

We have been at Kennedy Park, a county park a few miles north of Fort Dodge, our ex-hometown. This campground is really very nice, with full hookups for $17. That includes 50 amp service, sewer and water. At Palisades Kepler State Park near Cedar Rapids the price was $16 and all you got was 30 amp electrical service.

We have been able to catch up with friends, notably Dawn and Herman Provin and kids Zach and Mackenzie. It is always nice to see them and visit. Big news was that their springer spaniel Sadie had 6 puppies, all of which were very fat with little skinny legs and round pudgy faces. Ellen and I taught with Dawn at Fair Oaks Middle School for several years, and actually Ellen was Dawn's mentor when Dawn first started teaching in FD. Great news for Dawn in that she completed her Master's Degree....Hooray!

We have also visited Alec and Charlton Pendry, playing bridge and Settlers of Catan. They have been such good friends, letting us use their 94 Toyota Corolla to buzz around in. 30 mpg is twice as good as our F 450. Thank you Pendry's!!! Also saw the Dark Knight, and Heath Ledger was really excellent and scary as a Joker. Lots of action, but not very cartooney in the traditional Batman sense...and really, that's ok.

Seeing grandkids is always really special. We drove down to Paton, and Jaiden Mason and Ethan were a lot of fun. New pets at the Ackerson home include 2 firebelly toads, which were about 3 inches long (stretching out to maybe 6 inches. They had red 'grippy' fingertips that helped them climb up your arm. Mason liked to put his on top of his head.

Of course it is raining again. Drizzle on and off, just enough to keep things uncomfortable and muddy. When it isn't raining, it feels like it is--we have had enough humidity to last a year.

Cedar Rapids

Rain, rain, go away...
It rained yesterday from about 6 pm to about daybreak. A very steady rain. It gave us the opportunity to wipe down our coach this morning, and now it looks like new again.

Yesterday we shopped at a mall on the west side of Cedar Rapids, and it was a very unsettling experience. About a third of the mall spaces were being used by FEMA, the Red Cross, and Cedar Rapids city government and agencies, as well as the public library! All this as the result of last month's flooding. It is really sad. I don't know if the mall is solvent really, as there were several spaces totally empty.

We took Matt and Rob Knapp out to eat at Texas Roadhouse, and judging from the crowd (a 30 minute wait), maybe the bad economy hasn't yet affected America's penchant for having someone else cook their evening meal. Lots of tables were full of young families. The food was good, and it was a great chance to catch up with news of Matt's old High School friends.

Today's thought: If the professor on Gilligan's Island could make a radio out of a coconut, why couldn’t he fix a hole in a boat?

Time Flies

Note to Self: Blog more regularly.

Another long hiatus between entries has passed, and for that I apologize. Time flies when you're having fun.

We have been up to the Twin Cities, celebrated grandson Mica's 3rd birthday, picked up son Matt from his flight in from Colombia South America, dashed to Fort Dodge for appointments, and zipped across central Iowa to end up east of Cedar Rapids. We're here to 'stay close' to Matt, as he is staying with friend Rob Knapp in CR...We are at Palisades Kepler State Park, a very wooded park sloping down to the Cedar River. Just kind of chillin', as Matt would say. He has been biking and skydiving.

We did a day trip to daughter Heather Lujano's in Washington, and enjoyed that, hugging the grandkids and playing a game of Settlers of Catan. The weather has been HOT. Lots of sun and wind. We are here til Sunday when we travel to Fort Dodge while Matt does RAGBRAI, biking across Iowa with his team, "Team Whatever".

That's it for now, and hope to write again sooner than later.