Jun 17, 2013 - Day 1 - we head south

Rolling hills, limestone cliffs, and the slow southern drawl accompany us on our trip southward. Leaving Indiana we cross the mighty Ohio River and the Mason-Dixson line at the same time. Listening to To Kill a Mockingbird we transport ourselves to another time and place. Scout captured our imaginations, Jem instilled a sense of honor within us, Bo Radley aroused our curiousity, and Atticus offered a peaceful solution to the ways of others. The further south we traveled the redder the soil began to be. Reddish orange glow from the ground...

Nov 17, 2012 - Hamfest for Guys/Shopping for the Ladies

This morning the guys headed out to attend the hamfest, while the ladies did some shopping. The hamfest was also the next day, but Tom said it was a waste. No one came. We went back to Keith for the night after the 2nd day of the hamfest.

Nov 16, 2012 - Fort Wayne Hamfest in Indiana

Today after enjoying a nice lunch (Lou and Sandi met up with us) Keith and Marian and Tom and I heading onto Fort Wayne, IN where the fellows will be attending a Hamfest. For those of you who do not know what a Hamfest is it is like a huge yard sale only for ham radio and other electronics.

Sep 24, 2012 - Fort Wayne, IN, Johnny Appleseed Park

On our way out of town this morning we stopped for brew supplies for Rick then drove on to Fort Wayne, Indiana. We are staying in a city park, the Johnny Appleseed Park. We saw his grave in the park and a plaque talking about his life. Fort Wayne has several bike paths with one running by the park. We rode into downtown, explored the Headwaters Park, watched skateboarders at another park and stopped at the local brewery.

Oct 6, 2011 - Forest River Factory Tour

We got out of the campground at 12:00 noon and drove to the near-by Forest River Motorcoach Plant to take a tour of how our Forest River Georgetown motorcoach was put together. Steve, a sales manager/representative showed us around and mentioned he knew Jerry Bridges, the owner of Lloyd Bridges Traveland in Chelsea, MI where we had purchased our motorcoach. As both Steve and Jerry had previously worked for a motorcoach line called Georgie Boy, we considered naming our motorcoach "Georgie" to go with Sara, our voice GPS system... We drove to...

Jul 13, 2010 - Days 1 & 2

Monday afternoon we had just about enough of traveling so we pulled into Wapsipinicon State Park in Iowa. The scenery along the way was amazing. Gently rolling hills covered with acres of green corn fields as far as the eye can see. As in Indiana, sporadic mud holes told the tale of heavy rains but unlike Indiana the corm fields are endless. Makes local fields seem like gardens in comparison. As we set up camp the rain began and continued through the evening. It turned out to be a good time to relax and recharge ready for the next day. In...

Jun 8, 2009 - Fort Wayne, Indiana

6/8 – 6/9 It took us two days to travel the 174 miles to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The first day we traveled to Decatur, Indiana on I-75 and US33. We parked overnight at the local Wal-Mart and then continued the remaining 38 miles to the Wal-Mart in Fort Wayne. In Fort Wayne we split up. Joan visited the Allen County Library where she spent the day researching Ken’s family genealogy. Ken headed up to Auburn to check out the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum. The museum is located in the old Auburn factory showroom and headquarter’s building. In...

Oct 17, 2008 - Fort Wayne, IN

What an exciting day! We picked Uncle Roy up in the morning and headed east. We then took a quick side trip to Notre Dame University where Uncle Roy, Grandpa Tom and others have attended. We found a parking spot to accommodate our truck and trailer, had lunch and got Uncle Roy set up in the trailer while the four of us took a quick two-hour tour of campus. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and it felt great to get out and walk around for a while. We saw the library with the mosaic of "Touchdown Jesus." We then went into the "Golden Dome"...

Aug 18, 2008 - Fort Wayne & Churubusco

The best thing about Churubusco was the cantalope and tomatoes. We did have a Pizza at East of Chicago Pizza, and I asked the girl for extra oregano and she said "We don't have any of that." In Fort Wayne the Lincoln Museum was closed, and we did see the Botanical Gardens and we both enjoyed the Childrens Zoo.

Sep 16, 2007 - O'Fallon, MO to Ft. Wayne, IN ~ 403 miles

I didn't get much sleep last night, anticipating an early rise and drive to pick up Marian. I was up every hour on the hour for fear that the alarm wouldn't go off. Anyway, I was up and out the door at 6 AM. I picked up Marian at 6:20 Am and we were off. The drive was pretty uneventful so early in the morning on a Sunday. We stopped in 2 hours for a rest break and again around noon for lunch near Indianapolis, IN. We arrived at the campground around 2 PM. We were met by our SKP Genies host and taken to our spot. We settled in and got the...

Sep 10, 2007 - Johnny Appleseed

We left Dubuque in the rain and immediately crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois . It felt good being in Illinois again, and it was good to see this other part of the state . When I lived here about all I saw was Chicago and the corridor between Chicago and Milwaukee. I'd always pictured the state as completly flat, so it was interesting to see that Illinois actually has hills . Still, there is only some 800 feet of elevation difference between the highest point in the state and the lowest point, so it's pretty funny passing a sign...

May 24, 2007 - Joliet, IL, Fort Wayne, IA - zoo and science museum

After leaving Saylorville Lake, we headed for Joliet, IL and a hotel. (I write this to remind myself, more than for your interest - the hotels are becoming a slight blurr at this point). We were able to have dinner with Jay's cousin Deb, her husband Kevin and two boys. It's always fun to get to see these far away relatives and catch up. The kids continue to be amazed at how quickly the relationships pick up from where they last left off ( in this case, 14 years ago). Thanks Deb and Kevin for a fun dinner - and I'm sorry I forgot my camera...