BACK AT ALUM CREEK - OCTOBER

State Park:
We got here at around 2:00o.m. today. (Tuesday) We had a nice drive and after we emptied the tanks we found a spot where we could get wifi. After we got set up we made a Wally World run, grabbed a sandwich for linner and came back to the camp ground. We spent the rest of the evening on our respective computers. How did we ever do without them? I was in the RV Dreams chat for awhile this evening, and then I got cold, so I crawled into my nice warm bed and read for awhile. Then I remembered I forgot to post, so here I am at 12:30 a.m. on the old puter again! Needless to say this will be a very short post! Lol!

Taco Bell:
Tomorrow we have plans to meet Sandra and Gorden for lunch at Taco Bell! Actually they are just across the road a little ways so we're practically neighbors this week. It will be nice to finally get to meet them. I hope I remember to grab my camera! Well Friends I really have to get some sleep so I'll be back tomorrow to say Hi. Until we meet again...

WHOOSH !!!!!!!!

Today:
Today, Monday we're getting the fiver ready to travel for a few days of R & R before the wedding. We're just going to go to Alum Creek state park in Columbus, and with this weather, we shouldn't have any problems getting a spot for the wifi unless they have turned it off for the season! If they have we may end up somewhere else. Anyway we'll take off in the morning and see where we end up.

YIKES !!!
Sunday :
Sunday dawned sunny and windy, and I mean windy, not windy like when IKE came through Ohio, but we had 35 to 40 mph winds! Then it started to rain. We went to Sam's and got an electric mattress pad for our bed in the fiver. With the colder weather it's gotten kinda cold in the fiver. I also found an electric throw for me so I got that too. It works very well, but could be just a little bit bigger. We also got a new set of sheets with deep pockets to fit mattresses that are 18 inches deep. I don't think our mattress is that deep, but our sheet corners sometimes come off. I'm thinking it's because we have our mattress, then our memory foam topper, then our mattress cover on our bed. Our memory foam topper is 4" thick, so I wanted some bigger pocket ( fitted) sheets. Anyway sorry I got off topic, now back to the main topic "SUNDAY SHOWER"

Sunday Shower:
No this doesn't mean I only take a shower on Sundays! Lol!! It started raining hard and after it let up a bit I went to the house for something, I've since forgotten what, but that's the gist of the situation. You'll understand why I forgot what I went in for in a minute. So I come out of the house with what I got in one hand, and my crutch in my other one supporting me cos it was slippery and I didn't want to fall, again. I opened the door to the fiver, and was ready to go up the steps. By the way did I say it was raining and very windy? Anyway I went up the first step with no problem, and was on the top step when I hear a very loud WHOOSH ! I don't remember anything after that (Just Kidding ), except somebody screaming and feeling very WET! IT WAS ME!!!!! The wind blew at the exact time that I stepped up onto the top step and that wonderful invention of the slide topper, we have on our fiver, let loose with all the VERY COLD WATER that had collected there when it rained! RIGHT DOWN ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD! I was drenched and did I mention it was only 50^ outside at the time? I have to give Mike credit, he tried VERY hard not to LAUGH!! LOL! I thought he was going to ROTF laughing! Of course, my sense of humor had deserted me at that moment, but I did start to think it was funny, after I had changed out of my wet clothes and towel dried my hair! Which also had leaves in it from the wind blowing the leaves up onto the slide topper. THAT is when I started laughing! HAHA! Now as I think back on it, I have to say it was pretty funny and the timing was INCREDIBLE !! There has always been some discussion as to whether you really need slide toppers with the extra expense they add to your rig. Also, the pros and cons of having them! I have to say this must be one of the CONS !! Ours already had them on our 3 slides when we bought the fiver, and after this I don't know if I'm overly fond of them or not! LOL!

Saturday:
Saturday I got up early and made a huge meatloaf and put it in the crock pot and played games with Grand daughter Kara, while I waited for my friend to pick me up for her son and daughter in law's baby shower. The baby is due on December 1st, which is Kara's birthday. Wow what a shower, this baby boy is going to be the best outfitted baby in all time! I don't think they'll need to buy him anything unless they just want to buy something! I think there was 30 to 40 people there, and the people where she works have already given her a shower, and then there will be a couples shower in a couple of weeks. Can ya tell this is their first baby? While I was at the shower Kara was with her cousins, Autumn and Tehya for a fitting for her bridesmaid dress for the wedding.

Friday:
Friday was taken up with doctor appointments, xrays and picking Kara up at her school in Kettering, Ohio. With this I'll close and get this posted, as I am now caught up on the time that I missed writing here! Have a great day now, until I see ya tomorrow...

GREAT SEAL STATE PARK

These pictures tell about the design of the state seal.

Close up of the seal.
Hills of the great seal state park.


Great Seal State Park:
When we took our drive to the great seal state park, these are the pictures I took that day. The explanation of the items on the state seal are as follows. The hills on the seal were the inspiration for the design of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio. The sheaf of wheat represents the agricultural roots and the bundle of seventeen arrows symbolize Ohio's place as the 17th state of the union. One of the hills is named Mount Logan, in honor of the Indian Chief Logan, who lived here. The suns 13 rays represent the thirteen original colonies. The Scioto(pronounced si'-oto), river flows between the hills and the cultivated fields in the foreground. The design is attributed to the cooperative visions of Thomas Worthington, who was Ohio's first U.S. Senator and the "Father of Ohio Statehood", and Eward Tiffin who was Ohio's first governor, and William Creighton , Ohio's first secretary of state. So there is a bit of Ohio history for you today.

Weather:
It has been pretty chilly here this week, and I'm not happy about it. We slept in the house last night, and it got down to 28 degrees early after midnight. One thing I'd like to suggest to you if you haven't yet bought your motor home or fiver and plan to full time in them, make sure you have double pane windows or storm windows! Our fiver is a 2008, and that is one thing I have found to be needed. We have lots of cold coming from the glass. There is no air leaks the glass just feels cold. The rest of the fiver seems to be very well insulated. If we are to live in this fiver we'll either have to figure out some way to make and install storm windows or use clear plastic on the windows. What do the rest of you do? Our apartment isn't finished yet but our bedroom is so that's why we spent last night in the house. The tanks under the fiver are equipped with heating pads, so why the manufacturer didn't use double pane windows or add storm windows is a mystery to me.

Gas:
Here in Ohio gas is now $2.38, but diesel is still $3.69. I hear that the oil company's are going to slow down production, so the price will probably go up again. I guess we normal people just can't win. I think the oil company's are really greedy! All of you out there heading south please travel safe and have as much FUN as you can! I hope to see some of you in the RV Dreams chat room tonight!
Well that is all of the news I have for you today, so until I see ya again...

REMEMBER ME?

Scene of the Crime: September 2nd, 1972
Oop's didn't mean to use the same pic twice!
Church We got Married in.
Fall Color in Southern Ohio




Hello Again:
Hope ya haven't given up on me!
I just needed some down time to regroup after being at Mom Millers. We didn't do too much this time while we were there, so no panic attacks this time. When we went to McD's so I could post, she was a bit agitated after being alone for an hour, so that's why we didn't go back to post again. We did take her for a drive out in the country to look at the fall colors, but we didn't stop and go in anywhere this time. When we got home her hands shook for a while but I was able to distract her by showing her the pictures that we took after I down loaded them onto my laptop which doesn't need the internet to do. She was amazed that I could show the pictures to her that fast, and after a bit the shaking in her hands stopped. The fall color isn't as brilliant as it usually is because we have had a really dry fall. I did get a few colorful pictures though. We drove to the Great Seal State Park, but I will post about that tomorrow. I hope you will find it interesting and I didn't want to put all the pictures in one post.

Scene of the Crime: LOL!
This is the church we got married in in 1972. We drove past it to see what it looked like, and it still looks good after all these years! Wish we still looked as good! LOL! Times sure have changed since then. Hard to believe that our youngest son is getting married. That definitely makes me feel OLD! Haha! Speaking of times changing, Mike and I are going to go vote early, this afternoon. Since they are allowing people to do that now we figured we would, so we won't have to stand in line on November 4th.

Wedding:
Things for the wedding are moving along very well. The corsages and boutonnieres are done. The RSVP's are coming in, and things are falling in place. Now I just need to get busy on the bouquets. I need to pick up some more flowers to match the Maid of Honor's dress tomorrow. The rehearsal dinner is going to consist of a salad bar and pizzas, either at the church hall or our middle son and daughter in law's house. Now we just have to decide where to order the pizzas from, and have them delivered at the right time! Where do you get your favorite pizza? Around here we have Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and several small pizza places that have very good pizza too! I guess we'll have to call around and see if any of them will give us a discount on a large order, first. That would really be nice, because I think we'll probably need about 15 to 20! Yikes! On that note, I think I better go lay down before I faint so I'll see ya's tomorrow!

McDonalds WiFi

Miss Kitty
Sunset Last Night
Ditto ^
Tree in Mom's yard
Wednesday Chillicothe:
We're in Chillicothe, Ohio again. We got here this morning, and it's our turn to stay with Mike's Mom. So here we sit in McDonald's using their wifi. We can't hook up to wifi at Mom's house anymore, so its either this or not post until Sunday. So you can see which one I chose. We figured we'd leave Mom and her kitty alone for awhile and then we'll take dinner back with us. I hope I don't end up sick, because I'm allergic to cats! YIKES!!! She didn't have the cat the last time we were here, but she seems really attached to her. I'm sure she is alot of company for her, and someone for her to talk to and take care of. I will probably come down here to McD's by myself next time, so we don't leave Mom alone very much.

Flowers:
I brought the wedding flowers with me, so when I get the boutonnieres and the corsages done, I'll take some pictures and post them. Hopefully I'll get all the corsages and the boutonnieres finished this week, then I'll have a bit of leeway with the bouquets.

Leaves:
The leaves are starting to turn here in central and southern Ohio now. I hope to get some good pictures of the leaves and some pictures of the Great Seal Park here that is on the seal of the state of Ohio. I'd love to be able to get some pictures of the amphitheatre here where Tecumseh is performed, so we'll see, maybe we can take Mom for a ride I'll see ya in a couple of days again, so until then...

BLAST FROM THE PAST !!!!

Herman of Herman's Hermits gets standing ovation
Answering questions at the "Meet and Greet"
Kara (Our oldest Grand daughter) and Peter Noone
British Flag used at the concerts
Signing autographs after the concert- looks great huh? (will be 61 in November)!
Listen People
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter
Peter Noone aka Herman sings I'll Never Dance Again for the Noonatics!

Saturday Off To Van Wert, Ohio:
When we picked Kara up on Friday afternoon and we got back to the fiver Kara made a necklace and bracelet using Union Jack (British Flag beads) that I had ordered online, with red, white, and blue beads in between. She was so excited to finally be going to another concert. It had been almost a year since her last concert. Mike drove us to our designated meeting place at 10:30a.m. and we waited for my friends to get there. Once they got there we moved our bags and got on our way. We arrived at Van Wert and the hotel about 1:30 p.m. Almost immediately we started running into our fellow Noonatics=members of the Peter Noone Fan Club. Some of us have followed Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone since the beginning of the British Invasion in the 60's. We have all ages of members and lots of Noonakids like Kara! Kara became a "Noonatic in Training" at age 5. She is going to be 9 in December, and has been a full fan club member for 2 years now. This is our "thing" to do together, going to see Peter Noone concerts when they're close enough. I have also introduced Autumn and Tehya, our other 2 Grand daughters to the concerts which they also love! Autumn 7 has been to 2 concerts and Tehya 4 has been to 1. This is also my revenge on my sons, because having listened to all the records when they were growing up they can't stand to hear it now, and they have to listen to it at their houses now because Peter Noone gave the girls cd's of their own, at a concert! Haha! Seriously, I don't have to worry about taking them to a concert, because it's good clean FUN, and I don't have to worry about the lyrics or the language! You just can't go to a Herman's Hermits concert starring Peter Noone and not leave with a smile on your face. Most of the songs are very upbeat and happy songs.

Herman's Hermits Hits:
Some of the songs you may remember that they recorded are:
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter
I'm Henry the Eighth
There's a Kind of Hush
I'm into Something Good
Can't Ya Hear My Heartbeat
Listen People
Dandy
No Milk Today
The list goes on but unless you had all their records like I did you might not recognize all the songs.

Fan Club Meeting:
At 5 p.m. before the concert started the fan club had a meeting called a "DO" Which means that Peter Noone is there to take a picture with each one of us and answer questions. All 70 of us got to pose with Peter and got a Polaroid picture of the 2 of us, which he autographed. Some of us he recognizes when he sees us and calls us by name, even if we don't have our chat name badges on. He knows who I am, because I was one of the committed Ohio reps for the fan club the last 2 years. We had all written a question on an index card before he got there so they were all collected and in a bag ready to be answered. As he answered questions he also told us about "hanging out" with some of the bands of the British invasion, and other recording stars of that era! We heard lots of funny stories about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, the Who, the Dave Clark 5, The Monkees, Elvis and Johnny Cash! In total Peter Noone spent 2 hours with us and we heard lots of very interesting stuff. Today there are not many entertainers who would spend that kind of time with their fan club! We had club members there from Canada, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky,Delaware, and of course Ohio. Club members representing Ohio were from Ada, Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Kettering,Medway (me which is close to Springfield) Middletown, and Van Wert!

The Concert:
After the fan club meeting the concert started at 7:30p.m. Peter Noone, Herman and his Hermits put on a Fab 2 hour show with a short intermission in between. The concert was "sold out" and the venue has already invited them back next year! I'm telling my age here, but I was lucky enough to go to the Ohio State fair in 1967 (I was 13) and, 1968 when Herman's Hermits were there. I still have my Herman's Hermits button that I purchased then. Peter was impressed that I still had it and autographed it for me a few years ago. Most of my pictures didn't turn out very well because it was dark, and it's hard to get still shots because Herman is always dancing and jumping around when he is on stage! The lady in front of me also kept moving her head and getting in my shot, so sorry about the shots with her head, but I was unable to crop it out. I wish I had his energy. Must be all the Starbucks he drinks! Anyway, now that I've probably bored ya to tears with the concert and fan club talk I'll close with this: Saturday was a total rush, and I'll be back tomorrow for sure...

T G I F !!!!!

Thursday:
Thursday found us back at Lowe's to get more lumber! We're now another hundred dollars poorer! It's not just building supplies that are so expensive either? I went to the grocery store yesterday and came out with I kid you not 2 plastic bags and it was $45.00! I was amazed, and I had a huge case of sticker shock! I just wonder what everybody is going to do!

Friday:
Today we went and picked up Kara at school again. Tomorrow Kara and I are going to Van Wert, Ohio to see Herman's Hermits, starring Peter Noone! We're going to a Peter Noone Fan Club "DO" ! We get to get our picture taken with Herman, ( Peter Noone)! Then we get to see a FAB, FUN, FANTISTIC Concert! We can't wait to go see all the Noonatics and have a blast! I get to feel 16 for a few hours! Haha! Well I can pretend can't I? Just kidding after all, and all kidding aside, it's a guaranteed good time. So I'll be out of town until Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping we're allowed to take pictures at this venue, because I think we have pretty good seats. At least I hope so! I'd love to get some good pictures to post of Kara and I with Peter. Wish me luck! Woo Hoo! See ya on Sunday and all of you take care until then...