ON THE GO AGAIN !!

We're Ready :
On Monday we're getting ready to head to Chillicothe, Oh to spend some time with Mike's Mom. First we'll stop and drop the 5er off at my brother's house, in Circleville, and then we'll go on down to Mikes Mom's on Thursday, and be there through the weekend.

R & R:
Since we got back from Branson, all we have been doing is resting, and relaxing. We really didn't do anything too hard in Branson, but just being on a schedule is hard when you're not used to it. Don't ya feel sorry for us? LOL! The trip caught up with us the past few days, so we just hung out, and went to bed early every night. So I haven't been in the RV Dreams chat room but once since we got back. I will make up for that by spending the evening in chat tonight. I have rested enough, and I am ready to have some more fun!

More Rally:
The people we met at the rally we're very nice, friendly, and ready for FUN! The fashion show was lots of fun, and so was the karaoke. We usually don't enjoy that too much, but it was fun, must have been the people doing it. It was also nice not having to cook once while we were in Branson. I shouldn't say in Branson, because we never actually went into Branson proper, we just didn't have time. So it probably saved us money when ya think about it. I would have just had to buy something! Since we're only part time until December, it's still like vacation mode for us right now going places in the fiver. Well that's it for today, so I'll see most of ya's in chat tonight.

HOME FOR A WEEK

Home:
We reached our house by 2:00p.m. Oops, I guess I better get used to saying our Son's house now! We had our house with us when we arrived! I don't know if I'll ever get used to that or not. It is much cooler here in Ohio today, and only 72 for tomorrow, but with rain . When we got here today we found the day lillies we're blooming, along with my roses. Yesterday was one of the nicest day's, as far as no humidity, that I can remember for a long time. I really enjoyed being outside yesterday afternoon!

Our Pets:
The dogs were so glad to see us, that when Mike let them out of the pantry they almost knocked me down! It took them quite awhile to settle down. Finally after an hour of tail wagging they laid down to rest. Dutchess, my dog is so relieved for us to be home. She'll have a hard time when we have to go down to stay with Mike's Mom next week. I wish I could take her with us, but Mike's Mom doesn't like dogs in the house. I am going to take Jake, my Yellow Nape Amazon Parrot with us when we go. It's time for Paco to stay home now. Speaking of Paco, he was glad to get home, and see his bird buddies! I'm sure he has alot to tell them about everyone he met, and all the attention he got. Probably something like, " Man you guys should have been with me, all the humans at the RV Dreams Rally just kept taking my picture, and petting me. It was awesome!" LOL! Ha Ha!

BACK IN TERRE HAUTE

KOA Terre Haute, In
This morning we left St Louis, about 10:30a.m. It was a beautiful sunny day, with no humidity. What a nice day for a drive. We had an easy drive from St Louis through Illinois. Once we crossed the boarder of Illinois into Indiana we sure knew we were in a different state, because I-70 is a terrible rough road. When we got to the KOA, and opened the fiver, and the decorative nut off of the light over the table had come off. All that kept the glass globe on was a little washer and a hex nut. Boy am I glad that didn't come off and break. The hex nut had worked it's way almost down to the end of the screw. What a mess that would have been with broken glass all over the place! I probably would have never been able to get it all off everything! You'd think that with all the state taxes everyone pays they would be able to keep the roads in decent shape.

Campsite:
We have a nice campsite with trees and shade. The temp is a great 81 degrees, and I don't think that the day could be any more perfect! The birds are chirping, there is a nice breeze, and the sky is a beautiful blue with a few clouds. Paco and I are sitting outside while I type this. Ahh the best of both worlds, camping, and technology at the same time! Of course we are in no way roughing it, with the TV, cable, internet, microwave ect..... Kinda makes ya feel sorry for us huh? LOL! Seriously, we could get used to this lifestyle very easy, and we plan to! I would just like to stay at each place we go more than one night. We didn't even unhitch this afternoon, because we still have another 3 hour drive tomorrow to get back to Ohio. I think we're going to stay at the house for about a week, then go down to my brother's house, and then go stay with Mike's Mom to let the rest of the family have a break, and catch up on the things that they have let go to stay with Mike's Mom. Well that's it for today, hope ya all have a good one, and travel safe!

RALLY OVER-ST LOUIS HERE WE COME !!!!

Sunday:
First I want to say Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there!

Rally End:
As we all know all good things must come to an end, and the rally did this morning, against all our wishes! Although I'm sure Howard & Linda will get some much needed rest. I know we sure hated to say so long , and safe travels to everyone. Boy did Wednesday to Sunday morning go really fast! It seemed like we'd just gotten there, when we were loading everything up and getting ready to leave! We had a blast, and sure hope that Howard & Linda do another rally next year!!!! We all got lots of information, and lots of laughs too! It was great matching all the names up to the faces, and making new friends! I'm sure that Paco has to be the most photographed bird on the internet right now! We stopped by Linda & Howard's rig before we left so Paco could give Linda some snuggles before we left. He was in rare form, cuddling up to Linda, and then jumping up and down on her arm! He really enjoyed Linda and was showing off for her. He cuddled up with Donna too, so not to play favorites! Actually. he liked anyone who would give his neck a scratch for him, so he got lots of attention the last few days. He is a very social bird! Thank You to all who put up with him, but I did promise Linda I'd bring him. I don't know if he'll make a return trip to another rally, but he is a good traveler, so who knows!

St Louis:
We had a smooth trip to St Louis, and we arrived back at the KOA we stayed at on the way to Branson at about 3:30 p.m. We're both tired, but doing well. The only thing we had trouble with at the rally was getting up and at the seminars by 7:30 in the A. M. We're not used to getting up that early anymore! To Howard & Linda, THANK YOU for the rally and all the planning that went into it. By the way, the folks at the ABC Campground were great, they were friendly, lots of fun, and on top of everything going on! A huge THANK YOU to them also!

WE'RE HERE! BRANSON THAT IS !

We have arrived!!!!! We got here about 3:30p.m. today. After we got set up we walked over to the BIG TENT, and signed in. We now know who's face matches what name! We met lots of very friendly people who were instantly friends. Paco (the cockatoo) has made quite a few conquests, not surprisingly Linda! She is getting her bird fix, and Paco is loving the attention. He even got his own lanyard for his cage! He is one lovable bird, but everyone must be aware, a cockatoo is a big parrot, and are a high maintenance birds. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from getting one, but one must know, that these are not throw away pets, and will usually outlive you. I have been involved in parrot rescues for a long time, and have seen lots of abused birds. Not every cockatoo is as friendly and tame as Paco, I just wanted to make sure people realized that. I will now get off of my soapbox! Seriously, I just don't want to rescue any more unwanted birds.

Rally:
We had a Welcome pizza party, and ice cream social this evening, and lots of fun. I'll try to write more tomorrow.

REMEMBER GILLIGAN'S ISLAND 3HOUR TOUR?

3 Hour Drive Turns into 8 Hours:
We left home at 10:10a.m. on Monday headed west for our 3 hour drive to TerreHaute, IN. Well to make a long story, and a very long drive short here's what happened. About 40 miles from Terre Haute I-70 had a long backup. I-70 west was closed ahead, so they were funneling everyone into the right lane, and taking them to the exit. We though maybe it was still flooded, because we had heard that they had I-70 closed east and west for a short time due to flooding. Well it turns out that they were doing road work, and there was no flooding on I-70! We were in a huge back up for miles, just crawling a few feet at a time! We couldn't get off and go a different route, because of all the traffic, and no road signs. The whole time we were looking for an alternate route on the maps. It took us 6 1/2 hours to go 40 miles, and then after we finally found a cross road that would take us into Terre Haute, everyone had the same idea! We were finally to get back on I-70 and we finally arrived at the KOA at about 7:30p.m. During our time in the back up we sat through 2 big thunder storms! So when we got to the KOA the electricity was off! No lights, no AC,no Internet, no nothing! The humidity was so thick you could have cut it with a knife too! Just about every campsite was full of standing water, and we had to wade to get into the fiver! We had some cheese and crackers for dinner, and were about to go to bed when the electric came on at about 9:00p.m. We still washed up and went to bed, because we we're exhausted! We thought we would read for a while when it started to storm again, luckily we were able to have the AC on. Then early this morning we had another mild storm, but boy did it rain hard. Enough said about yesterday!

Today, Tuesday:
After everything went wrong yesterday, today was perfect! We headed for our St. Louis leg of the trip. Today went like we planed! We left at 10:00a.m. and even though the traffic was heavy at times we arrived at the KOA in St Louis at 12:30 p.m. St. Louis time. The sky was a beautiful blue with a few wisps of clouds, and a pleasant 85 degrees. Lets hope the last leg of the trip tomorrow to Branson is as good as the leg today! Paco, our cockatoo is a very good traveler, and has been no trouble on this trip! See ya in Branson!

READY TO ROLL

Yes We're Ready:
Everything is packed and ready to go! For the first leg of our trip we're going from Medway, Ohio to Terre Haute, IN. They've had some flooding near Indianapolis and Terre Haute, IN. I- 70 was closed going east and west Friday and Saturday. Just to be sure we could get through, we called the KOA in Terre Haute this morning. They said that they are high and dry with only some muddy places in the campground. So we are going ahead and taking the route we planed. We're going to hope it's ok like the owner said. She said that I-70 is open going both east and west,so we're going to try. The first leg of our trip from home to Terre Haute is only going to be 3 hours. We plan to leave home about 10:00a.m. We are excited to be going to Branson, and can't wait to meet everyone! From what I have read on the RV Dreams blog it sounds like the ones that are there now are already having a blast! That's all for tonite, I want to get in the chat room for a bit before I call it a night.