Isn’t it Supposed to Be Spring?

We left Springfield, Illinois on Monday morning.  As we entered Wisconsin, we saw a bit of snow on the grass.  I was sure hoping to avoid snow this year :)

We arrived at Burlington RV Monday afternoon.  Our appointment for repairs was first thing Tuesday morning.  They were kind enough to let us stay overnight on their lot Monday night.  They even turned on the outside water for us since one of the reasons we were there was to have our water pump replaced.

On Tuesday they replaced our water pump and repaired the damage that was done by one of our tires losing it’s tread back in February.  Repairs were completed at 5:30 p.m.  Since it was snowing to the north, we decided to spend another night in their parking lot.

We have been so impressed with Jayco.  Our warranty expired last fall, but they covered the tire damage repairs under warranty and replaced the water pump,as well.  Jayco’s customer service is excellent.  We had filed a claim with Goodyear for the tire and the damage it caused.  We got an email this morning saying they were covering all of the repair costs and the new tire.  So, Jayco will get their money back, and we will be reimbursed for the tire.  More good customer service!

It rained all day yesterday and most of the night.  There were even a few thunderstorms in the evening hours.  Three inches of snow were predicted to the north overnight.  Yuck!

We left Burlington around 11:00 a.m. this morning and arrived in Beaver Dam about two hours later.  We are at Derge County Park where we will be the camp hosts this summer.  The roads were fine getting here.  Just a bit wet in a few spots. 

Here’s the current view out of our back window.

I’m not happy about the snow view.  However, this view is to the south so I’m sure we will see some awesome sunsets out of our back window this summer.  I don’t know what crop will be growing, but it will be nice to have our back shades open with no one behind us.

Here’s the view out of our side window.

That’s Beaver Dam Lake across the road from us.  It’s to the east so there should be some beautiful sunrises over the lake.

We’re fighting with DirecTV again.  When Kevin set up our satellite today, it wouldn’t work.  When he called DirecTV, they told him our protection plan doesn’t cover us because our dish is on a tripod and not attached to a residence.  They sold us this plan last September when we had a problem with the dish on the tripod so someone screwed up. Again!!!

They wouldn’t help me find a service person in our area.  I finally found the name of a service person online, and he is supposed to call me back tomorrow to set up a time to come out and take a look. I’ll definitely be cancelling that protection plan that doesn’t cover our equipment. 

I hope this finally convinces Kevin to cancel DirecTV.  Their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered!!! Dish Network has got to be better. It certainly can’t be any worse!

Our youngest son, Korey, should be here in about an hour.  He’s driving down from Minnesota to spend the next five days with us.  I’m so excited to see him.  And, we’ll see our oldest son, Eric, on Friday.  The whole family will be together for Easter. I have missed my boys :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

A Little Lincoln History

Today we visited the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.  It is a four block area in downtown Springfield that has been restored to the mid 1800s time period. The movie at the visitor center covered the time Lincoln lived in Springfield, and it was very well done.

The main feature of the site is the home Abraham and Mary Lincoln owned while they lived in Springfield.  It is the only home they ever owned.

Lincoln came to Springfield at the age of 28 to be a junior partner in a law firm.  He lived here for 25 years and during that time got married, fathered four children, and was elected President.

This room is the Back Parlor.  The couch is the original horse hair couch the Lincolns owned.  It is believed Lincoln was informed that he had won the presidency in 1860 in this room.

This is the Sitting Room.  The mirror was brought by Mary Todd when she moved to Illinois.  Under the mirror is her original sewing table.

The Park Service offers free tours of the house.  There are also two other houses on the block that have been restored and are open for self-guided tours.

We walked about six blocks to the Lincoln Presidential Library.  There is currently a Civil War exhibit which we looked at.  Across the street is the Lincoln Museum.  We didn’t have time to go through it today.  Maybe next time we’re in the area.

Our last Lincoln stop for the day was his grave site.  Lincoln is buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield along with his wife and three of their four sons.  Those three children all died before they were eighteen years old.  Their only child to survive to become an adult was their oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

 

Spring has arrived in Illinois.  This apple tree was in full bloom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, I couldn’t resist sharing this beautiful tulip picture with you.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Brrr!

Two days ago we had the air conditioner running because it was 86 degrees in Oklahoma.  Since leaving there, highs have only been in the 40s and the skies have been heavily overcast for two days.

I have a feeling we won’t be seeing 80 degrees for quite some time.  I guess there is always a trade-off for everything.  As we’ve been driving through Missouri and Illinois, I’ve been enjoying the views of green grass and the blooming Redbuds.  There are also some trees with white blossoms that are so pretty.  Even with the clouds, it’s been beautiful.

Here are some of the white trees zipping by.  You can see the bright green of the fresh leaves, as well.

And, of course, no trip through St. Louis is complete without a picture of the arch.  We drove through St. Louis around noon today, and traffic was fairly light.  I’m sure glad we weren’t  heading south on I-55 into the city.  They were backed up for miles.

 

 

 

It was windy again today.  Unfortunately, it was now coming from the northwest instead of the southwest.  So, Kevin was fighting a head wind all day.  No more being pushed along from behind.  Our gas mileage sure wasn’t good. In fact, it was so windy that it pushed our step down while we were driving.  Kevin had to bungee it to keep the wind from blowing it down. 

We are spending two nights at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.  The rate for 55 and older is $20 a night for a FHU site with 50 amp electric.  They also have free Wi-Fi which works great.  Some sites are on asphalt parking lot and some are on grass.  It’s quite muddy so we chose the asphalt.  We will definitely keep this place in mind for future trips back to Wisconsin.

There were some tornados and heavy storms in central Illinois last night.  It feels like we’ve been tip-toeing between storms.  All we had was rain all night in Missouri.  Nothing serious.  It appears the severe weather will not be a factor for us between now and Monday when we reach Wisconsin.

We did see on weather.com that it is expected to be in the 40s all next week with clouds and rain.  Why are we going back there?? I guess seeing family and camp hosting are good reasons to return.  Hopefully, the weather will improve sooner than later :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

We’re Fine!

I was so sad to hear this morning that several people were killed by tornadoes yesterday in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  We were very lucky to have missed the worst of the bad weather.

There was a line of storms that came through our area yesterday afternoon.  We experienced some high winds, heavy rain and a brief period of small hail.  Nothing that did any damage.

There was a tornado spotted about ten miles from us.  That was a little too close for comfort!  The worst of the tornadoes were in southeastern Oklahoma. We were in the central part of the state.

We left this morning and Kevin put in a long day of driving, about seven hours.  We had planned on staying at a Passport America place east of Springfield, Missouri. It’s a motel with several campsites in the back.  When I called this morning, they said they had one site left. 

When we arrived, they had only back-in sites left, and they were too small for us.  The lady on the phone never asked me what size we were.  Oh well, it looked pretty dumpy and swampy anyway, so we left.

We kept on going, figuring we’d find something.  About thirty miles further along, we found an RV park right along the interstate.  It was $20 with our Good Sam discount, they had room and it didn’t look swampy.  Sounds good.  We’re here for one night.  Tomorrow we head to Springfield, Illinois for two nights.

Thanks for all the comments regarding our safety.  I guess I shouldn’t be writing posts during a tornado watch :)  I certainly didn’t mean to alarm anyone.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Tornado Watch–Yikes!

Our plan had been to leave Oklahoma this morning and drive to Springfield, Missouri for the night.  Yesterday the weather people were predicting severe storms and possible tornados for Missouri tonight.  That’s not good.

So, we decided to stay in Oklahoma for another day.  We paid for another night and enjoyed a nice day today.  Originally, the weather reports were for severe weather in eastern Oklahoma and east into Missouri.  We’re in central Oklahoma.

Well, the weather changed it’s mind and decided to become severe closer to us.  We are currently under a tornado watch.  There have been a few funnel clouds that have popped up in our surrounding area, but so far we’ve had rain and just a little bit of small hail.  Hopefully, that’s the worst of it.

The storm shelter is just across the road from us so at least we have a safe place to go, if needed.  Keep your fingers crossed for us that we won’t need it!!!

Oklahoma City

Today we drove to downtown Oklahoma City.  Our first stop was the Oklahoma City National Memorial site. I’m sure most of you remember the morning of April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVeigh parked a Ryder truck full of explosives outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. At 9:03 a.m. the truck exploded and caused the death of 168 innocent people.

The memorial is a peaceful place to remember and honor the people who died, the survivors, the rescuers and everyone affected by this senseless act.

The reflecting pool is in the location of 5th Street which was the street in front of the building.  The truck was parked about half way down in front on the building which was on the right.  You can see the field of 168 chairs representing each of the people who died.  They are in 9 rows representing the 9 floors of the building.  Nineteen of the chairs are smaller than the rest representing the children that were killed.  All of the children were under the age of 6.

At the back right hand side next to the gate is part of the original wall of the building.  It has a plaque on it with the names of the 680 people who were injured, but survived.

The names are on those plaques behind the trees. The plaques are made of granite rescued from the lobby floor of the building.

A total of 324 buildings were damaged in a 16 block area.  Eventually, 16 of those buildings were demolished due to the damage sustained. 

Across the street is a church.  The rectory of the church was destroyed by the blast.  In it’s place, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has erected this statue of Jesus.

The words on the statue are a quote from the Bible, “And Jesus Wept".  The statue is facing away from the site.  This was a really moving visual for me.  I can certainly imagine that Jesus wept at the evil that happened at this place on that day. 

Across the street behind the statue, you can see part of the original fencing that was placed around the site after the explosion.  Next year marks 16 years since the explosion, and people are still leaving memorials at the fence.

In addition to the outdoor memorial, there is also a museum on the site.  We didn’t go in the museum.  I really didn’t want to hear the audio and see the images of the tragedy.  Visiting the site and honoring those killed was enough for us. Prior to 9/11, this was the the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil.

On the way back, we drove past a church called LifeChurch TV. It has a massive cross outside of it.  They must be having a carnival or something.  There is this inflatable ape next to the cross.  It looks like King Kong is going to try to climb the cross.  We’ve noticed a great many crosses and churches in this area.  I’m wondering if it’s part of the Bible Belt.

The weather today was gorgeous.  It was sunny with a high of 80 degrees and calm winds for a change.  Perfect.

When we got back to the camper, there were two new rigs next to us.  They’re from Wisconsin, too.  We spent a while sitting outside and visiting with them.  One of the couples ordered a new Jayco Pinnacle and is picking it up next week when they get back to Wisconsin.  Cool!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Green!

We’ve been on the road for much of the past two days, about 5 to 6 hours each day.  Yesterday we left New Mexico and spent the night at AOK Camper Park outside of Amarillo, Texas. It was one of those Passport America parks that is nothing more than some hook-ups in a field.  It was $11 and just fine for the night.

It was really windy all day yesterday, but luckily the wind was coming from behind us.  We actually got very good gas mileage.  The last hour or so before we stopped was quite dusty.  There were a couple of times where it was getting difficult to see because of all the dirt blowing around.  I sure wouldn’t want to see what a full-blown dust storm is like.

There is a landowner near Amarillo who has “planted” ten Cadillacs in his field.  I pictured it a little different.  I didn’t realize how out in the middle of nowhere it was.  I was able to get a picture as we drove by.  As you can see, the air is full of dust. 

We left Texas this morning. As we got closer to Oklahoma, I began to notice green; green grass, green trees, green bushes, green fields.  It was fantastic.  I’ve missed green!  I thoroughly enjoyed the weather in the desert southwest, but I’m ready to be out of the desert for a while!

We’re spending the next three nights outside of Oklahoma City at Oak Glen RV Park.  It’s another Passport America for $12.00 a night plus $1.00 per day extra for wi-fi.  It’s an adequate park.  Our site is FHU with 50 amp service.  When we got here, all of the sites were open so Kevin picked this nice site with a concrete pad.  Do you see the green trees and grass? 

The campground has a pool which is not open yet.  I’m thinking even if they put water in it, I wouldn’t want to swim in there.

The good news is no more sand or gravel for a while.  Now it’s time to give our home a super-duper spring cleaning and get all of that sand and gravel out of every crevice and corner :)

The key to success is having dreams. The mark of success is living them. ~ Unknown