August, 2003
After a delicious breakfast at the home of the Andersons in Avon Lake, OH, we began August with a drive on to Harbortown RV Resort in Monroe, Michigan.  We have stayed here often when in the Toledo, OH area and we knew that we'd arrive in time for the weekend excitement.  This park is popular with weekenders from all over the Ohio and Michigan area and it filled quickly with families and their bikes, skates, balls and pets.  Torrential rains came and went with regularity that first week of the month and people who had used mats on the grass found that they now had big mud ponds.   During the week we had the opportunity to visit with our usual list of friends and relatives and take care of our personal errands.   We celebrated Tom's birthday with a dinner out with Kathy and Dennie Dew.
On Saturday, August 9 we moved on to Marysville, taking our usual spot in the street in front of our daughter's home.  We took our oldest granddaughter, Coffey, shopping for her birthday present...and brought home a shiny new purple bike.  Her birthday was actually August 7th, but the big party, a "Hawaiian Luau", took place on Sunday afternoon.  The back yard was turned into a miniature water park and the children enjoyed slides, swings, pools and water balloons, as well as good food.  Coffey, of course, enjoyed her gifts.  We had planned to leave Marysville, and go to a campground in Springfield, OH on Monday morning.  But, Sunday evening, in an effort to get on a bike with a child carrier on the back for a ride with the granddaughters, Tom twisted his back and started having muscle spasms.  Around 1AM we went to the emergency room where the doctor agreed that is what had happened and prescribed relaxants and pain killers.  So, it was Tuesday before Tom returned to the "conscious world" and we moved on to "Tomorrow's Stars RV Resort."
We drove the car back to Marysville (a 45 minute drive) on Wednesday for an earlier scheduled doctor appointment and to attend Coffey's football practice.  She is the only girl on the team!!!  After a family dinner at Wendy's, we brought the 3 granddaughters to stay with us at the RV park.  We used the pool in between rain showers and taught them how to play checkers on the front porch tables at the clubhouse.    On Friday morning we packed up all our stuff and the Bounder and moved to the Kings Island Campground north of Cincinnati.  We spent the afternoon once again watching the rain, but after it stopped around 6:00 Mary took the girls on a ride on the tram over to the amusement park - just to look!  An attendant on the tram must have felt sorry for the girls whose Grandma said "No, we can't go in the park till tomorrow," and gave them free passes for that night only.  So, it was back to the RV to get Grandpa and then back to the park for a few hours of fun.                     On Saturday, Ann and Matt joined us and we spent the day inside the park as guests of Matt's employer - picnic lunch included.  The girls enjoyed the rides more this year than they had in the past, and Coffey especially liked the bigger thrill rides.  We spent a good part of the afternoon in the water park, too.  We don't know why we always get heavy rains and high temperatures whenever we take the family with us in the RV.       Sunday was moving day again...on to the Thousand Trails in Wilmington, OH.  Mary and Ann made a quick trip to the outlet mall while the rest of the crew got the Bounder all set up.  After we enjoyed a family dinner, Ann and Matt headed back to Marysville and we tried to get the girls all settled in for the night.  Unfortunately, Merrick, the youngest, developed a fever and was uncomfortable through the night...keeping us awake.  Coffey and Close managed to sleep through it all.  But, by morning, and finally after a few hours sleep, Merrick was feeling much better.  By late afternoon we were all back in the pool.
First thing Tuesday morning we took the girls back to Marysville.  Then we made a fast trip into Columbus to visit our Bounder friend, Ed Sims, who'd had heart by-pass surgery on Friday.  He's doing great and was just leaving for home.  We certainly hope his recovery continues to go well.  Back in Marysville later in the afternoon we attended "open house" at Coffey's school.  We got to meet her teacher and see her first grade classroom.  The summer has ended and school is now in session!!!!  Where did it go?   Tuesday evening we were back at the Bounder at Thousand Trails and wondering why it was so quiet!!!
Wednesday, August 21, turned out to be a busy day.  First we drove to Lawrenceburg, IN and went to the Argosy Casino...always an interesting break in the routine.  In the evening we went to the home of some Bounder friends, Richard and Pam Diekmann, who live near Thousand Trails.  They have a beautiful home, a large menagerie of animals and a great garden.  Richard served us a delicious dinner of home grown vegetables and home-raised beef steaks.  We enjoyed sharing travel stories till late in the evening.
Coffey Ann and her new bike.
Catch those water balloons!
On Friday morning we moved about 10 miles to Caesar Creek State Park where we set up camp and joined the Buckeye Bounders for a weekend rally.  We had 8 coaches attending and had a great time seeing friends we'd missed this summer.  In spite of the heat during the day, we enjoyed the evening campfires, and our hosts, the Bishops and the Diekmanns served up some great breakfasts,  On Friday afternoon we got a call from Mary's brother Bill telling us he was in Waynesville and asking us to join him for dinner.  So, off we went, to have a bountiful meal at the Der Dutchman, and to hear all about Bill and Beth's bicycle trip on the Miami Valley Bikeway with their friends, the Parkers.  They had had an exciting day on the trail and were looking forward to another one on Saturday.  When they had checked into their motel they had discovered that they were in a "dry county" - so we took them some cool refreshments to enjoy.   Back at the rally on Saturday we visited Corwin, OH for some delicious ice cream and hear a little of the town history from Buckeye Bounder member, Bob Moran who had grown up in Corwin.  And in the evening, after another dinner at Der Dutchman, the Williams' became the champions at the rally Bolo Ball Tournament.
When the Buckeye Bounder Rally ended on Sunday we headed up to the Canton area.  We had hoped to go to a state park, but as our luck would have it, we came upon the entrance without much warning, and had to pass it, and with the car attached can't easily turn around.....so we went on to the Wal-Mart in Canton.  Good news was that we were in a center with a Don Pablo's (one of our favorite restaurants) and a large theater - so we went to see "Seabiscuit."
The "Buckeye Bounders" gathered around the breakfast buffet.
Tom and Bob Moran competing in the "Bolo Ball" tournament.
Monday afternoon, August 26, we drove from Canton to Wadsworth, OH and had a wonderful visit with Mary's Aunt Nina Close at her apartment.  In the late afternoon we were joined by MAry's cousin, Kathryn Horvath who had just completed her first day of the school year..only 177 to go!  We had a good dinner at Applebee's together, and caught each other up on family doings.
To see more of our August adventures, click on "Forward" at the top of this page.
Mary with her Aunt Nina and cousin Kathryn in Wadsworth, OH.
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To see more of our July adventures, click on "Back" at the top of this page.
August, 2003
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The major reason we had planned our route to the Canton area was to visit at the Beggs RV dealership.  Back in June, after visiting the Newmar International Rally and having visited the Newmar Factory in Napanee, IN and talking with various dealers and salesmen, we had ordered a new motor home.  It had finally been completed and shipped to the Beggs dealership for us to pick up.  We arrived at Beggs' service center in Uniontown, OH on Monday morning, August 26 as our salesman had told us to do.   There we found that they were not expecting us until Friday.  But, after "checking us in", the service techs got right to work preparing our coach for final delivery.  It was Wednesday afternoon before the shiny new Dutch Star was pulled up next to our Bounder...and we immediately started the moving process.  They lined the coaches up with the doors right across from each other and provided us with planks to "bridge the gap" so that we would not have to walk up and down the stairs.  Moving from one motor home to another was not as big a job as moving between "stick houses," but we faced many of the same problems....where did all this stuff come from? (It must have been multiplying in the cupboards!)  and where does this go in the new house?  We certainly have more storage space, but its just not the same shape and in the same location.
On Thursday morning one of the service techs spent 4 hours with us going over the coach and making certain that we knew how to operate all of the systems and gadgets.  Many things are quite the same, but there are also a lot of differences.  We also came up with a few problems and questions for the service department and they were "Johnny on the spot" to help us out.  And, of course, the representative from the finance department was more than willing to visit us and have us sign all the papers! 
We spent 5 nights parked in the "campground" at the Beggs RV Service Center.  We had electric hookups for both coaches - thank goodness, as the heat and humidity were in the 90's range.  We were "locked in" at closing time each evening, but we had the combination to the gate.  So, we could go out to dinner and make those necessary trips to Wal-Mart and Lowe's.  By the time we departed Beggs on Saturday morning, we had most things put away in a reasonably organized fashion, felt fairly comfortable with the new coach, and we were off to join the world in our new "home on wheels,"  leaving our beloved Bounder looking pretty lonely in the gravel lot.
Tom checking progress in the service department.
We didn't even fall off the plank, or drop any of the many boxes we carried across.
Where did all this stuff come from?  At least we have a lot bigger "basement" now.
All hooked up and ready to go...bye, bye Bounder!

Our new home....2004 Dutch Star Model 4015 in Silver Green.  It has a Cummins 370 ISL Diesel Engine and an Allison 6-speed transmission on a Spartan Mountainmaster Chassis

Here's a view from the driver's side.  We have a living room and a bedroom slide
Our first stop after leaving the Beggs dealership on Saturday morning was Mt. Vernon, Ohio.  We parked the new rig at the home of good friends, Ed and Sue Sims.  They have a large gravel drive in the rear of their property and they even provided us with electricity.  We enjoyed a great visit with Ed and Sue and were glad to see how well Ed is recovering from his quadruple by-pass surgery two weeks before.  Ed and Tom discussed the finer points of diesel engine driving, operation and maintenance. The Sims have a 2003 diesel Bounder.  Sue cooked us some delicious meals.  Friends Bob and Betty Lesky joined us for dessert and a tour of the Dutch Star.  They traded their Bounder for a Dutch Star several years ago.
Sunday afternoon we moved on to Marysville so that Ann, Matt and the girls could see our new home, and to enjoy the rest of the Labor Day Weekend.  It looks like the unofficial end of summer has come.
The happy new owners.
The ride is certainly smoother, and we made it our first 100 miles without incident, but there is certainly a difference between the 34' gas Bounder and our 40' diesel pusher!  Our first stop at Sims' in Mt. Vernon.
Sue and Ed Sims