May, 2004
We
didn't keep track, but it seems that we had rain almost every single day in
May. It certainly was a soggy month in the Ohio, Michigan and Indiana
area!! During the first few days of the month we enjoyed getting back into
the routine of life with our granddaughters. They certainly keep a
household "jumping." We attended the oldest granddaughter's (Coffey)
softball games. We took all three girls on an overnight stay to the
Thousand Trails preserve near Wilmington, OH which tested our strength as
caregivers on a rainy weekend! But, we had a great time and they always
enjoy staying overnight in the RV. The girls even helped us wash some of
the April dirt and dust off the coach.
On May
6 we moved to northwest Ohio and southern Michigan. We parked the Dutch
Star at the Harbortown RV Resort in Monroe, MI (the closest nice park nearest to
our old home-grounds) and started a round of doctor and dentist appointments
(We've been pronounced healthy and we have clean teeth!) and get-togethers
with family, old friends and co-workers. We ate at some of our old
favorite restaurants and had some of Tom's co-workers out to the Dutch Star for
a cook-out. To celebrate Mother's Day we drove with Mary's brother, Bill
and his wife, Beth, to Clark Lake, MI where we met Mary's mother and
step-father, Edith and Fran, for lunch at a favorite place, the Beach
Bar. From there we all drove to Jackson to continue our visit at Edith and
Fran's home. On another day, we drove to Dundee, MI for a visit at the
Cabella's store. Beside doing a little shopping, its always fun to look at
the animal displays there. When we took our young granddaughters there
several years ago, they thought they were at a real zoo! Tom was also able
to meet with the county officials for the annual review of his mother's
Medicaid status.
Tuesday, May 18 it was back to Marysville and our spot at the curb in
front of our daughter's. We were babysitters on Wednesday, which
We hit
the road again on Saturday, driving the rig to Nappanee, Indiana where we
settled in at the Newmar Factory Service Facility campground. They have
about 25 spaces with full hook-ups for people awaiting service. We had an
appointment for Monday morning for warranty repairs, but we knew that the
camping spaces fill up early....and we were correct - there were only 5 or so
available. The "campers" at the factory are like a big happy family and we went
to dinner that night with the couple who arrived and parked next to
us. Early on Sunday morning we headed back to Toledo in the
car. Tom played golf with his nephews and brother-in-law as a celebration
of nephew Tim's bachelor party. He'll be getting married on June 5 in
Jamaica. Meanwhile, Mary spent time with her good friend Kathy Dew.
It was a long drive back to Nappanee that night, but worth the trip. We
were glad we were on the west-bound side of the toll road as we passed a 10-mile
long backup in the east-bound lanes. While at the Newmar factory we also
connected with two other couples whom we met as Bounder owners, Randy and Sharon
Ware in Michigan and Bob and Betty Leskey from Ohio. It was good to see
all of them again.
we always enjoy. On Friday Mary had
the honor of helping Coffey's first grade class at Edgewood School tie-dye
t-shirts...a project she never would have attempted in her own classroom!
Grandma Mary also went along on a trip to the mall so that our youngest
granddaughter, Merrick, could be just like her sisters, and have her ears
pierced. She was a "big girl." We also were able to cheer the team
at another softball game. We took the girls out to dinner at Pottsie's BBQ
- the restaurant that our daughter and son-in-law have invested in.
Spectators at the softball game - -Grandpa with Close and
Merrick.
Coffey
at bat and playing catcher.
Merrick helped polish the RV.
The
"winter mountain" at Cabella's in Dundee, MI.
Tom
and Mary, Bill and Beth with Edith and Fran celebrating Mother's
Day.
Merrick getting the "double whammy" - both ears pierced at
once.
Coffey
getting her shirt ready to dip in the dye.
We hit
the road again on Saturday, driving the rig to Nappanee, Indiana where we
settled in at the Newmar Factory Service Facility campground. They have
about 25 spaces with full hook-ups for people awaiting service. We had an
appointment for Monday morning for warranty repairs, but we knew that the
camping spaces fill up early...and we were correct - there were only 5 or so
spaces available. The "campers" at the factory are like a big happy family
and we went to dinner that night with the couple who arrived and parked next to
us, Bob and Mary Ireland. Early on Sunday morning we headed back to Toledo
in the car. Tom played golf with his nephews and brother-in-law as a
celebration of nephew Tim's bachelor party. Hell be getting married on
June 5 in Jamaica. Meanwhile, Mary spent time with her good friend Kathy
Dew. It was a long drive back to Nappanee that night, but worth the
trip. We were glad we were on the west-bound side of the toll road as we
passed a 10-mile long backup in the east-bound lanes. While at the Newmar
factory we also connected with two other couples whom we met as Bounder owners
several years back, Sharon and Randy Ware in Michigan and Bob and Betty Leskey
from Ohio. It was good to see all of them again.
Click on "forward" above to see more of our May
adventures.
page 1
We
stayed over at the Newmar factory till Wednesday, May 26, getting caught up on
laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping. Around noon on Wednesday we moved
on to Berrien Springs, Michigan and parked at the front gate of the Youth Fair
Grounds. There we waited the arrival of friends Jacques Everhart and Sue
and Ed Sims from Ohio. Early Thursday morning we all moved into the
fairgrounds to attend the Family Motor Coach Association Great Lakes Area Spring
Spree (GLASS) Rally. We've attended this rally since 1999 and look forward
to all of the seminars and vendors. This year was no exception and we
managed to spend a fair amount of $$$....we purchased new sunscreens for the
front of the coach as well as had some small chips in the glass repaired and
bought some electrical switches for the tow car. We also finally
broke down and bought a satellite TV receiver. Many of the places we have
stayed have cable TV service, but over the last 8 weeks we've had some really
lousy reception, if any! It finally got to us!! We had tried to buy
one in Marysville several weeks ago, but kept encountering people who knew
nothing about Fulltime RVers and told us it was impossible. So, we waited
till we got to the rally and found the dealers who
expected their buyers to live in RVs. Purchase and installation
took merely minutes! We had a great time catching up with Ed and Sue and
with Jacques. The weather over the weekend was a little stormy, but we
managed to cope. We ran into lots of our friends from the
Michigan-O-Bounder group, many of whom, like us, no longer have
Bounders...we need to have a "SOB Reunion."
On
Memorial Day it was on to Charlotte, Michigan. We made a stop on the way
in Jackson to help celebrate Mary's step-father's birthday...enjoying some cake
and ice cream with Fran's family. At the 4-H Fairgrounds in Charlotte, we
were just about the last coach to arrive for the "Spartan Chassis
Homecoming" which was to begin the next day...June 1st. Where did May
go?
With
as many camping spaces as there are at the Newmar factory and the fact that they
are occupied by coaches waiting repairs, one might think that we might not have
bought a good product. BUT, we must remember that the Newmar coaches all
have a 3 year guarantee on everything, and that they willingly fix just about
anything you mention to them. We had a list of 19 items that we had
accumulated since we bought the coach last fall....many of them "small nuisance
items." We had a scheduled 2-day appointment and we were ready to move on
by noon of the second day with all 19 taken care of. We left the factory
with completely new automatic patio awning system, toilet, power step motor,
stereo system tuner along with 4 new floor tiles in the kitchen and bath and
minor adjustments to various items and a few replacement parts. Many of
the people at the facility were there for a last "check-up" as their warranty
expires soon. Service begins at 6am each day when they knock on your door
to go over your work order and then drive your coach away. Then we can
relax in the big comfy lounge, go out to breakfast at any number of Amish
restaurants or go do tourist things. Around 2:30 all the owners start
gathering again and the service techs return coaches to their camping spots and
go over the day's progress. Many of the service techs are Amish and then
go home to their farms or other work for the rest of the day.
May, 2004
page 2
Click on "back" above to see more of our May
adventures.