Escaping Winter Just in Time

When we last posted, we were emptying the cabin and loading the motorhome.  We picked a good day to do it, while the weather was still OK.  Most of that work was done a week ago Wednesday, saving Thursday morning for loading the motorcycle, parking the golf cart, and doing all of the final lockups.  As we got to the County road, the weather began to change to a cold mist and drizzle.  It stayed that way most of Thursday, but changed to heavy, wet snow overnight.  We spent the night parked on the street outside of Steve’s place in Duluth and woke up to about 8-10 inches of slippery white stuff on Friday morning.

Paige spent the morning with her mother, while Bob had a last-minute eye exam.  We both got good reports, then left for Brett’s place by mid-day.  The snow on the ground got lighter as we came south.  We parked on the street there for a few more days, helping with the granddaughters’ activities and getting to Paige’s final eye exam.  We also had a family gathering on Saturday night with Brett and Dave’s family (minus LeJoy who is moving her business, but we got to see her Sunday morning for breakfast).  We all had a great time eating lasagna, chocolate éclair ring, and visiting.  Love to see everyone!!  Before leaving Minnesota, we took time to have lunch with the Dave and Nancy, who are now former fulltime RVers and former Nomads.  It was snowing lightly during and after lunch, but quit about an hour later.

The temperature climbed out of the 30s about the time we got to the Iowa border; first time in over a week for us.  Wednesday night we spent in an RV park, first time in a week we got to open all 4 slides.  Today, Thursday, our temperature display showed 60 as we came through Kansas City.  Warmth sure helps the disposition.

Closing and Packing

We are not leaving yet, but are getting ready to hit the road within the next week.  Fall has fallen (most of the leaves are down), winter has hinted it is near (overnight temps in the 30s and scattered frost), but we have just had some nice “Indian Summer” for the past week or so.  Joyce has finished her radiation treatments and completed an ortho-surgery and now has a couple of weeks of therapy ahead of her before she can return to assisted living.  She knows the routine, and is looking forward to getting back to her place.

Potential snow is in the long range weather forecast for this area, so it is time for us to pack up the motorhome and close up the cabin.  We will have a quick stop with the kids and grandkids next weekend and then head south.  We have scheduled ourselves to work with fellow Nomads near Oklahoma City for most of November before heading further west.

Back to the NorthWoods Once Again

The Customer Service group at Winnebago took efficient care of us once again.  Since we arrived with an appointment, most of our work was completed on Monday; a couple of “Add On” items and most of our tree damage, leaving only the duct-taped holes in the roof.  These were dried out Tuesday and Tuesday night, and finished up on Wednesday morning.  We were out of there by 1:30, in time to catch the early part of Minneapolis’s rush hour traffic.  They also had to take care of over 45 non-appointment "Drop Ins".

We spent the night on the street outside of Brett’s place, and took Olivia to a soccer practice that evening.  Her team is doing quite well this season.  We will miss Anna’s CrossCountry meet this weekend.

Since Paige will be taking her mother to radiation treatments on Friday, we returned to the cabin on Thursday.  Pam was with Joyce on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we met with her in Hinkley during her return.

Back to “Camp Winnebago”

After a great Annual Meeting of the Nomads at Amana Iowa we have come back to Forest City for repairs to our motorhome.  This will mostly be repairing the damage caused by a wind-blown tree.  (See our posting of June 16)  We have had the Canyon repaired earlier and now it is the Journey’s turn.  We arrived Saturday afternoon and found the parking areas somewhat crowded; and more motorhomes have arrived since then.  We haven’t ever seen this many units here for service.  We are glad to have a firm appointment.

Pack and Load…(repeat)…(repeat)…

Yes, the time has come to load up the motorhome and hit the road once again.  But only for a short time until we return to the lake.  We are only going as far as Duluth today, to help coordinate some of Joyce’s medical issues, to have our annual chassis maintenance done, and to do our annual water treatment.  After a few days there, we will head to Iowa for the Nomads group’s annual meeting next week.  The week after that we will get our tree damage repaired at the Winnebago factory before coming back to the lake for most of October.

As we get back on the road, it will be easier to remember to post here more often.

Enough Is Enough

Once again another month has gone by since posting here.

The “Retired Life” is great.  We work when we want and where we want.  Last week we volunteered again at Habitat for Humanity.  A new house is being built in Mountain Iron.  When we arrived, the outer walls were standing and sheeted, with rough openings for doors and window cut out.  The two of us and three other volunteers built and erected four interior walls for the bedrooms.  New construction is quite different from the repair work we have done with Nomads.  Next week a large traveling group of RVing volunteers will begin a 2-week project on this house.  We will come back again, after they leave, when there will be a need for more local help.

Next week we will leave the quiet lakeside life for a few days in the Twin Cities.  We both have a number of doctor and dental appointments, plus a day at the State Fair before returning to the lake.

Those of us from the Midwest have a reputation for being too pleasant and not speaking up often enough or loud enough.  The label “Minnesota Nice” comes to mind, but it also applies to many of us in at least a 7-state area.  The time has come for us to speak our minds.  On a recent morning TV program, the hosts asked about stress in their viewers’ lives.  Reflecting on this question, our main stresses come from the shameless functioning of our current administration in DC.  The “swamp” was not drained; it has only become more rancid during the past 6 months.  The current occupant of the Oval Office has shown his true colors as a despicable egotist who will never admit any of his many mistakes.  The “Leader of the Free World” is now someone in Europe.  Our president is not a leader, but is an embarrassment to this country, his party and himself – a truly “Ugly American”.

It is true that he has bought us together:

“The new Marist Poll, which has a sampling margin of +/- 3.1 percent, found that 55 percent disapprove of Trump after seven months on the job“

This poll was completed before the recent Charlottesville demonstrations.

There, I have said it, and it feels good to get it out there

Nearly a Month has gone by

Maybe summer has finally come to the Northwoods.  Since parking here at the lake more than 2 months ago, we have finally had a couple nice weather days, back to back.  An average day has been cool, wet, or windy or a combination of them.  There may have been 4 or 5 nice days scattered around, but not very many.

We had Stella, the Grand-dog with us for more than 2 weeks, while Brett, Jen, and the girls were on vacation.  The granddaughters took Stella’s place over the Fourth of July weekend and have since gone home to their varied summer activities.  David and his family were here as well over the Fourth, so that weekend was quite busy.  Dave took lots of beautiful pictures.  This is one of my favorites!

After the Fourth, Paula and Tomie came to Duluth for a quick visit to Grandma Joyce.  Pam and Ron came up from the Twin Cities and we had a nice dinner with Grandma to celebrate an early 88^th birthday for her.  Brett’s girls were still here so it was a nice group and lots of fun.

Last Sunday was a nice day and we spent part of it on Steve and Deanna’s pontoon.  Very quiet as most of the “weekenders” had left the lake.  So nice that they invite us for these long rides!

The last week has been pretty quiet.  The pickup has been repaired (mostly) from the storm damage.  We haven’t yet received an estimate to repair the motorhome; maybe we’ll have it soon.