On To Kentucky...

Wow, what a day we had yesterday.  And, JB, just to set the record straight...when all was said and done, we stopped for the night at

this Wallmart in Nashville it was actually 13 1/2 hours and 700.5 miles from start to finish!

By no means was that a typical travel day for us...nor would I want it to be.  But, because we had to delay our departure by 3 days, we decided to get those miles behind us.  We wanted to be back on track by this weekend with our plans.

I must say...it didn't take any of us long too close our eyes and soon we were all dreaming of our next adventure.  Well, I was anyway, when Mark woke me at 5:30 this morning.  So, with the kids still snuggled in, we were off and through

Nashville before the rush hour traffic.  It was just a little way around I-40

where we picked up I-65.  Before we knew it we were being welcomed to

Kentucky, and even by jumping into the Eastern Time Zone, we arrived at the

Louisville KOA and were settled into our

site by 10:00 this morning...for a total of only 184 miles!  Now...those are the travel days I like.

By noon, we decided to head out for a quick bite of lunch and then it was off to

downtown Louisville to catch the afternoon tour at

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

Sorry...no cameras allowed in the factory, but here are a few from the museum.

Andrew and Lauren stopped for a photo opt on the giant

bronze baseball glove, while Poppa

wanted his picture made with non other than Babe Ruth.

This is

Babe Ruth's bat.  Each of the hash marks represents a home run.

Here, Andrew has

the billet, which is the beginning of the bat.

Lauren liked the

bat of many colors.

There were bats everywhere, bats

hanging from the ceiling...and bats

on display, and bats

that were special.

We learned that when the factory is in production, they can make a bat every 30 seconds.  They produce

alot of bats each year.  And, the professionals...

use just a few themselves.

We finished our tour with a trip through the gift shop and a look at the

wall of signatures that started in 1906 with Ty Cobb.

Now, back at the RV Park, we are just relaxing.  We are grilling out later this evening and then we might even take a dip in the pool while discussing tomorrow's adventure.

Are We There Yet?

I started this morning early...a little before 5 a.m., as I needed to get a jump start on finishing the things that can only be done at the last minute.  Plus, I decided to change and wash the sheets on the bed.

Then before I knew it, it was 7:45 and time for Mark to head off to his doctor's appointment.  At that point, I really picked up the pace, double checked all the doors and cabinets, non skid runners in place, etc.  Last thing was to run the vacuum, roll up the rug, and get the sheets on the bed.

I was just finishing when Jennifer pulled into the driveway with Andrew and Lauren.  We went about our business of putting away the last of their possessions.  Before we could finish,  Poppa was back from the doctor...stitches removed and his follow up appointment is scheduled for October.  Yeah, no more bandage changing!  His face looks really good.  I hope he doesn't have to go through that again.

While Mark and Andrew checked all the outside bay doors and put the water and electric away, Lauren and I cranked the diesel, ran in the slides, and pulled up the jacks.  Time to roll.

Caden

needed to help Poppa drive the motor home down the driveway and into the street where Andrew

got a lesson on how to hook up the jeep for towing.  In the meantime,

Jennifer and Caden were making sure Lauren had enough hugs and kisses to last for a while.  Then it was

time for  "see you later" and the official

departure picture.

It didn't take long for Andrew to

settle into the seat next to Poppa, while

Lauren and her new doll, Lanie, made themselves at home on the sofa.

I took the position of flight attendant and navigator from mid-coach.

Streets and Trips directed us straight out I-30E through downtown Dallas.  However, we chose the little longer route and took I-20E through Arlington and Duncanville to 635 and picked up I-30E just west of

Lake Ray Hubbard.

We made a stop at a road side park for

lunch.

Other than the traffic coming  to a halt and narrowing to one lane for a work convoy, a big truck trying to squeeze us a little too close to a guard rail, and one minor accident that backed traffic up for just a little ways, the day has been filled with lots of giggles and talking.

We have seen diesel fuel priced from $2.75 to $2.93.  Of, course, you would know that we filled up prior to that $2.75.

We made it to West Memphis around 6:30 this evening where we had planned to have dinner at Cracker Barrel and stay for the night.  However, their parking lot was not too RV friendly.  So, we decided to drive on to Jackson, TN, which would put us on the east side of

Memphis for tomorrow's travels...however...when we reached Jackson,  Mark and the kids decided they wanted to keep going on to Nashville.  This way, we won't have to drive so far tomorrow.  I think they are looking forward to a couple of play days in Louisville and want to get there ASAP.

  However, now...

some 12 hours, 700 miles, and 3 states later, I am about to be the one to say...."Are we there yet?

Play Day

With most everything accomplished for our planned departure on Thursday, I decided to take a day out for a little fun with the girls.

So, this morning, Karen and I loaded up Kourtney, Lauren, and Melanie, a friend of Lauren's, and we headed out for the

American Girl Doll Store in Dallas.  While the big girls were off shopping, Kourtney had a great time playing.  She

bathed her Bitty Baby.  She

cooked cookies and had

had a tea party. 

Lauren took one of her dolls

to the spa for a little clean up.  And...

When our shopping spree was over, all three girls had found everything on their shopping lists and we left with

a big bag full of goodies.

While in Dallas, Karen and I made a stop by Penzey's  for a few needed spices and a few new ones we wanted to try.

By this time, the girls decided that all the shopping had left them really hungry, so it was off to Chili's for lunch.

It was then time to make our way back to Fort Worth.  Once back to the house, we had just enough time to catch our breath before heading out to Mansfield to Zachary's first baseball game of the Jim Sunburg Invitational Tournament.

We arrived and found Zachary at his favorite position,

first base.  He made a couple of really

great plays.   And, even took one

for the team at his turn at bat.

Great game Zachary...glad Poppa and I had the chance to see one of your games.  Good luck with the rest of the tournament.  And...

What a fun day this has been!

Working on the "To Do's"

The last couple of days have been filled with putting some finishing touches on some almost completed projects and working on the "to do" list.  Organization is a must when you live in an RV, and I am always looking for a better way to accomplish that very thing.

One of those projects included getting the closet a little more under control.  So, I made trips to the clothes donation box, the paper recycling box,  and to the Half Price Bookstore.  Then, what was left,

I dumped

on the bed and began sorting.  Then, after a little consideration, it was off to The Container Store.  There, I found just what I needed and a perfect fit!

With this little project, I was able to free up all of drawer space in the dresser.  Now, this will give us the extra space we need for the grandkids clothes without having to work out of suitcases for the next month.  And, then after summertime with them, we will have some great extra space.

While I have been busy with my closet project, Mark has been working on the outside.  And...

Armed with his

Solution, wax, and buffer, he has

worked a couple of days making sure the motor home will be nice and

shined up for our Thursday departure!

Great job...there won't be a bug anywhere between here and New York that will be able to stick to this finish!

Then in between our projects and "to do's", I found time for a little fun which included, a trip with Kourtney to a

gymnastics lesson.

And, then there was a trip with

Kourtney, Kyle, my great nephew, and Caden

for a fun day

at the

the children's museum.

It is now Sunday afternoon, and, with just three full days left until we leave, I am down to just a few things left on the "to do" list... So,

guess, I better get busy...be back soon!

Healing and Counting

Thanks to all of you who sent Mark best wishes and prayed with us yesterday through his Mohs surgery.

We are thankful and blessed that Dr. Adnot was able to get the squamous cell skin cancer removed on the first try.  He then made a very artistic incision and closed it up with about 15 stitches and we were on our way home by about 3:30.  He did great last night...not one pain pill.

This morning, we returned to have the pressure bandage removed and replaced with a simple bandage.  Now,  I am just trying to keep him still for a day or so.  He will have the stitches removed next week.

Now, with the surgery behind us, we have turned our thoughts to finalizing our travel plans for next week.  Yes, it is time for Grandkids...Trip #2...and the countdown has officially started...New York, here we come!

We all talk of Jello Plans, and this is one of those times that I am glad that I had a few days that had some wiggle room.  We will need to push our departure date out a day or two waiting for Mark to heal and get the stitches removed.

As it turned out, I only had to alter a couple of down days in Nashville. We decided we would rather give up those days and spend the first few days driving with just overnight stops.  This will allow us to be back on our plan by Louisville.  Here we will take time to tour the Louisville Slugger Factory plus, have a day of rest before heading on through Ohio.  While in Ohio, we plan to spend a few days touring some of the Amish country before heading on to Niagara Falls and Newburgh NY were we will be staying until after July 4th.

Now, we still have several things on our list of  "to do's" before we leave next week.  And, one was to have dinner with Ron and Barb Bergquist, who are some of our Retama neighbors.  So...

Tonight, we had the pleasure of  meeting up with them and having dinner. We had a great visit while we enjoyed some really good food at Uncle Buck's which is the restaurant at The Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine.

Again, as we journey through this lifestyle of RVing, God has once again allowed us to add two more friends to our already long list.

Ron and Barb definitely fit into the friend group and we are looking forward to getting to share more time with them this winter.  I think Ron and Mark already have a long list of projects...maybe enough to keep them busy all winter!

Thanks for dropping by and be sure to come back by as we finish up that "to do" list, and count down those days to Trip #2.

This and That

We arrived back in Fort Worth on Thursday evening in time to get the motor home parked and kids unpacked before dinner time.  The kids then spent the evening sharing tales all about their time with Yogi Bear.

Yesterday, which was Friday, started early for Mark and I as he had an 9:00 appointment with a Mohs surgeon.  A little background...

A few weeks ago at an appointment with the dermatologist, they discussed a spot on his lower jaw that had already been removed a couple of times.  The doctor decided that this time it should be biopsied.  Last week the report came back and it indicated that the spot was a squamous cell carcinoma and would need to be surgically removed...which brings us to yesterday's appointment.

After the consultation, it was decided that it shouldn't wait, so we made the appointment for this next Tuesday.  This procedure is pretty amazing and we are hoping it won't take to many tries to get all of it and with a few stitches he will be good to go with no re-occurrence.

Now, with all that in mind, I will pass this recommendation along to all of you...Dr. Adnot suggested a sweat proof sunscreen with a SPF of 50.  He said...sit the bottle right by your toothbrush so it wouldn't be forgotten and use it everyday without fail.  And, don't ever forget the sun glasses, the ones with UV protection.

After the doctor's appointment, we had a long list of "things to do", but first things first and that was lunch.  We had coupons to redeem that allowed us to be among the first to sample the new spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A.   It certainly got a favorable vote from both of us.  I am not sure when it will be added to their menu, but be on the lookout for it!

Next on our list was a stop by the court house to renew the registrations for both the car and the motor home.  Boy, did I hate to have to write that check, but we are good for another year.

We were then off of Home Depot and Costco, after which we needed to make a trip over to the north side of town to Cummins....again a little background...

A trip or so back we went through a pretty heavy rain and the computer on the motor home indicated that there was water in the fuel.  However, once, we were out of the rain, it went off.  Well, it came back on the other day when we were in all of the rain.  Again, it went off when we got out of the rain.  So, Mark wanted to discuss the issue with the techs at Cummins.

They told him where to look and what to do...and to make a long story short, he found a spot on the wiring that was rubbing on another harness which was allowing water to get to the sensor.

The fix...he sealed it was a little silicone and some electrical tape.  Added a zip tie or two and said he thinks it will be okay now.  If we have anymore trouble with it, we will let Bay Diesel look at it when we get the oil changed this fall.

We ended a busy day with just enjoying the little folks.

Today started out with

Princess Kourtney coming to the motor home asking for a repeat of the blueberry waffle breakfast.  Of, course, I didn't turn her down.

By the time breakfast was over, Mark had headed out to wash the motor home.  It wasn't long until he had

a couple of helpers.  Then, they decided that playing

in the water in the backyard was more fun.

The afternoon then gave way to lunch and naps.  The rest of the day we have just tried to stay out of the Texas heat and are looking forward to having a relaxing evening here at the house.

Day Three...Not So Good!

Here is just a brief note to say that our day number three with Yogi was a real bummer.  Sometime while we were sleeping last night, the rain came and it came and came.  This morning we woke to yet more rain in the forecast.  So Moppa and Poppa made the decision that we should leave and head for home.  Well, it's okay, cause today was our last day anyway.

We said our good-bye to Yogi and Poppa promised that

we could come back another time.

It is a good thing that we decided to leave, cause we wouldn't have been able to go out to play.    But, it was

hard for Poppa to see and the

radar on Moppa's new telephone showed that it was raining almost all the way to Waco.

Poppa drove real careful and we just had snacks, read our books, and took a nap.  We got home about 4:30 this afternoon.

Our vacation is going to continue here in Fort Worth.  Caden will be spending the weekend with us while his Mom and Dad are on vacation in San Francisco.  So, we can keep having fun.  Moppa said maybe we will do something special this weekend.

We want to tell you all "thank you" for following the blog and our special vacation with Poppa and Moppa!