Time has past so quickly---this is a blog covering June 20th to today, July 7th.
June 20, 2011---We traveled from Wipiti, Wyoming to Sundance, Wyoming. The day consisted of climbing mountains and descending mountains and then ascending mountains again. We were glad to get to the park in Sundance.
June 21, 2011---On Tuesday we traveled to Oacoma, S.D. --- Our park was "high and wet"--That is how the clerk at the park described the park when I called her earlier in the day. We are next to the Missouri River and it is quite high. They are expecting another 7 feet by Saturday and that will make the water close to the underside of the bridge which crosses the Missouri. The Missouri has already caused havoc in Souix City, S.D. and along Route 29. They have water in houses, farms and towns along the Missouri into Missouri.
As we traveled today we saw all kinds of flooding in fields and around small creeks. and it rained all day as we traveled
When we left Oacoma we took a few pictures--
June 22, 2011---We traveled to Welcome, Minnesota today. Everything went well and we are anxious to be done with our travel this week. Tomorrow we will be in Iowa. It continued to rain at times when we traveled. and enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
June 23, 24, 25, 26, 2011---YEA--We are in Story City, Iowa, which is near Ames were we lived for 14 years. It was great to visit with old friends and catch up with their family news. We visited the office were Walt worked and went to dinner with a few of the men and their wives. We also went to lunch with some dear friends on Sunday morning after Mass. Then on Sunday evening our friends had a special dinner for all of the group we were so close to while living in Ames. We wished them all well and went back to the house so we could travel in the morning.
June 27, 2011---We were on the road very early this morning-like before 7:45 am. We were anxious to get to Indiana and have our house checked. We stayed at Utica, Illinois, just west of Chicago, and spent a quiet night at home.
June 28, 29, 2011---On Tuesday we arrived at the shop in Indiana, were we had our home checked and twitted. While the repairs were being done we went to Shipshewha for a shopping tour. We went to some shops and then did a quick walk of the weekly flea market. This is an Amish area so we always stop to visit the area when we visit the repair shop.
Oh, we did have an event on our way to Indiana. We were on the toll road in Indiana about 20 miles from our destination and our tire alarm started buzzing. The right rear tire on the truck was loosing air very rapidly. It was at 84 pounds when it started to sound and by the time we parked on the side of the road it was at 49 pounds. We called onstar immediately and I told them that we had a fifth wheel behind our truck. They contacted a garage and would call us back. Well, the call back was a mechanical voice which told us the person who was coming, so you could not ask them to repeat the name, but it told us they would be there in 55 minutes. So Walt got everything ready and put up orange caution signs behind the RV. Well in about 30 minutes I got a call from a person who knew our name and said he was on the west going side of the road and he would be there shortly. We waited and waited in the high part of the ditch for about 1 and 1/2 hours for him to turn around and reach our side of the road. What they did was stop for lunch and Walt also thinks he stopped at a store and bought a 1 ton jack so he could change the tire.
When they arrived (a young man with a large drink in his hand and a young girl with a black a black plastic apron covering her clothes) they were in a regular car with no lights or anything showing to tell us they were the people who could help us. (we had 2 different police stop to see if we needed help before the help came to us)
Well, I got a feeling of not knowing if we could trust them. After they were with us I saw there was another person in the car. This made me nervous. Nothing look right--no sign on the car, no equipment, and another person in the car. Since I was sitting a distance away from the truck I did not hear any conversation. Then they had trouble getting our spare from under the truck. I could see they did not know what they were doing so I got even more nervous. So my gut was telling me to call the police to check things out. After calling 911 and explaining how I was concerned about the help we had --the operator said she would call the toll road police. When they called they said they would send someone to the area--somewhere east of the 60 mile marker.
Well, it seemed to take a long time for the police to arrive. When the cop came he was very gruff and abrupt about everything, stating who called and what was going on. When he approchedfinnaly slipped at his harness and got very upset with the cop. The cop said get him on his leash and he ran to his car and drove away while running over one of our caution signs. Bart was really sensing something very wrong --- The cop was not very nice or professional.
Well, Walt and the young man continued to try to get the spare off the holding bracket. I thought it was time to ask St. Anthony for help so they could find a way to get the tire down from the rack. After a few moments the tire suddenly dropped and they started to change the tire. The young man came with that one ton jack and it would not even lift the truck since the heavy RV was attached to the truck. Walt then put the jacks down to releve some of the weight and he finally got the tire to lift off the ground about a inch. They changed the tire in about a minute and quickly put the bolts in place. They then lowered the RV and the truck very slowly. It worked and then they finished the tightening of the bolts and they left. I was so glad the whole ordeal was done--it took 3 hours for the whole process. We definitely have some things to tell Onstar.
We got to the parking area at about 5 pm. We had a good evening and the rest of our stay in that area was fine.
July 30, 2011---Maria Stein, Ohio
We got our R.V. repairs finished and headed home. We arrived at the farm at about 5 p.m.
It was really good to be home after 18,540 miles since we left the farm last August. What a trip to remember in our golder years.
At 6:30 we were at our daughters home to meet our new grandson. He was born March 23rd so he has his own personality already. He smiles and talks when you pay attention to him. Just a beautiful child.
July 1 to July 6, 2011
I believe we have been catching up with everyone since we have been home. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with family and friends. Tomorrow we leave for Charlotte, NC, at 6:30 am. and we are taking my 94 year old mother with us. We will havea family vacation with our children and grandchildren (38 people) in Charleston, SC. for one week. I will get back with you when things slow down.
This is a long blog so if there are errors please excuse me because it is 10 PM and I need to get to bed.
