Fun, Fun Fun!!

Fun, Fun Fun!!

Tuesday, September 29 -

 

fall Hoosier hospitality, although has pretty arrangements above,

but it is wet, wet, wet!!

We have two new states to add to our map

IMG_0289 IMG_0244We were up and out by 8:15 this morning. Again it was a wet morning. We met E&M at the Mobile Suites factory for our tour.

IMG_0284 I found it interesting to see how they are made, but Jesse was very impressed. They have very little turnover at the factory, most employees have been employed since their beginning.

IMG_0258Much is manufactured right here and not prefabricated and shipped in.

We hopped to see Carl and Linda’s new rig, but it had not come from painting yet.

Kyle, guided the 4 of us, and another couple from Florida who just took delivery 2010 Mobile Suites along with their rescue Shi Tzu “Reo”.

IMG_0273 After the tour Jesse and I went to Walmart because I needed to get my glasses repaired. E&M went to see what progress had been made on their rig.

Just as we were getting fuel E&M called and we decided to get something to eat. Jesse and I ordered breakfast, while E & M ordered lunch. Marilyn ordered a club sandwich, it was the biggest club we had ever seen.

IMG_0285 Afterwards they followed us to a RV salvage yard that they told us about at the factory. It was about 20 minutes away and a wasted trip. We were looking for some folding chairs, but all they had was 4 that looked like they were from the 70’s.

We said our see ya’s to our friends and went home to the boys. Jesse walked them then we all went for a ride to another campground to see about moving. We were not impressed with the price, so again we decided to stay where we were and paid for 4 more nights.

We also went to Lambright Woodworking showroom. We found a table we liked, but we didn’t like the price. Jesse has found better priced ones online. That may be what we do, just not sure yet.

We all came home for the night. I made us canned soup and turkey melts for dinner. We just relaxed for the evening.

Monday, September 28 – Another day in Howe, IN

 

Happy Anniversary

Mitchell and Margaret!!

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We awoke about 6:30 but it was too dark to walk the dogs so we let them snuggle in bed with us until it got lighter.   The wind was blowing really strong, it was raining, and it was only 50 degrees. 

Not our idea of Indian Summer. 

Ed and Marilyn left shortly after, as they had to get their 5er to the shop in LaGrange for some repairs. 

We hung out at the Inn for a while computering then went to town for a late breakfast. 

Afterwards we went looking for some of Amish wood shops around Shipshewana and Nappanee.  We are looking to replace our dinette table with a round drop leaf table. 

We saw these parked in one of the lots and thought it was very strange.

IMG_0257We found a few places but none had what we wanted or in our price range.   We will probably just get one online. 

We also checked out some other campgrounds.  The one we are in is a Passport America campground but only for 2 days, then it goes to $28.00 which is a bit steep for only water and electric.  After checking on a few others we elected to stick it out here….for a while anyway. 

About 3:30pm Ed called to arrange to meet for dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewana at 5pm.  We went home to walk and feed the boys then on to the restaurant.  

We met E & M in the Bakery part of the restaurant.  We looked over some of the delicious pastries, pies, cakes, and buns and thought it best to get in the restaurant and eat before we let our eyes do the shopping. 

Besides the regular menu,  they offered family style dinners with fried chicken and a choice of 1, 2 or 3 different meats.  We selected one, meatloaf.  Our dinner also included bread, dinner salad, green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes, noodles, drinks, and desert. 

Marilyn and Jesse had sweat cream pie, Ginger had chocolate peanut butter pie, and Ed had pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream and whipped cream.   All the food was delicious and the deserts even better. 

We were all so stuffed that we went back to the bakery and no one bought anything.  We then strolled across the street to a gift shop and looked around for a bit. 

We were all tired and decided to call it a night.  E & M had to go back to the RV repair shop, as the repairs are not finished and they will camp out there and we headed back to our camp ground. 

Not too exciting day but a terrific dinner with great friends.

Sunday, September 27 – Travel Day 3

 

Jesse had a good time at the races last night, he took pictures but most did not come out too good.

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We left Ohio at 9:30 am after having pancakes from the snack bar for breakfast. We drove 167 miles to Howe, Indiana and arrived to Ed and Marilyn’s open arms around 1PM.

It was so good to see them again and just wonderful to hug and be hugged.

We visited for a few minutes and allowed the boys to say hello to Aunt Marilyn, then Jesse and I went about the set up procedures.

We are parked at Grand View Bend Community Association. They offer water/electric 50 amp for PA price of $14 for two nights.

IMG_0245 After getting set up we sat with E&M with a drink and snacks and got caught up. It is so good to be with them again, we have missed them very much.

Even the boys sat and visited

IMG_0247We laughed and had a good time before wandering home to get ready to go to dinner.

This is Amish country so we saw lots of families traveling around in their buggy’s.

IMG_0256This is the restaurant Ed was taking us to for dinner..Guess what it was closed…..Go figure

IMG_0252We had a tough time finding something opened, we all forgot it was Sunday. We finally found a pizza hut converted into a dinner type place. We all had very tasty meals there and said we would be back.

We drove over to the shop where Ed was having his rig worked on so he would know where it was in the morning. 

Afterwards we all came home and said goodnight, we were both going to settle in for the night to watch the premier of the   “Amazing Race”.

Ed and Marilyn will be leaving us in the morning to have their rig worked on. We plan to meet for dinner, but we have to see what adventures are in store for us.

Saturday, September 26 – A day in Ohio

 

They served breakfast at the campground snack bar this morning. Jesse went over and got us pancakes and biscuits & gravy. I ate a biscuit and Jesse ate the rest. We took our time this morning not getting dressed and out the door until almost noon.

I took some pictures of the campground before we left.

IMG_0204 They have about 100 cabins here that are small with a full and twin bed and a built in bench, no utilities at all.  IMG_0203 We got fuel then headed to Marblehead Lighthouse State Park.

IMG_0210 IMG_0208 IMG_0205 We walked around the area, it wasn’t the best weather day as it was very gray outside and it sprinkled a bit, but it was nice to look at the lake.

IMG_0209We then headed to Port Clinton. It is a small little fishing town. They were having a Harvest Festival with some normal fair type booths. We walked around, we didn’t see anything we couldn’t do without.

We enjoyed a late lunch at a booth that sold perch and walleye sandwiches. We got one of each and French fries to split. …Yum!

You can take fishing charters out of this port and bring your catch here to have it cleaned.

IMG_0216 Our next stop was Firelands Winery. We took a self guided tour then tasted their Riesling and bought a bottle. We will enjoy this with Ed & Marilyn next week in Indiana.

IMG_0217 We took a ride down to the Sandusky Historic Downtown Waterfront. We were not impressed, we expected to see something like the Baltimore Inner Harbor and it was nothing like it. They need to do a lot more to the area before it can measure up to Charm City.

We did take a picture of Cedar Point from the waters edge. On a clear day this would have been a much better picture.

IMG_0219After walking the boys Jesse decided to go to the race track that was close by. He enjoys car races, me, not so much.

So the boys and I bid you a good night..

See ya down the road

Friday, September 25 – Travel Day 2 and Coaster rides

We were up and moving out by 8:30am today. We traveled 344 miles and arrived at Camp Sandusky at 3:30. They are also a Passport America park and the charge for 2 nights was $40 for a FHU-WES 30 amp. It was an uneventful trip, which is just how we like it.

Once we got into Ohio

IMG_0181 we could see Lake Erie, which is huge!

IMG_0183 A look at Cleveland from the road

IMG_0188 Very cool art on a building

IMG_0186 Once we were registered and set up we walked and fed the boys. Then we got, cleaned up and ready to go to Cedar Point.

IMG_0192 IMG_0193 They were all dressed for Halloween and the park looked GREAT!

IMG_0195 Beautiful fall flower arrangements.

IMG_0198 We only got on 3 rides, but my they were three fast coaster rides. We would have gotten on a few more but they were not operating. I guess we don’t enjoy the rides the way we did when we were younger. Here’s one we got on

IMG_0199 And the one in the background

IMG_0196 My foot was really hurting from all the walking, so we grabbed something to eat (we dare not eat before riding) then headed home. It was after 10pm when we left the park, past my bed time.

Jesse walked the boys while I got my PJ’s on. We watched a show we had recorded then off to bed.

Hugs and travel safe friends!

Thursday, September 24 – Travel Day

 

We left our site at Lake George at 9:45am this morning. We stopped by the lodge before pulling out because Tonya had something she wanted to give us.

She had made a loaf of nut bread and some chocolate treats for the road.  She is such a sweet person we are truly blessed knowing her.

Tina and her grandson Vinny also stopped to say goodbye one more time, he is so cute, he just turned one.

IMG_0157Note the colors in the tress…The leaves are just staring to change.

IMG_0155The boys got one more walk before pulling out at 10:10am.

IMG_0160We traveled 276 miles today and stopped at Camp Bell Campground in Campbell, NY – Passport America park - 1/2 price @ $18 for 30 amp, water, no sewer.

IMG_0174 Here are some pictures we took during our travels today, everything is green and lush and the colors were changing in some areas.

IMG_0164 IMG_0166 We got all set up and Jesse took the truck to get diesel.

We cooked some hot dogs on the grill which we had with turkey chili, cheese and tater tots.

After dinner we took the boys to an open field in the camp-ground so they could run free off lease. Buddy loves to run the other two like being free, but don’t run much.

We relax in front of the TV for Survivor and season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy.

Wednesday, September 23 – 30 Years

 

Today Jesse and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

Jesse & GingerOn Monday we mostly just stayed around the Kram-a-lot, Jesse spent most of his afternoon readying and packing up for our departure on Thursday.

He took all his tools from his work truck (aka golf cart) and put them away in the truck tool box. He aired up all the tires, took down the awning, and bird feeders. Took up the carpet and stowed everything in the truck.

Inside I washed the boys, and straighten up the house.

We went into town and purchased something for dinner (turkey sub fixins) and stopped at the lodge to get ice cream for dessert.

On Tuesday after finishing our coffee we went into Queensbury. Our 1st stop was the mall where we got some lunch at 99 Restaurant and Pub. While we were sitting there we saw our friends Joanne and Jim go by. They came in and sat with us and ordered lunch. We were almost done ours but we sat and visited with them a short while.

After saying see ya later I got a pedicure and then went to TJ Max to look around. Once we left the mall we went to the bank then on to Walmart for a few supplies. We also fueled the truck at $2.79 per gallon. Can’t wait to get in Joe and Sherri ‘s area of the country so we can fill up at $2.33 per gallon.

After getting home and getting all the things put away it was time to get ready for dinner.

We met 3 other couples at the Log Jam Restaurant for a dinner. We had a wonderful time enjoying the conversation, laughter and good food with our friends.

Tonya & Randy, Bobby & Roy, Ginger & Jesse, Joanne & Jim

IMG_0152 They surprised us with an anniversary dessert that was yummy

IMG_0154Brownie, ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry - and enough to share with everyone.

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After returning home we relax until bed time.

Sunday, September 20 – We Are Done !!!

 

We are finished, over, done, complete and ended with work for this year. Jesse and I are happy for the experience. We worked with a great group of people and made many new friends. BUT, there is always that but, we are happy that our time here has ended for the season.

As it turned out I worked a full 8 hour shift my last two days and today my last one I worked it all by myself. One of the local employees quit (not enough hours) and today one called in sick..again. He has not been well all summer.

Anyway I managed to work the shift okay..We only had 5 check-in and 75 check-outs. I had 2 or 3 walk-in…answered phones and checked out all the store items that were purchased. People understood that I was by myself and were very patient when things got a little busy.

I rented some pedal carts but called on maintenance for assistance when that happened. Housekeeping even helped when I needed someone to go over to the arcade because some children wanted to cash in there tickets for the “valued prizes”.

All in all our experience working here at Lake George Escape has been a good one. We are both glad we came, it certainly helped out the budget, but we are looking forward to the next part of our adventure.

We plan to leave on Wednesday or Thursday and will be meeting Ed and Marilyn in Indiana for a few days. They are having some work done on their Mobile Suites. We have planned a tour of the factory and hope to go on a tour of the Keystone factory.

After Indiana we are all traveling to Hannibal with them to stay a few days before moving on to Colorado to see our children and grandchildren. We have not seen them since we left CO in December last year so we are looking forward to spending some time with them.

We are planning an adventure for Tuesday, but more on that then.

Have a Great Day and stay safe …… HUGS

Thursday, September 17 - Short day

Today was a short day for me, I worked 1-5pm. I did some laundry in the morning and just computered until time to get ready for work.


It was not busy, but I had a steady flow of people purchasing POS (point of sale) from the store, answering phones, doing a couple check-in, extending stays for existing guests, renting pedal carts and electric boats. I even had 2 walk-in to set up with a site.


After work Jesse picked me up and we rode home in the golf cart, I was very glad I had a jacket, as it was quite chilly.


I had made a casserole of chicken and noodles for dinner. We just hung out at the homestead for the rest of the evening.


Just a note:
HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY!!!!
DJ and Beth Weber

Wednesday Sept 16 – A quiet day

 

I worked from 12-9 today, but it was a very quiet day. To keep from being too bored I spent some time cleaning up the coffee area in the store, vacuumed, and folded tee shirt for display.

I also talked to the HR director Tonya. They cut everyone’s hours because it is very slow. I suggested to Tonya that Jesse and I had no problem with stopping work earlier than planned. This way it will give the employees that are staying until the end more hours. She agreed so Sunday, September 20 will be our last day of work.

Tonya said we can stay at our site as long as we want and I thanked her. Jesse and I are now trying to decide our travel plans. We may stay and do some site seeing, just not sure yet.

Whatever we decide we won’t be working again until next April. YEA!!

The weather has been cool – nights in the low 50’s and our days have been low 70’s. Some of the leaves on the trees have already started to change. Fall is my favorite time of year, the colors are beautiful.

Jesse is still working 8 hour days until the 20th, I am only working 4-6 hours per day. Today Jesse worked at Schroon Valley painting/staining the playground equipment.

Schroon Valley is where we will be staying next year while working at Lake George Escape, our site number will be 22.

Hugs to everyone, travel safe!

Friday, September 11 - Life in Maintenance

First off we hope for a speedy recovery for one of our work camper friends and Ginger’s coworker Joann. She was working her last shift Sunday evening when she tripped in the office, fell and broke her hip. She is doing well but their trip to San Antonio will be put on hold for 4-6 weeks.

We also hope for a successful surgery and speedy recovery for our son Adam. He is having an anterior cervical fusion today to fuse some vertebrae in his neck. He too is looking towards a 4-6 week recovery.

Our time here is almost over. The summer has really gone by quick. It is kind of bitter sweet. We are anxious to get on the road but we will miss the friends we have made here. Hard to believe we have been here 4 months now and only 2 weeks and 2 days left.

It has really been quiet around here since Tuesday. We had way over 400 check outs Monday and Tuesday and a mass exodus of work campers. It took maintenance until Thursday afternoon to get all the sites cleaned, that was just Jesse and another guy.

Today there is 145 check ins, but with the few check ins that came in the past couple of days we will have about 200 sites for the week end. Moderate but with such a limited crew left, everyone will be busy.

Because of all the work campers leaving our days off were changed from Sunday and Monday to Monday and Tuesday..... No biggie, we prefer week days off anyway.

Here’s Jesse’s office.

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Many of the guys Jesse works with thought they did a lot of work that normally would not fall into the job description they expected. They all thought there would be a lot of landscaping and mowing and in fact there was none! A couple of independent contractors do that.

Maintenance did level and hook up the utilities for some 23 park models. It always seemed to be raining on the days they leveled a trailer.

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They also installed RV awnings on all the trailers and replaced the carpeting and tile floors. A contractor installed the new carpet and tile but the maintenance guys removed the old stuff. The carpets were original and when the trailers were built the carpet was installed before the walls were built so every linear inch of carpet had to be cut with a utility knife. It was hard work but no one did it every day. They were alternated. Jesse figured what difference did it make since he could not just ride around in the golf cart looking important. They also built a storage shed for some of the equipment. Gotta keep those golf carts out of the snow you know.

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The sewage system at LGE is somewhat like an RV’s in that there are holding tanks in different locations through camp ground. Most but not all of the tanks are pumped out twice daily.


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Sometimes it takes 5 or more trips for the tanker to do 1 pump out. All this is to the tune of over $300,000 per season. The drinking water comes from 3 wells. One well pump went south and 2 weeks later a well went dry. These were both very costly repairs.

We also do our own pump out with the honey wagon, that's Rudy one of Jesse's co-worker.

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The camp ground will store your RV, tow it to your site and restore it when you leave, of course for a fee, but it saves the customer the cost of registration and a tow vehicle. Also means they come back.

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Most of the days maintenance department just took care of site clean up, keeping camp wood (that is what they call fire wood in the Adirondacks) stocked in the store, repair calls for all the buildings, showers, bath houses, rental units, and rental sites. Run of the mill stuff was lighting hot water heaters, leaking faucets and drains, running and clogged toilets, no a/c, no heat, no hot water, no cable, broken cabinet doors, tow ons and tow offs, and blah blah blah yaddy yaddy yaddy.

All in all, Jesse thought it was a hoot. Maybe it was just knowing he only had 4 1/2 months to work and not years and years or just being around people and RVs on vacation but this was the closest he ever came to having a job he liked. He says it was almost fun.

Go figure, fun and work, just doesn’t seem normal.