Honda

It is that day that happens once every 7 years - car Brigadoon (well Brigadoon was once every 100 years).  We picked up our new car.  Even though we had no loan, it took 2 1/2 hours to get everything signed and a quick introduction to the massive electronics.  What a change in 7 years.  What will the next 7 years bring????

Sunday

We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast today.  Once again our newspaper was not delivered so we are about to give it up and get our papers from the gas station.  4 papers missing last week, 3 delivered - not a good average.

We have a big gray cat that is claiming our deck as it's home.  We aren't feeding it and considering calling animal control as we think it might have been abandoned.

We had dinner with our daughters and a good visit.  Always great to see them!

Garage door opener up and working!

We went to Menards and Aldi's this morning.  Brenda came over in the afternoon with samples from a vegan bakery which we enjoyed.

I slept 2 hours in the afternoon, this cold is really getting me down.  Don has the garage door opener up and working.  It is so nice to have one again.  This one is very quiet.

Still have the cold

Still don't feel good.  We really needed to get a few things from Walmart and it did feel good to get out and walk some.  My ears are now plugged up so I can't hear what I should, instead hear stranges noises!

Don is working on getting the new garage door opener installed.  It will be great to have one working again.

Cold and cars

I finally decided to try the cold meds again but just take half a dose.  I slept much better.  Don wanted to visit a couple car dealers and wanted me to go along.  It was hard to act half interested, I just wanted to sit in the warm car and sleep.

We got sandwiches from Arby's for dinner, still don't have any ambition to cook.

Feeling worse, weather warmer

I didn't sleep well at all last night, kept getting all clogged up from my cold.  So had a hard time getting anything done, gave up for a nap.  I am feeling worse each day, when will I ever get better?

We got Taco's for dinner, certainly don't feel like preparing a meal.


The weather gets warmer!

Furnace and colds yet

We invited the furnace repairman in today.  The furnace has been making a high pitch whine and then we stopped getting warm air (or any air) in three rooms.  We need a new motor ($650) and we have water in the ducts that blocks the air.  He said it is not uncommon when things are melting so fast and loaned us a pump to pump it our now and again.  We will need to buy a pump and have already ordered on on Amazon.  It should stop draining when the ground completely thaws, I hope.

Our colds persist.  I am not taking any more cold meds after the reaction I had yesterday.   I didn't feel like fixing dinner so we got chicken at KFC.  Talked to the kids later.

Still colds

We went to breakfast at Denny's.  I shouldn't have gone as I was not feeling good, it might have been my cold or the medicine I was taking for the cold.  Anyway I couldn't eat my breakfast and bought it home.  I did drink plenty of coffee which seemed to help me feel better - coffee always helps!

The snow is melting, but it will be a long time before the pile by our deck is gone!

In the afternoon I took a good nap and started feeling OK.   We stayed home for the rest of the day.  Read the Sunday newspaper.

Warming with colds

Slow day.  It was cloudy outside but warm, later the sun came out now and again.  The snow is melting fast but he big pile by our deck will be there until July I fear.

We both have colds so are not too full of ambition and didn't do much today.  We went to eat at Friday's and that's about all.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Friday and still have the cold.

We went to Panera for breakfast and then to HyVee for some groceries. 

My cold is somewhat better, still would rather sit and stare at the wall than do anything.  Was really hard to get up this morning, my bed felt so comfortable and warm.

We brought Chinese food in for dinner.


We have actually seen about this bad of overloaded motorhomes.

Bagels and Pizza

Again Panera for bagels and coffee.  Making up for lost time!  Then we went to HyVee for groceries.  I moved from my winter jacket to a cape.  Much more comfortable.

We did stuff around the house the rest of the day.  Brought a pizza in for dinner.

Nice Day!

We went for breakfast at Panera this morning - our usual bagels.  Then we went to look at new Honda's at a car dealer in Burnsville.  They had a lot of Hondas but not exactly what we wanted but of course they could get one.

It was supposed to only get to 42 today but it was that warm by 11 AM.  It got into the 50's!  With the intense sun it must have melted some snow!

We stopped for lunch at Culvers - long time since we have been there!

Fixed Waffles for dinner and watched some TV.

A dark and dreary day

Snow again today, actually warm enough to make it freezing rain.  Looking forward to warmer temperatures in the near future.  We have a huge pile of snow by our house that would be great to get rid of but will take some time.

It was a dark and dreary day, a good day to just stay home.

Perkins and bad roads

Perkins for breakfast today.  We haven't been to Perkins for ages but we had a good coupon and got good breakfasts - buy one, get one free.  We had excellent service despite the server being the only one for the restaurant for awhile.  The parking lot was terrible, like driving over huge rocks and slick walking into the place.

Then we went to Aldi's for a few groceries.

The street in front of our house was like an ice skating rink, people must of complained as a plow came through in the afternoon and scraped off what was by that time slush.  In a short time the road was dry!


This will soon be melted!

Clean house

Today we cleaned the house, good to get it cleaned good at last.  We still have stuff which needs our attention.  My Amazon order came in less than 24 hours.  I got a smart plug that can be controlled by my phone or Alexa.  It was surprisingly easy to set up even though the instructions were NOT written in clear English.

We went for out for dinner, I hadn't been outside for 3 days!  It felt good to get some fresh air.

More snow

We usually go out for breakfast on Sunday mornings, but not today.  Roads are not good and still getting some snow on and off.  I made French toast, first time in a long time but I remembered the recipe.

Didn't get a Sunday newspaper which we had requested.  We watched "Meet the Press" and then did stuff around the house.

In the afternoon our daughters came over for a visit.  Great to see them again.  We fixed dinner at home again as it was still snowing off and on. 

.  It was good and good to just stay home.

We were ready to read the Sunday newspaper but it was not at our door.  Don called and as we thought delivery would be "sometime today".

Snow Storm

It snowed some during the night and then on and off during the morning.  Didn't think the "storm" was going to amount to much at least here.  In the afternoon it started snowing more with bigger flakes and came down sometimes hard.  So I guess it is an official storm.  We got about 8 inches of snow!

After procrastinating in the morning we finally got back to work on the house.  Today it was putting out items on the living room stands and mantel.  First most had to be washed as they are mostly glass.  Also all the stands had to be dusted and the glass tops cleaned, wood work polished.  Then in the afternoon I loaded the hall closet, Don took our very dirty bedroom curtains down and I washed them and rehung.  I did some polishing of woodwork in the bedrooms.

I fixed dinner as there was no way we were wanting to get out.  The snow plows made their rounds but since it was still snowing the roads remained bad.  Pictures on TV of many cars in ditches.

Friday the 13th

We slept 9 hours last night, unheard off!  We were so tired from the traveling and the house work.

We went to Menards to get a new garage door opener and other stuff while on sale.  When we came out it was raining/sleeting, but we went to Walmart again as we really needed a couple things we had forgotten.  Then it was back to work on the house.  I got stuff that we had brought with us put away in the kitchen and in the afternoon went to work in the office and got that mostly done.  Then the bathroom cupboard, which was a major job.  I had two huge boxes of stuff to not only find a place for but with at least a little organization.  I may have to reorganize later, but it is all in and the door shut!

Don tried to put up some wall hangings but needed my help so tomorrow-----

Plenty more to do.

In the late afternoon sleet started hitting our windows on and off.  The beginning of the forecast storm.

Starting settling

First order of business today was getting groceries.  A winter storm is predicted and we don't want to be marooned in our house without food.  So we went to Walmart, Aldi's, Cub Foods and HyVee Foods.  Spent a lot of money and got a lot of groceries.

In the afternoon we started getting things straightened up in the house.  Moved the living room furniture to where it belongs.  I worked a long time in my closet as my clothing was all mixed up - I sort by long sleeve, short sleeve, better shirts and slacks.  Then had to organize the shelves on top.  We were told that they would not be needing anything but the floor cleared but realized they painted the inside of the closet, first time for that!  Then the floor, got my shoe racks set up, etc.

Then I went to our dresser.  all the drawers were a mess.  I think they tipped the dresser on an end to get it out.  Also I had packed some of the stuff so got that back.  Decided this was enough for a day!  We went out to Chili's for dinner.  It was packed, even had to wait a little for a table.

HOME

We got home in Minnesota about 4 PM.  Good to see the house again after the major repair, painting and new carpet made necessary after the neighbors water heater drained in our townhouse.  Our house looks very nice.  I was worried about liking the carpet color, but I am very happy with the color and texture. 

Nothing is in the right place.  We were told care would be taken to put things where they were, but not.  There is fine dust in the kitchen, laundry room and other places.  We have many boxes we packed in the garage that will need to be unpacked and much cleaned and settled down.  Then we have all the stuff we brought from our Florida trailer to find a place for the next 6 months.  Our work is cut out for us.

We are already tired and just want to relax, my favorite show, Survivor, is on TV tonight.  But wait the TV isn't hooked up nor is the WiFi.  There is just a jumble of cords.  Don gave tried to make some sense of it but I knew I would have to take over.  An hour later I had all (WiFi, TV, DVR) working but not the sound bar.  Didn't even try the DVD.  Of course the TV had no sound so had to figure out how to get the internal sound turned on, finally we suddenly had sound!

I had packed a "good-night" box with sheets, towels, etc. so we could make the bed and take showers.  Got that done and called it a day.

Prattsburgh to Champaign

We got out of the hotel about 7:30 and headed north.  The big deal is getting through Nashville, at least it wasn't rush hour by the time we got there, so all went well.  We were going to stay at Effingham, Illinois but decided to travel an hour further to Champaign.  Lots of trucks on the highway, probably heading to Chicago.  Don has suddenly gone from a relatively slow driver to wanting to cruise between 80 and 90 miles per hour.  He just lucked out on not being introduced to a couple highway patrol officers.  That is probably why we made such good time.

We ate at Portillo's which is a hot dog/hamburger place.  We had excellent bacon burgers.  Then we checked into our hotel, a much smaller room tonight.

Daffodils around a tree at a Rest Stop

Bushnell to Prattsburg

We had planned on heading north on Tuesday but looks like it is going to be 100% rain.  So we did double time today and got packed and got on the highway by 11:30.  We went as far as Plattsville, Arkansas, about 7 hours.  We still got into some heavy rain but at least got the slides in the trailer pulled in before it rained.

I made sandwiches with leftovers so we ate them on the road.  For dinner we went to Charleys, advertising Southern Cooking.  It was very good.  We had fried green matos (tomatoes), chicken fried chicken drizzled with honey, mashed sweet potatoes and a salad.  Then we went to our hotel.  We paid for a regular room but got a suite.  Nice!

We are tired people tonight!

Waffle house change in plans

We went to Waffle house for breakfast.  Good as always.  Came home and read the newspaper and then began to pack for our trip north.  In the afternoon we checked the weather and found Tuesday, the day we planned to leave, is going to be almost a rain-out day.  Pulling wet slides into the trailer is something we do not want to do.  So we decided to leave tomorrow as soon as we get ready.  Will have a LOT to do and fast.  Hope we don't forget something!

Donuts and rain

No breakfast at the clubhouse until next fall.  So we went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut.  The interstate road had traffic almost almost stopped.  Lot's of RV's still heading north.

We went to Wildwood to Zaxby's for dinner, on the way home we got into HEAVY rain.  Could hardly see the road. 

Busy Friday

Today we went to McDonalds for breakfast and then to Walmart for a few things we need for before and during our trip north.

Don worked on cleaning the inside of the car, I cleaned the refrigator. 

For dinner we went to Beef O'Brady's for their 2 or $20 deal.  We had shrimp with sides and  hot artichoke heart dip.  The place was surprising busy. 

Escapees luncheon

We had a cool morning after a hot day yesterday.  Felt good!  We went to Clermont for our Escapees RV Club luncheon.  Fewer people as many have bravely headed north already.  We had a good time visiting with friends.  Last meeting until next November.

Afterwards we went to Camping World and then home.  Got a Subway for dinner.

Snow and food

There is a snow storm in Minnesota and we plan to be there in 10 days.  Something needs to change!  We had a nice morning in Florida but it quickly became hot and humid in the afternoon.  Wish I could pack some heat to take to MN!

Still eating down what we have in the house and can't take north.  So we have some strange dinners!

Bagels and wine

We went to Brooksville for bagels at Panera mostly because we needed to get out of the house.  On the way home we explored an area by our campground where there were train tracks a long time ago.  It is almost all grown in by foliage but you can still see where it went through.

Still getting the refrigator emptied, we had ham slice for dinner and wine.  Have wine I NEED to drink because don't want to leave it in the trailer during the hot summer and don't want to have it bopping around the car trunk.

Monday rain and brats

Cleaned the house today, tried to do a better than usual job as I know next week when we are getting ready to leave, I will need to rush along.  A hot and humid day, perspiration was running down my forehead!  Of course air conditioning was not approved (by Don) until I was done.  Needed another shower!

We griller brats for dinner, we had a sudden and unexpected rain in the afternoon but it cleared in time to grill.

Easter

Easter today!

We went to Wildwood to Steak and Shake for breakfast.  They had just one server, it wasn't busy at first so we got our food without a problem.  Then is got busy - felt sorry for the server.  (And the people waiting.)

There was a little fog in the morning but cleared away for a warm and humid day.  We read the newspapers outside anyway.

We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  We were there at a good time, some empty tables.  By the time we left all the tables were full.