Anxious to Get to Pennsylvania...

Tuesday, Sept 13-Monday, Sept 26, 2016

It was an uneventful trip to Pennsylvania  (thank God!!).  Arrived at Fid & Jessica's about 4:30 pm.

Called Jess to let her know we were close.  She said she was going to meet us BEFORE we got to her house because...the GPS would take us a way that we couldn't get into their driveway.

They just finished building a log home in Pine Grove, PA (population 2,184).  We had not been there before.  It's about an hour northeast of Harrisburg (where Jess & the girls used to live).  Her cousin Annmarie & family live up there so Jess would spend quite a bit of time there.  Annmarie's husband, Ryan, introduced Fid  (aka Brandon Fidler) & Jessica.  One thing led to another...yep, they fell in love & Jess went from a city mouse to a country mouse.

Anyway, it's a good thing we followed Jess.  In this area there aren't a hellava lot of places to turn a truck & 40' rig around!



We got up the driveway...a lot slower than Jessica did! (She thinks 40 mph on a loooong gravel driveway is pretty normal).  We got parked, hooked up (they have 50 amp service, water & sewer hook-ups since they lived in a trailer until their house was done...yah for us!)  

View from their front window

Steps to basement. (Annie had never seen
stairs before)

Living room



 

We had such a nice time with all of them...Fid, Jessica, Madison & Lola!  They have a busy house!  Friends stop over almost every night.,,Breanna (B), Alex, Kiefer, etc, etc, etc!  Poor things...they just moved in a few days before we got there.

 

Jessica, Alexandria Fidler, Breanna Baer

 

 Lola had a recipe book.  She found some simple recipe's she wanted to make for dinner one night & asked me to help.  We had a great time.  She's quite the cook!

The is a bar up there that most seem to frequent called The Cat (Black Pussycat)!  It's in a house...in the basement!  I didn't have the pleasure of going but...Fid, Jessica & Georgie went a few times. 

 

 

Took some very nice rides!  Even a couple with Jess & Fid!  One ride Fid took us on was to the Appalachian Trail to a beautiful overlook.

 

 

 

 

We were invited to Sunday Brunch with Fid's family for Jessica's birthday. 

 It was a little chilly (for us anyway).

 

 

There was a HUGE raffle at Pine Grove Fire Hose Hook & Ladder Fire Company.  When I say huge, I mean HUGE!  They gave away prizes of $50, $100 and the grand prize was $10,000!  (we didn't win anything) That's a lot of money!  Tickets were $20 each.  Sandwiches, sides & soda were included!

It seems everyone in Pine Grove is a volunteer fire fighter...men & women

Stacey Fidler (Fid's sister) even drives a fire truck!  Very impressive!

The fire house even has a bar...$1 for a bottle of beer!

 

 

Stacey Fidler

 

We had such a nice time!  The weather was perfect!  It was hard to leave but it was starting to cool off a little more than we're comfortable with plus...Florida was calling!

 

Jessica, Madison, Lola

 

 

 

 

On our way to Illinois...

September 5 - 9, 2016

We left South Dakota and headed for Morton, Il.  to see my best friend in the world!  Julie Cleveland & her husband Anthony.  Julie & I have been friends for more than 50 years!
Had reservations at Spindler Campground, http://www.fondulacpark.com/facilities/carl-spindler-campground, there Thursday, September 7th to Saturday the 10th.

We got as far as Waterloo, IA & decideded to stop for a couple days.

Found a nice KOA campground,http://koa.com/campgrounds/waterloo, that was reasonably priced, close to the interstate.

What a nice park!  We were up on a hill overlooking a small lake.  The off leash dog park was right behind us.  It was beautifully landscaped & had gravel roads in great shape.







Went to lower the landing gear so we could unhook the truck.  Only 1 side was going down!

How could this be?  They work together.

I got on my phone to find a mobil rv repair place.  They apparently weren't as common here as they are in Florida.  Got a lot of nope, we don't do that but you could bring it in.  We could get to it in a few days.  Yea...that's not going to work for us.  We finally got hold of a guy that listened to Georgie explain what he saw.  We sent a few pictures.  He called & told us how to fix it.  Wish we had his name.

About 2 hours later we got it fixed & unhooked. Whew!  What a relief.

Enjoyed a couple days there.  They had a nice, new casino, Isle Casino, http://waterloo.isleofcapricasinos.com.  We went a couple times.  Did some laundry & just kinda hung out.

On the 7th we got ready to hook the truck up...best layed plans...HA!  Both truck batteries were dead!  Unfucking believable!   Called AAA.  They were there within a 1/2 hour.  Not so bad.  Georgie decided we should get 2 new batteries.  So he followed the guy that jumped us back to his shop.  The guy tested our batteries...they were fine.  We needed a new alternator.   Oh yeah!  How long was THIS going to take?  A very nice surprise...only about 45 minutes!  The guy was great!

Georgie got back.  Backed up to the hitch.  Oh...ANOTHER NICE SURPRISE! (not really)
I went to extend the landing gear...it wasn't moving!  We had to raise it to get the truck hooked up! WTF!  (said out loud)   Spent about an hour trying to figure out what it was.  OH!  We figured it out...it wasn't good!  Called that same guy, sent pictures, etc.  He had to order a part.  He ordered a new worm gear & had it shipped to him overnight.  It came, we picked it up & tried to figure out what we had to do.  It took 2 days!

Luckily the KOA was able to extend our stay...day by day.  We didn't think it would take 2 days...but it did!

September 9 - 12, 2016

We were finally on our way to Illinois.  We were also lucky that the campground there could change our dates...and didn't charge any additional fees!

We got to Spindler Campground about 7:30 pm.  Guess who was waiting for us?  Julie & Anthony! What a really nice surprise!

We spent time with them.  Went to dinner with Julie, Anthony, her sister Janet & husband Greg, and her brother Jim!  We laughed all night!  I may have peed a little in my pants.  I didn't tell any of them that.   I did, however, seem to spill my guts about most everything else that's happened to my bodily functions as I've grown older!  (I'm chuckling a little to myself right now)

Julie is one of those friends that you can talk to once a month and it's just like it was yesterday that we talked.  We just pick up where we left off.  That's why I love her so much!

Never enough time with her but...we had to get on to Pennsylvania to see our daughter Jessica & her family.