Kelly and Mike's RVing/Traveling Adventures: June 21 - 29, 2024 - Family Visiting from California - Toilet Tank Repair - Tiger Sanctuary

Friday June 21:

Annie, Adam, Violet, and Wren arrived to spend a week with us before heading back to California. We ordered pizza and after finishing it off relaxed for the evening

Sunday June 23:

We hosted Annie's family and the other two sets of grandparents, both of whom live in St. Louis, and daughter, Alexa, and her friend Aaron. Adam did a great job cooking ribs and pork steaks. Kelly provided the side dishes, Grammy brought a cake, and Mimi brought snacks and dips. It was warm out but we all had a great time visiting. Adam took a picture posed just like the one last year. They are left to right: John (Pawpaw); Aaron, Alexa, Grandma Kelly, Grandpa Mike, Carol (Mimi), Annie, Kathy (Grammie), Wren, Grandpa Jay, and Violet.

I filled up the inflatable pool and the girls had a ball splashing around in it and entertaining Grammie, who was the only one willing to sit out there with them in the heat.

Sometime Sunday evening the toilet flush handle broke in the hall bathroom. Pulling the lid off I found that the plastic retaining bracket for the handle had broken. PLASTIC! I am not complaining though, it was thirty years old.

Monday June 24:

First thing Monday morning I got out the Dremel Tool and began cutting off the old metal handle shaft. It was so rusted there was no other way to get it off.

Of course, halfway through cutting my Dremel Tool quit. It did this before. I had to finish the cut with other tools. Once the handle was off I went to Buchheit's to get a replacement. They had about six different handles to choose from, most of which were plastic. I opted for a metal one. When I went to install it I was glad I picked the metal one because I had to bend the rod quite a bit to get it to fit the shape of the tank. I couldn't have done that with a plastic one.

After that project was completed I had to take the HHR in for an 8:00 a.m. appointment to get the front end aligned, tires rotated, and a tire pressure sensor replaced. Once back at the house we took Homer and put him in the shed until our next outing. By doing this we could move the blow-up pool out of the sun and into the shade for the rest of the week.

Getting back from the repair shop I hooked up the trailer, loaded Kelly and the girls in the truck, and headed to Lake Perry. I dropped Kelly and the girls off at the pool to swim while I got the golf cart out of the shed. Before loading it on the trailer I always like to run it around to make sure it runs well. I then put on my suit and joined them at the pool. The pool felt great with the heat. Once back home we had a long golf cart ride around the subdivision. We stopped near the outer road and the golf cart would not start. (It does that when it gets hot.) I've tried two fixes and neither has worked.

While we were waiting for the golf cart to cool off I showed the girls how to do a pulling motion with their arm to get trucker to blow their air horns. They did it and were thrilled that virtually every trucker coming by blew the horn. Simple pleasures.

Back at the house I took the Dremel Tool apart thinking the problem may be the switch. I cleaned it, etc. but could not get any power to the motor. I gave up, threw it away, and ordered a Wen rotary tool. I have not had good luck with Dremel Tools over the years and the Wen was half the price of a Dremel.

Tuesday June 25:

In the morning Kelly and I took the girls to a movie in Cape while Annie worked online and Adam went to visit his dad at his cigar shop in St. Louis. After the movie we went to Culver's for lunch. Of course, after eating candy in the movie, the girls did not eat the Kids Meals we got them. A total waste of money. We should have known better. Once home we relaxed until early evening when the girls got back in the pool. They had great fun with their goggles and squirting us with their pump water guns.

After that another golf cart ride was in order to help dry then off before going inside.

Supper was left-overs and then early to bed for the girls.

Wednesday June 26:

I walked the park at 5:00 a.m. with a couple of friends. When finishing our walk we could see a beautiful rainbow from end to end at the park. I didn't have my phone with me but when I got home I got this picture off the deck. The trees blocked each end. You can see a slight double rainbow.

It started raining around 7:00 a.m. and continued off and on most of the day. Around 10:00 a.m. I was outside and saw something flying. I looked over and two Piliated Woodpeckers were flying across the yard. They both landed on the fence posts at the back of the lot. I was able to look at them through the monocular but they were too far away for a picture. Cool. I had never seen two together before and only once saw one fly over the yard. We learned they have a nest not far from the house.

Alexa came down in the evening to visit and spend the night.

Thursday June 27:

First thing in the morning Annie opened the back door and a red fox was standing in the gravel next to the house. Literally five feet from her. She spooked him. He ran off but did stop to check us out before heading back into the woods. We noticed he limped a little. In the picture it looks like a chunk of his front leg is missing. Interestingly, while walking in the park this morning we saw a red fox up pretty close as well.

Not long after the fox left I spotted two female turkeys, one with a baby, walking through the yard. Turkeys are very easily spooked so we couldn't get very good pictures. The little gray ball at mama's feet is the baby.

Kelly bought tickets for all of us to visit the Tiger Sanctuary in Ste. Genevieve. I've driven by it a dozen times over the years but never stopped for a tour. Annie couldn't go due to work meetings. Here we are waiting around the for the tour to begin. Wren is busy shooting pictures with dad's phone.

After the rain Wednesday it was much cooler on Thursday, which was great for the tour, which is all outside. Upon our guide arriving we headed down to the tiger enclosures. As we arrived the tigers were being let outside into their enclosures for the day. Each tiger has a separate enclosure.

They have four tigers, two males and two females. All have been given to them from zoos, private ownership, etc. This is a non-contact facility. The workers never touch the animals. The operation is a non-profit organization hoping to expand with more animals in the future. Here are some pictures. I couldn't keep track which tiger was which for pictures. They range in age from eight years old to twenty-two years old. The average age in the wild is twelve. Here is Sebastian eating a half of chicken laid out for him. He picked it up and carried it into the weeds to eat it.

Getting a drink of water before walking around the enclosure.

They like to walk the perimeter a few times before laying down to rest.

Beautiful animals. The largest weighs 450 lbs. Their paws are larger than my hands. Their incisor teeth are four inches long.

Upon returning to Perryville we had lunch at the new Japanese restaurant that just opened about a month ago. The food is reasonable and quite good. The service was great. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. Nothing was brought home except some rice and noodles the girls didn't eat.

Being totally full from the large lunch, we just had a charcuterie board with freshly grilled shrimp for supper. After supper we watched the first of the President debates. Sad.

Friday the 28th:

While I was taking the car in for an AC checkup. Kelly made sausage and bacon on the Blackstone. I got home in time to make the scrambled eggs. I quickly learned that you need something to "corral" the eggs when you dump them on the Blackstone. In the afternoon Annie and Adam bought me a Blackstone breakfast set which included two rings for eggs, a pancake mix dispenser, and a press for bacon. They also bought me a dome for steaming food on the griddle. I'm really getting set up to cook a lot on this Blackstone. I brought a tote up from the basement to put all the griddle accessories in so I can keep them handy on the deck. It fits well under the Blackstone.

After breakfast we didn't do much outside. It was too hot. Alexa and Adam drove out to Bob and Ronnie Hershey's farm to get some freshly grown vegetables and to take in their larger garden.

Before bed the girls had another golf cart ride. Annie and Adam spent time doing laundry and packing for the trip home. Kelly made a great pot of spaghetti for supper.

Saturday the 29th:

The Wiseman family left for home today. They finished packing while I cooked some boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. After breakfast the girls had one last golf cart ride. They drove to St. Louis and Adam's dad drove them to the airport. Their flight took off on time.

Before they left I wanted a picture of Kelly and me with the girls, like the one that was taken of us with the boys the last time they were here. Adam did a great job taking a picture of us and then running around and getting in another picture.