August 12th - August 25 , 2023 - Hubcap Issue - Three RV Destinations in Two Weeks - Trip Home

HUBCAP ISSUE:

Saturday the 12th was "Get Homer Ready to Travel Day". I had to fill the freshwater tank because we do not have water hookups for our first week of camping. After finishing that chore, I moved on to checking the air in the tires. Homer recently had an oil change. The shop always puts less air in the tires than I like. Upon checking the air in the passenger side duals, I noticed that the hubcap was really loose. Upon closer inspection I found that BOTH of the bolts that hold the hubcap on were missing. The only thing holding the hubcap on were the air extension hoses connected to the hub. Here is a picture of top and bottom of the hubcap showing the missing bolts.

While the bolts that hold the hubcaps on to the wheel could work loose, they could not possibly both fall out. Each bolt is an inch long. The chances of BOTH unscrewing an inch and then falling out is too great to imagine. Homer was in the shop for a leaking tire valve stem some time back, the mechanic must have forgotten to put the bolts back on. I didn't think to check it.

I took a bolt off a front wheel and headed to Buchheit's to match up two new ones. I lucked out because they only had two stainless steel bolts like I needed left in stock. Here is a picture of the two new bolts next to the one I took for a match. 

Here are pictures of the bolts installed. In the second picture you can see the air hose extensions attached to the hub that were holding the hubcap on.

I checked the bolts on the other three wheels and all bolts were tight. A little pre-trip inspection goes a long way.  

THREE RV DESTINATIONS IN TWO WEEKS:

We had three travel destinations over a period of two weeks in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. This trip brought this thought to mind.

We always look forward to traveling to different places, seeing different things, meeting different people, and meeting up with old friends. Such was the case this trip for all three destinations. 

FIRST DESTINATION - LINCOLN TRAILS STATE PARK IN MARHSALL, ILLINOIS:

The first week was spent with our Carri-Yals RV Travel Group, some of whom we have known for the fifteen years we have been in the club, and some of whom are newer members.  

It was a beautiful day for a drive to Marshall, Illinois, near the Indiana border. For August the weather was cool and delightful. All active members of our RV club attended. It is unusual to have all attend. Monday evening for supper the hosts provided pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and chips followed by a nice campfire.

Tuesday the ladies prepared biscuits and gravy and eggs. It was all delicious with enough left over for another breakfast. Lunch was on our own and in the afternoon the ladies played card games. For dinner we went to the West Union Cafe in West Union, Illinois. There were only about three businesses in this small town. The restaurant had a delicious variety of food. I had the Catfish nuggets which were delicious.

Wednesday breakfast was on our own. For lunch we drove to "Moonshine Store". The Moonshine Store is an old general store in the middle of nowhere. Nothing else around except cornfields.

They only serve between 6:00 am and 12:30 pm. The place was packed in the middle of the week. It is a destination. The menu is limited and all seating is outside. They served hamburgers and fried bologna sandwiches. You ordered inside and ate outside. It was a great meal and great fun. Inside:

Kelly ordered a fried bologna sandwich and the bologna was a half inch thick. I ordered a cheeseburger which was huge.

All eating was outside on picnic benches under huge trees and umbrellas. 

From Moonshine Store we headed to Casey, Illinois. The town has "the largest" items displayed around town - the largest rocking chair, the largest mailbox, the largest bird cage, etc. It was a beautiful day to walk around the town. Here are some pictures.

Wind chime.

Ruler.

Rocking chair.

Seesaw.

Wooden shoes.

Pencil.

Barber poll.

Gold club and Mouse trap.

Mailbox.

Bird cage (with four of our ladies inside).

Gavel at the Courthouse.

Golf tee at the golf course.

Pitch fork at a food market.

From Casey we drove back to Marshall, Illinois for dinner at Rosie's Pizzeria. Once again the food was great. We ended the day with a campfire. It was cool enough to wear jackets.

Thursday breakfast was leftover biscuits and gravy and donuts. For lunch we made sub sandwiches with members being assigned to bring certain items. They were great. After lunch everyone played card bingo for dimes. I won once and Kelly won twice. Big money!! LOL

For supper Pam made ham and beans and several brought homemade cornbread. A great meal. After supper once again we had a nice campfire to end the campout.

Friday morning everyone headed out.

SECOND DESTINATION - FORT WAYNE, INDIANA:

Friday, after four hours of driving, we reached our next destination, which was Jim and Marilyn's driveway in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jim lived in our subdivision in Perryville some years back before moving to Indiana. We have stayed in touch and try to visit at least once per year. Saturday morning Jim and I attended a car show in Auburn, Indiana, home of the Auburn automobile. Jim showed his Mercedes. Here he is with his car along with a picture of some of the other cars.

While there I was able to visit the Auburn Car Museum which is located in the old Auburn showroom and factory across from the car show. The cars inside were beyond description. Duesenberg, Auburn and Cord were all owned by the same company in the end. Here is a picture of some of the cars in the Art Deco showroom.

In the 1920s the frames and running gear were built by the car manufacturer and then they were sent out to body builders to make the bodies. The car in the next two pictures was built large for the purchaser, who was a man over seven feet tall. The car is one of a kind and was found many years later in decrepit condition. A million dollars was spent on its restoration.

Cord bought the Auburn Car Company and added the "Cord" line of cars. These cars were well ahead of their time. They had front-wheel drive, hidden headlights, etc. Here is a picture of a Cord engine with the transmission out in front. The silver cone in front covered the shaft from the transmission to the drive shaft on each wheel.

This is the crank for the hidden headlights.

The silver cylinder on the right of the steering wheel was the gear shift for the stick-shift transmission. Amazing technology.

This is a magnificent example of a Cord automobile on display outside for the car show. Note the hidden headlights and long hood to cover the engine and transmission.

Next to the Cord was an Auburn "boattail" car. These are very rare. How I would love to tour around in this baby!!!

The entire top of the trunk area was aluminum from the tip of the back to the windshield.

Saturday evening we went to "Tavern at Coventry" for dinner. Kelly and I split a brisket dinner and it filled us both up. Here is a picture of Jim and Marilyn for us to remember until we meet again.

THIRD DESTINATION - CLEARWATER RV PARK, ORTONVILLE, MICHIGAN:

Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to Jim and Marilyn and headed out for another four-hour trip to Ortonville, Michigan, to camp with Michigan friends. We met these folks about six years ago in the RV park in Florida where we were all wintered. We became great friends. The three sisters and their husbands have all sold their Florida rigs and won't be going back to Florida. We made the trip to camp with them to stay in touch and share a good time. (Which you can't do over the computer or cell phone.) 

We arrived at the campground Sunday afternoon and it was unusually HOT for Michigan.

Monday was Janet's 80th birthday and her sisters provided cake and ice cream as well as Champaign to celebrate. I'm glad we got to spend this special day with her. Here are pictures of Janet opening presents, Janet with her cake, Janet, Marge, and Jean (the three sisters), and Janet and husband George.

After the party George took up a collection to purchase firewood. In the evening we had a great campfire with music until 10:00 pm. It had cooled down considerably. We had jackets on around the fire.

Tuesday was "Taco Tuesday". As prearranged, Kelly provided all the fixings for "make your own" tacos for everyone. Friends, Lee and Sherrie, stopped by and provided Marguitas for all. NICE! Dinner was followed by another nice campfire.

Homer's TV worked great in Marshall, Illinois the week before. Tuesday it wouldn't work. It would scan for channels but found no channels. We suspected the booster went out although the "on" light lit up.

Wednesday a Michigan breakfast of Michigan bacon and donuts was scheduled at 10:00 a.m. but a morning thunderstorm scuttled that idea. David had to go to the doctor that morning, so I went with him. After his doctor visit we stopped by the RV store where I purchased a new antenna booster for Homer. Back at the campground I installed it but no change. I'll have to check the antenna wires. Hopefully I can find the problem. We had another nice campfire to end the day.

Tuesday and Wednesday when the sun came out it was hot so it was a game of musical chairs to find shade from either the awnings or the trailers. Here are a couple of pictures.

During the early morning hours of Thursday, it poured rain hard several times. The clouds cleared off around 10:00 a.m. and we were able to enjoy a breakfast of Michigan Apple Cider and cake donuts. It turned hot all day. For lunch Jean provided a marvelous charcuterie board to feast on. Later in the afternoon Jean and David provided ice cream with homemade hot fudge syrup, or ice cream floats, your choice. Yum! After ice cream several of us played a few rounds of "Nickels". Kelly and I donated to the cause, leaving a few bucks in Michigan. For supper we ordered pizza. After supper we sat around the campfire until the rain started again about 9:00 p.m. Since everyone was heading home in the morning we all said our goodbyes before going inside for the night. We have no idea when we will see each other again but with computers and cell phones we are able to stay in touch.

The rain that started around 9:00 p.m. turned into a MAJOR STORM. There was lightning and thunder for an hour straight which felt like it was just ten feet above Homer. The rain poured hard throughout the entire time. In addition, Homer shook quite hard several times making us a little nervous about what might follow. When I got home, I found this headline. 

Deadly thunderstorms, tornadoes roll across Michigan.  At least five people were killed in the aftermath of the extreme weather event, which included severe storms with winds of up to 75 mph and at least seven tornadoes. Roughly 400,000 people in Michigan and more than 120,000 people in Ohio were without power Friday night.

Luckily we were 70 miles North of this area. Our power did go out during the night but it was back on by morning. We were up early on Friday so we decided to leave early. Luckily it wasn't raining while I dumped and stored the sewer hose and electric cord. Dave came out for a final hug and wished us safe travels. 

THE WAY HOME:

After getting gas at the station next door to the campground we were on our way by 7:30 a.m. It rained a little for about an hour and then the sun came out. The trip home was a little over six hundred miles so our plan was to stop somewhere for the night about halfway. Several things changed our mind. First, the sun came out and the driving was easy. Second, there was no traffic and we were making good time. Third, it had turned really HOT. We decided that it wouldn't be any fun to stop somewhere for the night and just sit in the heat. We decided to drive straight back. 

The trip was uneventful until we hit St. Elmo, Illinois. It was sunny but we could see a major storm cloud ahead. No big deal we thought but when we hit that storm cloud, it was much more than we bargained for. Here is a picture as we approached.

The rain poured so hard no one could see the roadway to drive. All traffic slowed down to 30 miles per hour. The wind whipped Homer a couple of times moving him within the lane. The St. Elmo exit came up and I was in the outside lane so I, along with a trucker and some others, got off to wait it out. As we sat there the wind was spooky. I parked so that Homer's butt was facing the wind to minimize surface area. We sat there for about a half hour. When the wind died down we headed back onto the Interstate. This is a picture less than a mile down the road.

We continued down Interstate 70 until we connected with Interstate 255. All was well until another major storm hit us around Cahokia, Illinois. This time I was in the center lane and couldn't get to an exit, if there was one. The rain once again poured so hard traffic slowed to less than 30 miles per hour. Tree branches were blowing across the highway and the wind was blowing Homer around within the lane, which caused me to say "SHIT" several times as I fought the wheel. Believe me, it was a scarry. This was the worst storm I have ever driven in. We weren't sure Homer was going to stay upright and may not have if all the other traffic hadn't been around us to help divert the wind.

Once through the storm it was sunny weather the rest of the way home. We arrived home at 7:00 p.m. our time - twelve and half hours of driving. Upon arriving home Perryville was under a heat advisory, so we unloaded Homer as quickly as possible. Kelly noticed this as we were unloading.

The front compartment on the passenger side had broken loose. I have no idea when this happened but did not notice it at the last gas stop. Luckily the compartment didn't fall off. It is one of several things I will have to fix on Homer after this trip. That will be the subject of my next blog.

August 7th - 8th, 2023 Access Panel Revision - Passenger Door Lock Fix - Next Trip

ACCESS PANEL REVISION:

When we purchased Homer he had his original 12-volt charger/converter from 1993. It was a beast with a transformer in it larger than my fist. While it worked properly, it hummed quite loudly all the time when plugged up. I knew I was not going to be able to tolerate the loud humming. I also knew that this charger/converter was a "dumb" charger, meaning it charged all the time. These old chargers were known for overcharging the batteries causing them to boil out battery acid on occasion. Homer's batteries are in a really difficult location to service, so I was not interested in having that problem. I decided to upgrade and purchased a new "smart" charger. A smart charger charges the batteries at various voltages as needed and then goes into a "float" mode. The batteries do not get overcharged and the charger does not hum! 

The converter was located in a space under the wardrobe next to the refrigerator. I could not access it but I could see it through a 10-inch by 10-inch door under the refrigerator, which opened for access to the 12-volt fuse panel. There was no way I could reach the screws holding the charger/converter down to remove it.  On the wall as you enter there was a screen vent which allowed ventilation for the charger/converter. Here is a picture. 

The wooden frame and wire mesh were stapled in place at the factory. Upon removing it the opening still was not large enough to pull the charger/converter out. I guess they assumed it would never need to be replaced. To get it out and replace it I had to make an access panel where the screen vent was located. After pulling off the factory vent frame I carefully cut the paneling so I could use the piece I cut-out to make an access panel door that would match the wall paneling. I made a new frame with some molding I had on hand. This is what it looked like when finished.

I didn't want to staple the panel back on and I didn't want any screws holding it on showing. I used some old cabinet catches I had on hand to hold the access panel in place. 

While the catches worked, whenever the panel was removed it was quite challenging to blindly line up each catch with the accompanying screws on each side of the access panel. If the screws did not fit in the catch properly the door would fall off. This last trip the panel fell off. It was time for an improved access panel mounting system.

I decided to use magnetic catches. The magnetic catches, however, required more mounting surface so I had to add a block of wood on each side. Here is a picture of each block being glued on and held in place with clamps.

After letting the glue set overnight and installing the magnetic catches, I put the access panel in place and it is holding nicely. Mission accomplished.

PASSENGER DOOR LOCK FIX:

Next, I moved to addressing the issue of the passenger side door not unlocking with the fob. It would unlock with the key but not with the fob. This is what the interior door lock knob looks like when locked.

This is what the door lock knob looked like after I pushed the unlock button on the fob. 

The knob moved up considerably as you can see. I could hear the electric actuator working as the lock knob went up. It just did not raise the door lock knob high enough to unlock the door. A quick turn of the key and the door lock knob would go up another 1/4 inch and the door would unlock. 

I took the door panel off to investigate.  I worked the locking mechanism a number of times while looking for any areas where the rods may have been binding or for another cause of this problem. I initially thought the electric actuator may be weak and need to be replaced, but it seemed to push the rod its maximum length with no trouble. Sticking my head in the door best I could, I decided to just soak the entire lock mechanism inside the door with PB Blaster, which is a rust remover and lubricant. After about ten good squirts from various angles, and twenty locking and unlocking sequences, it appeared to me all was working as it should with the fob. The door unlocked each time. I put everything back together and crossed my fingers. If it didn't work any further fix was probably beyond my limited capacity to diagnose and repair. Once the door panel was reinstalled, I tried the fob several times and it unlocked and locked each time. Another mission accomplished. It will be interesting to seek how long this lubrication fix lasts.

NEXT TRIP:

We head out Monday for three separate trips:  

The first is a four-day RV club campout at Lincoln Trails State Park in Illinois. 

The second is a weekend of mooch camping in our friends' driveway in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

The third is a trip to Clear Water Campground in Ortonville, MI, to spend a week camping with our Michigan friends. 

Wi-Fi access will be limited so there will no blog until we return home.

July 31st - August 4th, 2023 - Midwest RV Club Rally - Topeka, Illinois

Well, grandpa's GPS got us to another rally and back home again.

This car compas came with Homer. I've kept it mounted on the dashboard as a nostalgic piece. Homer is a 1993 model. The compas reminds me of just how much technology has changed in the last 30 years. I also keep an Atlas in Homer (even older technology). In truth I relied on "Google Maps" to make the trip.

The "Midwest RV Summer Rally" was held at "Evening Star RV Resort" in Topeka, Illinois this past week. Last winter we met a couple at Adelaide Shores RV Park in Florida who were from Central Illinois and invited us to attend their summer rally as guests. So this week we did.

There were about twelve rigs and all the attendees were extremely friendly and welcoming. They all wear name tags all the time which really helped us with names. Through no fault of theirs, we were assigned a terrible site. Here are some pictures. Because of the neighbor's slide out, I literally had to shimmy out of the driver's door to get out. The sewer connection was at least ten feet in front of Homer. We were too far away to be able to hook up. This site was $50.00 per night! There were a lot of empty sites the next street over. I have no idea why they put us here, wedged in between a fifth wheel and a pickup truck. In the third picture you can see the white sewer pipe in front of Homer between the picnic table and the water connection. Our site didn't have a picnic table.

In addition to the site being the pits, setting up Homer for the week did not go well. Because of the distance to the water connection I had to attach a second water hose. No problem. I always have a second hose on board. I attached the cloth windup hose I have had for about ten years but rarely used.  Upon hooking it up it would not seal at the water bib. It needed a new washer. No big deal but I searched Homer and could not find one. (I'm in a learning curve as to where things are in Homer after spending months in Marge where I knew right where everything was stored.)  A neighbor was going to get me a new washer when I realized that I had another problem. This cloth hose had numerous pin holes in it and at the other end looked like a soaker hose in places. That wouldn't do. I took it off. Luckily, I also had an older white plastic hose. It was shorter and barely reached the water bib. Problem solved! Nope. This plastic hose leaked terribly at the crimped connection not under the washer. No amount of tightening would stop it. This hose was junk as well. Since I was now out of hoses, a club member immediately offered me a hose to use for the week. While all this was going on the group was sitting there watching me get my water hooked up like a rookie. Later that day I threw away the two old hoses and got online and ordered a new hose and a set of washers for next time.

Everyone arrived on Monday and the hosts provided pulled pork for a potluck supper in the campground's activities room. The room wasn't air conditioned, but the host brought a huge shop fan and that, along with the ceiling fans, made it tolerable and kept the flies at bay. The meal was great with lots of tasty desserts. Here is a picture of the building. Most people drove to it but it was an easy walk from our campsite.

The hosts provided breakfast each morning in the activities room. Donuts, coffee, and juice the first morning; eggs, biscuits and gravy, coffee, and juice, the second morning; and donuts, coffee, and juice the third morning. All were very good, even the coffee. (I'm particular about my coffee.) Everyone visited during and after breakfast. Breakfast was from 7:00 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. Too early for Kelly so she slept in each day. 

Lunch was on our own each day. On Tuesday we lined up at 1:00 p.m. and drove to the "Dickson Mounds Museum" a few miles away. The museum is operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resouces on the grounds where Indian mounds have existed for thousands of years. It was quite informative. It is a smaller version of the Cahokia Mounds near Cahokia, Illinois, which we have visited several times.

We didn't tow Bart to the rally so each day we rode to events with Linda and Dave, the couple who invited us.

After the museum visit we headed to "Babe's" in Havana for supper. Upon arriving back at the campground everyone sat around and visited until dark. There were fire pits, but it was much too warm to even think about a campfire.

At l:00 p.m. on Wednesday we drove to "The Jack Wolf Memorial Fish Hatchery". I talked Kelly into posing for a picture.

We have been to fish hatcheries before but none this large and diverse. They hatch about sixty varieties of fish from salmon to alligator gar. I always thought alligator gar were a trash fish and never imagined they were hatched and distributed in the rivers. We were told they are very important to the food chain because they eat a lot of dead fish and keep the populations of other fishes in check. Here is a picture of a tank of fingerlings. Note the minnows just lying in the bottom waiting to be eaten.

This hatchery is huge compared to other hatcheries we have visited. They purchase minnows for food by the ton in addition to feeding tons of fish feed. Here is a picture of the main tank room.

This facility uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of fresh water each day. Fresh, clean water is essential to raising fish so all tanks are cleaned every day. They do this by pulling the plug at the bottom of each tank and using brooms to push the fish poop and leftover feed down the drain. Fresh water automatically enters the tanks as they do this to keep them full. Sometimes a fish will go down the drain during this process. Interestingly a fish can then live in the pipes below. In the pipes there is plenty of fresh water, leftover food, etc. One time they had an issue with a pipe. The maintenance man was working on it when he saw a tail and pulled it out. It was a 12-pound trout that had been down in the pipes for seven years. The crew had a fish fry. 

Here is a picture of the tanks where they segregate the males and females for egg and sperm harvest. The process is all done by hand by manipulating each fish. I never thought about people doing this for a living before.

Once the eggs and sperm are harvested the two are mixed and put in trays called incubators. The water is the trays is closely regulated for temperature to get the eggs to hatch based on the species. Here is a picture of one tray. You can see the multitude of trays in the background.

Once the eggs hatch they are called "fry". The fry are then moved into cylinders called "McDonalds" (fries) (Get it?) where they grow until they are large enough to be put in the tanks.

We had a great tour guide. He was a biologist who truly loved his work at the hatchery.

After that tour we headed to "The Shed" for supper. It had been arranged for them to open early to accommodate us. The place was previously a "biker bar" but had been remodeled into a nice restaurant sort of in the middle of nowhere. The food menu was outstanding and the amount of food with each entree was huge. Kelly and I should have split a plate. (We always say that after we see the size of the meal.) We each ordered catfish nuggets. They were delicious but the amount was so large that we brought an entire plateful home. Once again back at the campground many sat around and visited. It was a good time for us to get to know people.

Thursday at 1:30 p.m. we headed for a tour of "O'Heirn Feed Lot" and "Nature's Grace and Wellness" marijuana growing facility. The owner has raised cattle all of his life and branched into marijuana production in 2015. Here he is telling us about this cattle feed lot operation (he has several others in Missouri and Illinois). It was the neatest, cleanest, well-maintained farm I had ever been on. One of his sons manages it.

This facility is licensed for 6,000 head. It was interesting to learn about the science of how to design the buildings for animal comfort, how they handle the waste, and how they feed and keep the animals healthy in confinement. His herds are 90% black angus. He buys the calves from out of state and feeds them out to about 1,500 lbs. They were a little leery of us and huddled in the back until we walked away. 

In 2015 he obtained a license to grow marijuana and process it on this farm. We next toured that facility. No pictures are allowed inside the facility but here is a picture of the outside of the facility taken from the corporate office building.

For us to enter the facility we each had to be cleared ahead of time by the Department of Agriculture. We had all submitted our names about two weeks ago for approval. The facility was expanded in 2018 and is absolutely huge. The marijuana is not only grown and harvested for smoking, but the majority of the operation is to reduce the marijuana to oil for various products and for infusion into candy bars, gummies, vaping, etc. In the picture above you can see a white fence on the left. This is an enclosed outside area where 16,000 plants are growing. They get about ten feet tall and are then fed into a woodchipper. The pulp that comes out is "cooked" into cannabis oil. In one room he showed us a gallon jar of crude cannabis oil. He said that jar was worth about $30,000. There was a wall of cabinets in that room full of these jars.

The tax on cannabis in Illinois is 36% and in Missouri 6%. He is only allowed to sell his product in Illinois. He has 80% of the infusion market in the State of Illinois. (He has obtained a Missouri license after suing Missouri over the licensing process.) His product can only be delivered to Illinois retailers by his employees. Two employees must deliver each shipment. He said this is crazy because pharmacies can send much stronger drugs through the mail to people. 

He clearly has tens of millions of dollars invested in this marijuana operation. In one room they were rolling joints by hand for sale in a "five pack". They recently purchased a rolling machine for a half of million dollars. It can roll so many joints so fast that it paid for itself in two months.

All employees must be cleared by the government and must change into pocketless scrubs before entering the facility. Interestingly, most of the employees are employed to keep the place clean. Any kind of mites or other contamination are disastrous. Only the employees actually attending the plants are allowed in the growing rooms. Once the plants are moved out of a growing room, before a new batch is moved in, the entire room floor to ceiling is scrubbed down with bleach. We had to have our shoes sprayed with alcohol before we entered the growing rooms. In the growing rooms the plants are kept under 24 hour per day light so that they do not produce flowers. The lights are very intense sodium lights. He said each light uses as much electricity as the average house. There were hundreds of them. I can't imagine his electric bill for these lights and the entire air-conditioned facility.

This is big business like I never imagined. I envisioned seeing some plants growing in pots and getting harvested for sale to roll joints. That is the smallest part of the business. Most of the product is CBD oil, infused products, and vaped products. They infuse candy bars, gummies, etc. I can't imagine how much money is invested in this operation and I can't imagine the profits. What a learning experience.

After the tour we headed back to their corporate offices for a catered meal of brisket, ribs, mini meatloaf, pulled pork, smashed potatoes, corn bread, mac and cheese, slaw, dessert, beer, water, and soda. It was all outstanding. We helped the hosts load up all the leftovers. Once back at the campground bags were provided for attendees to take whatever they wanted. I got some pulled pork, potatoes, and brisket. It will make a couple of nice lunches this week.

Friday everyone headed home on their own time schedule. This was our first rally with this club, and we hit a home run. It was forecast to rain several of the days, but it did not. The weather cooperated, the members were exceptionally welcoming, and the tours were most informative. Now we have to decide if we want to join the club.  Their next rally is in the Amana Colonies in September. We can't attend because it is the same week as the Carri-Yals RV Club Rally in Jefferson City, Missouri. If there wasn't a scheduling conflict we would go because it has been about ten years since we were there.

As with any RV trip there is something to fix on Homer. It is a minor "redo" of a prior "improvement" I made years ago. I'm in the process of making that modification and will save that for the next blog.