Monday, Sept 21

When I left you last, we were still in Elkhart, and on Monday morning, we moved from where we were, to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen for a couple of more days so we could go to the Shipshewana Flea Market. We called up Jerry & Nancy to tell them we were still around and would they like to go on Tuesday to the flea market. Of course, they did, so we made plans to meet them.

You know, I don't remember that flea market being so commercial, but, then, it was back in 1993 when we were there last. Going there this time was like being at the one in Yuma, so guess it's not as interesting anymore as it once was. But, it was nice walking around with the Hurleys and we went to lunch when our feet couldn't take it anymore.

We finally left the area on Wednesday and headed towards Blue Grass, IA, which is just outside of Davenport. Our Boomer friends, Jerry & Sue Little have a house there that sits on four acres. They did a wonderful job building their house and we had a great two days visiting them. They even took us to a wonderful Mexican restaurant that had really good food.

On Friday, while they left to visit their cousins in Michigan, we left to head for Coffeyville, KS, to visit another Boomer couple, Jack & Jeanne Albers, who are working for Amazon.com to help them with the holiday rush. Now, I thought we were just going to take our time getting down there, but, all of a sudden, Ron is in a hurry to get there and in fact, wants to get there that day. Okay, we're in the southeastern portion of Iowa and we're looking at driving through the whole state of Missouri, plus almost the whole state of Kansas because Coffeyville is almost at the border of Kansas & Oklahoma. Would you believe we left at 7am that morning and arrived there at 8:30 after driving 555 miles!!! As you can imagine, we were dead....on top of that, it turns out that they had to work half day on Saturday because last they heard, we weren't coming until next month!! Ron hadn't even called to tell them we were coming early...oh well, since they had to work, that meant I could sleep in and then veg out until they came home.

We went out to lunch at another fine Mexican restaurant and then came back to play cards and visit. On Sunday, after Jeanne fed us a delicious brunch, we went sightseeing up near Independence, where Laura Ingalls and her family first lived after leaving Wisconsin and where the basis of her books originated. When we got there, Ron discovered that he left the camera at the rig, so had to rely on Jeanne to take the pictures. I have to wait until Wed before I get those pictures, so will post them then. After seeing the old cabin and other buildings, we went to the town of Independence and played in the park that had a 25 cent train ride, a carousel and then went to the free zoo. I even slid down some great metal slides, boy, were they hot!! It was the hottest place we'd been all summer with a humidity to boot. Finally, we headed home to veg out in their air conditioning, get dinner ready and play some more cards.

Since Jack & Jeanne had to go back to work really early this morning, we said our goodbyes last night and got on the road again headed towards Linden, TX. We have some bus friends who live there and since we're attending a bus rally in mid October, we can visit with them and another bus member couple who live in Marietta, OK. We decided after our marathon drive, we'd take our time and take two days to get there. Tonight, we find ourselves in a Corps of Engineer's park, Pine Creek Lake in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma and our site looks right onto the lake. Paying only $6.50 for the night, it is a great bargain.

Ron mentioned to me today that next year, when we again head east, we ARE going to have two air conditioners on the top of the rig. No kidding, I tried to tell him that before we headed out this year. He says he could take the heat when he was younger, but, not now. (hmmm...I never could)...but, it took him to experience the uncomfortableness for him to do something about it. I should take over driving the bus, and he can sit in my seat with nothing to put his feet on but the dash and see how long it takes him to do something about it...:).

As you can see, I haven't posted any pictures and it's only because we are on a very slow connection. In the next couple of nights, I should be in a better area, hopefully, and will post more pictures from our time in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and here in Oklahoma. So, check back in a few days...