Who Would Have Thought a Fish Would Be So Important?

One of the things that Cindy and I did not want to do is lose time that we spent with our grandkids.  We  felt that our travels would take away some of that time, and to an extent , it did.  The flip side of that coin is that the time we spend with our kids and grandkids is more precious than ever, and it was very precious before so that makes it more than golden now. 
I have eluded to the fact that many times in the past I was not there for my kids when I should have been but it seems that my sons and I have grown closer together over the past few years.  While we were out on our previous trip, my oldest son contacted me and asked if I would be interested in going on a float trip with him and my grandson.  I was elated to say the least.  It warms my heart so much when my kids include me in their plans.  Cindy and I got back on June 7 and the float trip was to begin on the 10th.  Cindy elected to stay with the granddaughters for this one so it was just us guys on a float trip with our friends from our church.
We didn't have to go very far, about 120 miles or so to get to the campground. We arrived, second ones to show up and the only ones to have luxury accommodations and not a tent. I proceeded to get set up and Franklin and Ollie went about checking out the river and other things of interest. 
One of the first things my brother, (who's advice I extremely value), told me to get was a surge protector for Matilda, not a cheap one but a good one that would warn me of possible electrical problems before they became my problems.  I must say that his advice really paid off for this campground.  I made my electrical hookup and the warning came across my protector that the polarity was reversed.  I made an attempt to get the campground to correct this but they insisted it would not effect anything.  I have spent enough years dealing with electricity and electronics to know this was not the case, so, when they weren't cooperative, I fixed the problem. 

I finished setting us up and Franklin started preparing our evening meal.  We enjoyed fresh burgers and had a good time just talking and enjoying being together as a family. 
Ollie had been wanting to go fishing since we had arrived so we prepared a rod for him and set it up from an old tackle kit that had been in the garage for about ten years.  I had bought it many years ago and just never had time to use it, the entire thing was still sealed in the package.  We figured that Ollie would be content just putting a hook in the water, we really (me mainly) didn't think that the old tackle would catch any thing but his attention.  We (me) were wrong!  Franklin taught him to cast and he got really good at it real quick.  I was going about finishing up my set up and Franklin was playing his guitar when Ollie began shouting "I got one! I got one!"  I really just figured he had snagged a branch or something but he really had a fish on his line!  His first ever catch was a crappie that was about palm size.  We kept it long enough to get a picture then released it back into the river. 

Franklin preparing dinner



The champion fisherman and his first ever catch!



The fish didn't  stand a chance now!
 

We had a fantastic time with our friends from church and went out on the SAC river the next day.  Ollie was out of the canoe every time it stopped.  He couldn't get enough of the water and we all had a blast floating down the river. 
We finished the 5 and 1/2 mile float late in the afternoon and headed back to camp. Ollie was intent to solidify his claim as master angler so while all the adults were re-cooperating, he went back to his fishing spot and proceeded to catch yet another fish!  He was the only one to catch any fish that weekend and I am proud to say that I was there.  This was a time that we all would remember. 
I close with this  simple thought, time with family is the most important time you can spend, those are the moments that are more precious than gold!

This Ain't Radiator Springs!

It was the morning of May 26th.  We had planned on starting our life of travel on May 21st.  Reality had stepped in and our timeline had to be adjusted.  We had got moved from the house and were living in Matilda in the front yard so that we could get things cleaned up and ready for the new tenants.  During the chaos of getting moved out, Cindy's mom passed away in Lebanon, Missouri so we added one more task to our schedule of thing to get done before we could begin our life of adventure. 
My current plan was to be ready to go on this Thursday morning, drive to Tennessee and get mom's deck built so that we could sit back and relax a bit before heading on to southern Mississippi to visit with my aunt and meet up with my brother and his fantastic spouse.  I woke up to yet another day of rain and found myself with even more to do before we could depart.  I had trailered a skid steer over to the house to help the owner with some drainage work and still had to get it back to the shop before we could leave.  I spent several hours hunting down a trailer to haul it with, finally succeeding about noon.  I transported the skid steer back where it belonged and went back to the house where Brutus, Matilda, Cindy, Dozer and Ginger were all sitting, patiently waiting to see what would be next.

Just a small view of the major drainage excavation at the old house.

 

Finally, about 4 pm, I decided we were heading out. 

Very happy to finally begin our journey!

My co-pilot and seat mate, Dozer

Cindy's seat mate,Ginger

I maneuvered  Brutus under Matilda proceeded to make the connections so that we could embark on the beginning of our new life journey.  I got all connected, went inside to slide the glide in, pushed the button and nothing....no noise, no movement, nothing.  I didn't really want to stand out in the rain and do an electrical diagnosis so I manually activated the room to its closed position, locked it into place and we headed down the road. 

Now, for those of you that aren't in the Kansas City area, it had rained almost every day for two weeks, and today was no exception!  We drove down the road in and out of rain and winds for several hours.  I decided that we were going to stop for the night and wanted to make the stop at a campground.  I had already researched the campgrounds along my route and selected one in Mountain Grove, Missouri, one I had ridden past several times on my motorcycle and one that I had told myself many time that it would be a nice place to camp at sometime.  This would be our very first campground experience in our rig! 

We arrived at Ozark Mountain Springs RV Park and Cabins at about 10 PM.  I have to say that if the staff and accommodations of this campground are indicative of how things are going to be in the future, then things are going to be fantastic!  We were greeted by the most friendly staff that anyone could ask for and we were treated like it was normal check in time and not like we were a burden arriving at some late hour.  They led us to our site and offered any help we might need. 
Now remember, I had manually closed the glide out and really had no idea what was wrong with it other than there was no power.  I pulled into our site, leveled out Matilda, and  now, in my normal, patient and concerned way, proceeded to diagnose the problem so that we could all go to sleep!  I found the culprit in just a few minutes ( I had been  diagnosing theories in my head since we left Kansas City) and found a circuit breaker that some dummy (no names here but let's just say Frank did it) had broken apart because of the way items had been placed in the forward storage area.  Well, I didn't have a spare so I Macgyvered it with my pocket knife and the room slid out into it's living position.  I decided that I just as well do a full set up, to get the hang of it, so I put in all the stabilizers and made all the connections and did it all right.  I finished getting all set up in a fair amount of time and went inside to get some much needed rest.  Cindy, Dozer and Ginger were already asleep.

Now, my intentions were to rise early  and get an early start.  Cindy reminded me that one of the reasons we were entering this new lifestyle was to relax and not be on a schedule, so being the smart individual that I am, I listened to her advice and we had some coffee and fresh muffins provided by the campground.  We took our time getting ready to leave and I broke down the rig, double checked to make sure I had done it correctly and we set off for Tennessee about 1030 in the morning.
We encountered some really severe storms along the way and at one point I pulled off the road into a parking lot because the winds and rains were so bad that I couldn't see the end of the hood on Brutus.  I might add that Cindy again reminded me that we were not on a time schedule and stopping would be OK. 

We made it  to Mom's safe and sound and I proceeded to set up home for the next few days.  We spent Memorial Weekend at Mom's and I fixed her deck for her and did some other repair jobs around her house for her.  Monday we went to dad's grave and in reverence memory shared some time with him.

 
Just down the road from the cemetery was a body shop, in Parsons, Tennessee and that is where I was able to get a picture of Lightning McQueen and Mater.  I would love to hear the story of theses two and how they came to be in Parsons.

Mater and Lightning McQueen

We left Tennessee Tuesday morning, this time I had only suggested a departure time, which I am proud to say, we missed.  We headed on for south Mississippi and my aunt's house.  We arrived safely and got set up in the same spot where Matilda made her first camp with us last year.  I had the slide thing figured out so I wasn't really expecting any difficulties or anything that I would have to fix and was looking forward to just relaxing.  Well, Brutus had decided that he was going to blow power steering fluid out so I had to replace a pressure hose for the power steering.  This was not a big repair but a very necessary one. 
We settled in to our new surroundings that would be home for the next week or so.  Surprisingly, the dogs had adapted to the moving lifestyle as had Cindy and I.  With each passing day I can just feel myself learning to relax and Cindy and I have become closer to each other.  Being in smaller quarters will either make you closer or let you know there are some issues that need to be resolved, we are fortunate that after over 38 years, we became closer.
I'm going to end this post for  now, I hear one of the chairs on the porch calling my name.  I am looking forward to seeing my brother and his lovely wife this upcoming weekend.  It will be a short visit but any time with my brother is valued time for me.  I hope you follow along with us because I definitely feel this is going to be a real fun adventure!