Day 1 in Vincennes

I got up to a cloudy morning, 64 degrees, with a rooster crowing and a train going by on the nearby track.  I didn't have an agenda for today, which was good since the rain kind of put a damper on things.  we went inside and visited for a while (Mike was at work), then headed into town for a late breakfast.  which got later because they were very slow -- not enough help, I think.  but it was good because we ran into an old classmate there, Faye Hess, and got to visit with her for a while.  when we left (still raining), we drove downtown along 2nd street.  they do have flowers here, both on Main street and on 2nd street.

we drove down to the river walk, looking for where the food trucks park on Monday nights.  I snapped a photo of vincennes' icon, the george rogers clark Memorial.  that is where Joe and I got engaged.

then we drove down 2nd street and came upon the farmers Market.  we stopped and walked through it, but they were putting the stuff up -- they had just closed down at 1:00.  we bought some tomatoes but will have to come back wednesday evening to see all their merchandise.    then we circled town and came back to Old 41, where they were putting in a campground when we were here 2 years ago.  It's called vincennes rv park.   It looks to be up and running now, although we never did see an office or campground host.  but we can make this work if Mike and rachelle kick us off their electricity.

then we drove down to decker and drove all 4 streets there.  the rain had slowed down, but not stopped.  we worked our way back through the country to the rv.  rachelle and Mallory had gone shopping, so we just hunkered down in the rv.  My bobe's pizza hadn't set too well with me last night, so we got in a little nap.  after Mike got home, we all went to town for dinner at Procopios, a pretty good Italian restaurant on 2nd street.  we drove down Main street on our way home (cruising Main was a thing back in the day, but no longer).  we did come upon a pickup pulling 2 wagon loads of cantaloupes on essex road.  we haven't had any local produce yet, but we will tomorrow.  dana is having us in for a cookout at 2:00 so we are expecting to get our first taste of local watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes, and maybe corn.

the rain finally quit about 4:00, and it warmed up into the 70s, but I took a sweater to dinner.  It's supposed to be 81 and sunny tomorrow.  that sounds good.  tomorrow night we are celebrating clayton's 17th birthday with dinner, probably at the Mexican restaurant.  so it will definitely be an eating day tomorrow.  

today is brenda's birthday, so Happy birthday to you, brenda Paulik.  
 

 

Moving on to Vincennes

 6-30-2021 - friday

today we left tennessee and arrived in Indiana.  we didn't try for an early start -- Mike said he was fixing us breakfast (bacon and scrambled eggs, with the sourdough bread he bought at the amish bakery), so that was certainly worth waiting for.  actually, we didn't have to wait -- he was up early and started fixing it as soon as we came in.  Meanwhile, Joe got the rv ready to travel, then ran up the road to Circle K for sodas for the road.  we got on the road just before 10:00 and headed toward Nashville.  we got another crack in the windshield on our way out of Mike's subdivision to the highway -- it's high on my side, but it looks like it could keep traveling, so we have to keep an eye on that.  Joe thought it was caused by a twist in the body of the rv rather than a rock, he heard the "pop" when it happened.

About 10 miles or so from Nashville, we came upon a series of 3 separate wrecks in about 1/4 mile -- looked like everyone was running into back end of each other.  I would guess there were 10-12 vehicles involved, none looked life-threatening, although we did see the ambulance screaming toward them as we got up the road a little further.  Our 4 lanes was cut down to 2 lanes, so we hit a bit of a back-up, but it kept moving so it didn't slow us down too much.  we got to Nashville about 11:00, to the briley bypass around it which took about 15 minutes -- no slow downs on it -- and headed on to Kentucky.  we crossed the state line into Kentucky about an hour later (noon).  Our lunch stop at cracker barrel took an hour -- slow stop, not enough help I guess -- and fueled in Henderson before we crossed into Indiana where the price of gas is always the highest.  we paid $2.879 but it had been cheaper in tennessee (Indiana was $3.039).  

however, we did make another stop, in Indiana, to dump our tanks, so we would go into Mike and rachelle's with empty tanks.  as we came past Patoka, we saw a watermelon bus waiting at the stop sign, full of ripe watermelons.  

we got to Mike's about 4:20/5:20 (another time zone change, we lost an hour today).  I didn't take any pictures, but I did see one belted belgium cow.  I texted Mike Mcrae (he's likes to keep up with the belted cows), and he texted back "STOP STOP STOP."  

rachelle was waiting for us on the swing on the carport, then slowly Karson and Mallory came out of the house to say hello.  clayton was running around on a dirt bike somewhere, but he eventually showed up, shortly after Mike got home from work.  we ended up at  Bobe's Pizza (on Main street) for dinner -- one of our "must" stops when we come home.  after dinner, we stopped by barbara Holscher's for a short visit, then back to the rv and to bed.  

the temperature stayed in the 80s today, and I think it came down a few degrees as we came north.  Our drive was 273 miles.  tomorrow's forecast is a high of 72 and a chance of rain all day.  that will be welcome (at least the temperature).  Indiana is looking good, lots of green, crops look healthy, river was in its bank, and we haven't gotten railroaded yet.  we will probably be here for 10 days or so, no definite exit date set yet.  Nor is our next destination established yet.  Looking for someplace cool.

thursday at Mike and Nancy's

 7-29-2021 - thursday

today is our last day here, so we had a little work to do.  I started our laundry as soon as I got up, then Joe got up and wanted to take everyone to waffle house for breakfast, so we did that, and stopped at a couple yard sales (no one bought anything).  when we got back, I finished my laundry (we had to make a quick trip back home between breakfast and yard sales to turn off the dryer, Nancy's timer doesn't work and it just runs until you open the door, and I forgot to stop it before we left the house).  Joe then replaced the hose on the rv that he had to fix at our last stop -- he just didn't trust it to get us home, and this was the best place to work on it if he had to.  but that was a quick fix with the right parts.  I got the laundry put away and vacuumed, so we are good to go tomorrow.  

at the waffle house, there was a painted rock on the counter that caught Joe's attention.

ashleigh and Jonathan are getting married sept. 9, and the other day Nancy showed me the dress brooklyn is going to wear in the wedding.  so I asked Nancy if she would have brooklyn try the dress on for me so I could get a picture.  It is a beautiful dress, and brooklyn looked beautiful in it.

the back of the dress is really pretty too.
  

Jonathan got back from his run to Michigan today and they came over for dinner and to play cards.  so this is our last supper -- Mike says Jonathan is not in the family yet, so he gets to sit at the bar.

Joe got to play with brooklyn while we cleaned up the dishes -- something about high-five, bumping knuckles and rubbing heads.  she is such a cutie!

Jonathan came in from the garage and told me there were deer across the road, so Nancy, brooklyn and I all ran out.  brooklyn says, "I want them.  I want to catch them." Nancy told her they would run, but she ran in the garage and grabbed her butterfly net, then ran down the driveway until Nancy told her to stop before she got to the road.

You can barely see the deer at the edge of the woods.

but here are the 3 deer we saw.

we had our 6-handed card game, with much noise and many interruptions.  then it was time to say our goodbyes to Jonathan, ashleigh and brooklyn.  and take a few pictures.

after they left, we finished the 4-handed game we started last night, then called it a night.  everyone was tired,  I tried to check around to make sure we had everything since we are leaving in the morning.  we've had a great time here, and we've had a lot of fun with Mike and Nancy.  I told Jonathan the other night that there was 105 years of marriage sitting at the table, so he and ashleigh should pay attention to what we say.   I'm sure they will take note of all our advice.  

It was 91 today, plenty warm and humid.  but tomorrow the high in vincennes is forecast at 82, and on saturday it's only supposed to be 73, with a 60% chance of rain.  so things are looking up!!!  VINCENNES, HERE WE COME.

Wednesday at Mike and Nancy's

 7-28-2021 - wednesday

today's adventure was a trip to the amish bakery in Morrison, so after Mike's biscuits and gravy breakfast, we headed out through the country over to the bakery.  I was on the lookout for horse and buggies because I always enjoy seeing them when we are in Amish country, and we came upon one, but I didn't get a very good picture.  but soon after, we saw draft horses in a field pulling a plow or something (I love draft horses).

and across the road, we saw these -- this looks like 2 draft horses and maybe 2 regular horses, or maybe a mule.

at the four corners bakery, the parking lot was pretty full,

including one horse and buggy.  Mike got some sourdough bread, and we picked up a few other items, and Joe and I sampled their ice cream.

we drove past here back past a property where they build amish furniture (they had some on the porch but we didn't get out), then we stopped at one of their produce places and bought some (wonderful) corn on the cob, excellent tomatoes, and some zucchini.  then Mike drove us on through the country, we were in the Morrison area, then on to the McMinnville area.  Here, there is a famous "birthing tree," possibly 250 years old.  It has a crown spread of 125 feet and limbs larger than most trees -- some touch the ground.  although Mike said the Indians used to come here to give birth, the sign says it was a local landmark for settlers passing through the area, a well-known meeting place for these travelers.  

the sign said no one was allowed to touch the tree, but it sure is one you would like to sit on, and kids climb on.

Another point of interest was Falcon rest Mansion and gardens, a victorian mansion built in 1896 by entrepreneur clay faulkner for his wife.  It is a 10,000 square foot, solid brick mansion with all the conveniences of the day (electric lights, plumbing, central heat, etc.)  we went into the gift shop/tea room and looked around, but tickets for the tour were $15 per person, and none of us were interested enough to want to pay that, and walk around any building in this heat so we did not actually tour it.  we caught glimpses through the trees.

McMinnville is known as the nursing (landscape) capital of the world, and we saw several nurseries, hothouses, and orchards of evergreens.  I asked Mike if there was a particular area of the nurseries, but he said they were just scattered around the community.

we got back to the house, hot and tired.  ashleigh and brooklyn were there, but they were tired too, so we all got a little nap in.  after dinner, we sat outside a little, it had actually cooled down and was comfortable.  then after ashleigh took brooklyn home, we played cards again.  we finished one game and started a second one, but quit mid-way when we got tired, to finish tomorrow.  the girls barely won the first one, so I think Mike felt like the guys had some momentum going for the second game.  we will see tomorrow!

Tuesday at Mike and Nancy's

 7-27-2021 - Tuesday

Mike had run over and got a box of donuts this morning, so when we came into the house, that was a nice surprise.  Today's adventure was a trip to their new Costco in Murfreesboro, a very nice store.  They were comparing it to Sam's Club, where they already have a membership.  They bought a few things, and filled up with gas for $2.559.  They haven't decided about membership.  We had their hot dog and soda for lunch though, for $1.50, so that may clinch the deal.

Mike drove us home via the scenic route, through the countryside and past some very nice homes.  This is pretty country.  No wildlife sightings, though.

Meanwhile, Ashleigh was picking up her and Jonathan's new truck -- actually, it's Jonathan's new truck.  Costco wore Mike out, so when we got home, we had a little rest.  Ashleigh and Brooklyn were here with the new truck when we got up.  Wow, it's an eye-catcher!  Jonathan, a truckdriver, is in Michigan right now, so he's not here to drive it.  It's a 2010 F250 diesel, with a 6" lift.

With Ashley's help, Nancy got into the passenger seat.  It may be the only time Nancy ever gets in it.

Then we went around back to the back patio for a little while, but it was pretty hot so that didn't last too long.  Brooklyn wanted to swing, so I pushed her until she got tired of that (higher, higher).

She really wanted someone to fill up the bird bath, but she couldn't get Grandpa to move.

And it's not like he was too busy!

Mike and Nancy decided to go out for Italian for dinner, but when we got there, it was closed for vacation, so we ended up at the little buffet near their house.  Then it was back to the house to play cards for a while.  We also got to play with Brooklyn.  Joe and Nancy partnered up tonight, and Ashleigh was my partner.  We won the first 3 hands, but Nancy and Joe caught us before we got into our foot on the last hand and beat us.  Joe had come to the conclusion that it was solely his fault that he and his teammate always lost, so it was probably time for him to win.

Mike is fixing biscuits and gravy for breakfast in the morning, so we are not going hungry here, by any means.  And it's fun playing cards -- that's something we haven't gotten to do very much since the pandemic began.  Of course, they have a lot of different rules than we are used to (Nellie's rules), so we have some controversy from time to time.  But it's a good time.

Monday at Mike and Nancy's

7-16-2021 - Monday

After a morning start visiting in the garage until everyone was up, Mike fixed breakfast and we got our day started. Joe's new hose arrived by Prime on schedule, so now he has to decide whether to go ahead and replace it here or just keep it with us and go with his makeshift one until it breaks or we get home.  This truck is on the street right in front of their house, and they often see deer in the woods behind it, and in the yard beside it.  I saw one yesterday (little fawn) and one today.  Mike says they sometimes see up to 6, playing in the open grass over there.

Their daughter, Lisa, and 17-year-old grandson, David, live with Mike and Nancy.  We didn't see much of David yesterday (my, has he grown up since our last visit!), but we did see him briefly this morning before he went to work at Dominos Pizza, and he filled in at cards when he got home from work.

We went into Tullahoma today -- Mike has a leak in the bed cover on his pick-up that he wanted to see about getting fixed -- and we went to a book store and picked up a few more books.  If it's not rocks, it's books.  This town has small aircraft (scale-model F-16s) placed all around, in honor of Arnold Air Force Base nearby.  This was a project to brand Tullahoma as an aerospace center which was started in 2013.  They had a total of 49 of these jets ready to place around town, mostly at major intersections.  Local children painted the planes.  I didn't think to take pictures, but if we are back in this town, I will try to get a few.  

We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant -- not many restaurants open in Tullahoma on Mondays -- and then went back to the house.  We had a little thunderstorm go through, and were under a thunderstorm watch later in the evening.  Most of that went around us, but they did get a little rain, and the temperature stayed decent all day.

We played cards again this evening.  The girls are on a winning streak.  Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the new Costco that opened in Murfreesboro.  They have membership at Sam's Club but want to check out Costco and see if it's worth membership there.  Murfreesboro is 33 miles away, so it's not someplace they would go all the time.

Tomorrow's forecast is 90, with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon.  I guess it's just that time of year here.  Vincennes temperature is just about the same, so it looks like we are not getting much cooler yet.  

 

Arriving at Mike and Nancy's

7-25-2021 - Sunday

We got a better start this morning, hitting the road at 9:10.  We had a pretty drive, through the hilly part of Alabama, and even up a mountain.  Our transition to highway 72 from highway 79 was a little dicey, we actually turned the wrong way (of course), but had to make double u-turns to get headed back in the right direction.  It would have been a good intersection for a round-about!

But the best part was around Lake Guntersville, and the Tennessee River.  This was along highways 431 and 79.  The fingers of the lake and river kept coming back to the highway, many times our road just went between big bodies of water.  

We see a lot of blooming trees and bushes in this part of the country, this one we really liked, but I haven't found out the name yet.

We crossed the Tennessee state line at 12:50, and shortly thereafter we got up on I-24 and made our way to Manchester.  We arrived about 2:00, a drive of 175 miles today.  Mike and Nancy had all the cars moved out of the way so we could pull right in beside the garage and hook up to their new 50 amp plug-in they put in for us (and other reasons too).  Ashleigh dropped by with dinner and Brooklyn, then had to drive to Murfreesboro to pick up Jonathan.  

Here's our little cutie.  She turns 3 in about 3 weeks.

Ashleigh and Jonathan arrived and we visited with them a little, then went in for dinner.  And then it was time to play Hand & Foot.  Ashley is getting the cards shuffled.  The girls got off to a slow start but ended up beating the guys.

After we finished the card game, Jonathan, Ashleigh and Brooklyn went home, and we called it a night.  A thunderstorm threatened but never got here -- apparently it went around them.  

The RV ran fine today.  We have had a "check engine" light on for a long time, but it seems like Joe fixing that hose fixed that as well,  yeah!  Our new philosophy is:  don't touch anything we don't have to."  Maybe we can finish the trip without anything else breaking.  

We will have a few days of rest here, and some more card games.  This is pretty country, so I'm sure we will do some driving around.  Mike mentioned an Amish bakery he likes, so we want to check that out.  Right now, the forecast has rain tomorrow, but then several days of sunshine.  Temperature in the 90s though, so it will be plenty warm.  Apparently, we are missing out on a lot of rain they are getting at home, so that is good news.  Our neighbor sent me a picture of our back yard, with puddles, and her wash with water in it (for the first time).  We haven't seen either of those things for a long time.  Rain in Arizona is always good news.

 

Leaving Florida

 7-24-2021 - Saturday

After Joe finished his work on the hose last night, and he got in bed, he remembered that there was a spring he needed to put back on, so that was his first job this morning.  Of course, the spring disappeared overnight.  He looked through all his toolboxes, all over the floor, under the seats.  So off we went to Lowes.  He got that put back on, but it got us off to a late start.  By the time we got ready to head out, it was 11:10 (check-out time was 11:30).  But the RV seems to be running, and idling, fine, so his work was a success.

The temperature was a little cooler this morning, after last night's shower, but the humidity was high.  I'm really tired of my glasses fogging up every time I get out of the Jeep.  We crossed the state line into Alabama about 11:50, headed to Dothan, Alabama -- where the National Peanut Festival is held every year.  We passed the grounds for that.  Dothan was much larger than Joe remembered from his trucking days.

We fueled on the outskirts of Montgomery ($2.793), and headed to Talladega, where we are going to camp tonight.  We had a few rain showers again today, mostly in the last hour or so of driving and arrived at our campground at 4:40.  We came upon a gas station that had several cars parked right along the road, and wondered what was going on.  Then we saw this guy carrying a snake -- about 4 ft. long -- across the parking lot  We didn't stop. Our camp site is a bit unlevel, but Joe made it work, and then we headed into Talladega for dinner.  

Then we drove up to Talladega Superspeedway, which is actually just outside of Lincoln, not Talladega.  The gates were all closed, but we could see the stands, and the curve of the track.

The stands have lots of color, looks like they are full of fans.  We couldn't tell if they are cardboard cutouts or just painted that way.  There is a Hall of Fame here too, but that too was behind closed gates.

We drove the sideroad past some of the parking/camping lots, and along the backside of the track.  Then down some backroads.  We did come upon two deer.  And ended up back almost where we started.  So we drove past our campground again, and into Lincoln, which wasn't much of a town, unless we missed the town.  I think we head out this way tomorrow.  

Our drive today was 228 miles, slow miles, and our late start kept us on the road past our normal time.  We hope to get to bed early tonight and sleep better than we did last night.  The plan tomorrow is to arrive at Mike and Nancy's in Manchester, Tennessee and spend a few days with them.  We are finally moving north!