Friday at Croxtons

8-20-2021 Friday - Happy Birthday Collins

I finally fixed a meal in the RV again, we had breakfast before going into Kendallville for a Walmart stop and a soda.  Driving through town, which is a pretty, clean, little town, we came across this pretty flower garden outside the park.

Then we headed to Ft. Wayne on a backroad (old hwy 3), which took us through Avilla and Huntertown.  Along the way, as we approached an underpass, we were greeted  by a doe and 2 fawns, who stopped to pose for me.  I was in the middle of sending a text to Cathy, so it took me a while to get my phone switched to camera and all that, but they waited me out.

Xaviar stopped by in the afternoon so we got to visit with him a little.  He starts classes next week as a Junior at University of Saint Francis, here in Ft. Wayne, and is in the middle of baseball practice right now.  Last year's baseball season was messed up by covid, of course, and he didn't get as much playing time as he hoped, but is hoping for a better season this year.

We sat around and visited for a while, Lori came back over with Eevee.

Our dinner plan was pizza at Clara's, which was a new experience for us.  They seated upstairs, unfortunately, but there are phones at each table and you just call in your order.  And the pizza was good!

Lori's son, Daniel, and his fiancee Kelsey (owner of Eevee), joined us after photos, but I got them back at the house.  Kelsey just placed as third runner-up at the Indiana Miss America Pageant.  We hadn't seen Daniel for a few years.  They are getting married October 9, coming up soon.

And I got a glamour shot of Paul, posing for Vanity Fair, or something.  There were several ideas thrown out for photo props but that didn't happen.

We finished our night with Mexican Train again.  Great fun, lots of laughs.  I keep forgetting to take a picture of this exciting event -- tonight will be my last chance.

We need to do a few chores today to get ready to move on tomorrow.  We have had a good time here in Ft. Wayne, got to see lots of family, and the weather, although a little warm, has not been bad -- at least no tornadoes!

Windmill Museum

8-19-2021 - Thursday

We changed things up a little today.  Instead of us going to Dixie's, the Croxtons drove to Kendallville to meet us for lunch.  Cathy had a zoom meeting this morning, so breakfast didn't work, so we met for a Mexican brunch/lunch, which was good.

Then we stopped to visit Paul's best friend from high school, who has changed jobs recently and now works in Kendallville.  Next up, we swung through our campground and gave Paul a tour of our RV, then stopped at the Windmill Museum right next door to our campground.  We didn't walk the windmills, but we got a good look from the cars, then we went inside to the gift shop.   Joe and I had visited here a couple years ago and walked through them -- they each have plaques stating where they came from, what kind of a windmill it is, the manufacturer, etc.  Pretty interesting.

From there, we headed back to Ft. Wayne.  Dixie had some errands to run, so we didn't get our Mexican Train game started until almost 6:00, but it went fast, so we played 2 whole games.  Lori stopped by with the dog she is babysitting, Eevee, and Dixie fixed dinner -- she thawed out some fricassee, and added cheese and crackers.  That's about as good as it gets at Dixie's, when she retired from nursing, she also retired for cooking.  

Another late night driving back to Kendallville, but Joe has that down pat now.  Our time here is getting short, and we are still discussing our next destination.  We have had milder temperatures, mid-80s, but it's starting to get a little warmer every day so time to move North, I think.

Another Day with the Croxtons

 8-18-2021  Wednesday

Today was just a visiting day.  We ran into Kendallville for a late breakfast (11:30), then headed back to Ft. Wayne.  Just as we got into town, Dixie texted that we were going for a late lunch with Jim's newly found half-sister and her husband, at 1:30.  We were still digesting breakfast, so we just ordered dessert.  I'm not sure what kind of logic that was, but Joe had a piece of 6-layer chocolate cake, and I had a piece of New York cheesecake.  No more meals today, although we did have some cheese and crackers during our domino game.

Lunch at Casa Ristorante was entertaining, our first chance to meet these new family members.  That consumed about 2 hours.  Faye and Mike live in Sun City West (Arizona) so we might cross paths with them again in the future.

I took the laundry to Dixie's so I got that worked in during our game of Mexican Train.  We had a good time, laughed a lot, Dixie was the big winner.  I should have taken a picture but I forgot -- I imagine I will have another chance before we all leave on Sunday.

Joe had an interesting encounter at the gas station today.  A lady pulled in at the next pump, desperately needing gas.  The building was locked up, but Joe used his credit card and filled up the Jeep.  The lady only had cash, but there was no way to put it in the gas pump, so she asked Joe if she could give him $10, and would he put $10 worth of gas on his credit card.  He did it -- I sure hope that wasn't some kind of a scam.  She said she didn't have enough gas to go to another station.  He used the credit card himself and stayed there until the pump shut off, so hopefully it was just a Good Samaritan act.

Another pretty nice day, a little warmer but not too bad, and no rain.  My Facebook account got hacked today, so my tech guru, Paul, took care of getting my phone straightened back out.  I'm sorry for everyone on my contact list -- I think they all got a message from me that I didn't send.

Still discussing where we go next -- no decision yet.
  

Visiting the Croxtons

 8-17-2021 Tuesday

We survived the night with our guest, Cathy, on the sofa. Joe told her yesterday that he didn't think we had a passenger ride with us since we took Lucille home in it several years ago. We all got up about 8:00, had our coffee, and went into Kendallville for breakfast.  There are several "daisies" on trees around the park, so I took a picture for Joe to use as a template at home.  The only problem is that we don't have many trees to mount them on.

 After we loaded up the jeep back at the campground, we headed back to the Croxtons in Ft. Wayne.  Jim, Paul, and Lori were all sitting on the back patio, and Dixie was just getting up. Everyone was surprised and happy to see Cathy (Joe and I were expected, but Cathy wasn't).  We visited for several hours, then it was time to go find some lunch.  No trip to Ft. Wayne is complete without a stop at Coney Island, so that's where we headed.  It was yummy, as usual.

Joe had to back into the men's restroom doorway to get the picture, so Paul got a picture of him taking the picture of us.

It was one of those things -- you had to be there to appreciate it.  Anyway, we headed back to their house, and my technical support gurus, Cathy and Paul, started working on my keyboard problem.  Cathy had brought tools (magnifying glass and German tweezers) and told Paul about the U-tube video she had watched, and they collaborated on the problem for an hour or two.  They successfully got the shift key back in place, but it still doesn't work.  Maybe after some hours of use, it will start capitalizing my letters again.  Meanwhile, I am going to have to go back over my text and fix them all.

I had brought shredded beef and peppercinis for Italian beef sandwiches for dinner, and some corn on the cob. Dixie also had some corn on the cob, so we put together dinner.  Everything was good, including local cantaloupe, peaches and tomatoes.  After we cleaned up the dishes, Joe decided he would like to get back to the RV before dark, so we headed back to Kendallville.  We got in about 8:30, and were ready for an early evening.  

Tomorrow we will head back to the Croxtons.  No definite plans except a game of Mexican Train, since we bailed on that tonight.  We had a nice, cloudy day today; the sun finally popped out about 5:00.  We have a chance of rain here tomorrow afternoon, so we will see if that materializes.  If it keeps the temperature down, I am ok with that.

Arriving Ft. Wayne

8-16-2021 - Monday -- RIP Elvis 

We are leaving here this morning, so we had a few chores to take care of.  After filling up with water (we didn’t have water at the site but Joe only had to back up a few yards to a water faucet) and dumping, we got on the road about 10:35.  We have a passenger with us on this trip — Cathy decided to ride up to Ft. Wayne with us and surprise her parents so Joe M brought her out to meet us at the campground -- and we were on our way.

I told her there were lots of responsibilities in the co-pilot seat.  Mapping (she is better at this than I am), keeping the GPS facing Joe so he can read it, watching the road when he isn't, saying "whoa whoa whoa" when he is about to run a stoplight, etc.  She performed admirably, she's hired. We crossed another of the Columbus architectural bridges as we made our way over to highway 9.  

I also told them both that if they saw things of interest, give me a heads-up since I'm not in the co-pilot seat, but all Joe kept pointing out was Circle K stores.  Obviously, he had his daily Diet Coke on his mind.

It took about all day to get to Ft. Wayne. Joe F and Cathy had looked at the map and figured out a route to bypass Indianapolis since there is so much road construction in that area. So we went to Columbus, then on over to hwy 9. Well, not only is there more road construction over there, it came with detours, so we were on and off hwy 9 several times. Finally around Pendleton, we cut over to I 69 and made better time. We arrived at our campground just before 5:00.  We drove 232 miles and it took us 6 1/2 hours.  We did have a fairly long lunch break at Cracker Barrel, but it was a slow trip.  However, since Joe had a new co-pilot, I got to take a short nap on the couch on the I-69 stretch.

We have stayed at this campground (Bixler Lake campground) once before and knew

it was nice.  The only campground in Ft. Wayne, Johnny Appleseed, did not have anything available, so we are about 30 miles north of Ft. Wayne, the best we could do.  We fueled in Shelbyville for $3.189, the price of gas just keeps going up.

 It was cloudy all day, which made for pleasant driving.  We are here until Sunday, so we should get in some quality visiting time with Jim, Dixie, and Paul, not to mention more time with Cathy.  Good times ahead. 

Last Day in Bloomington

 8-15-2021 - Sunday

Before we left Cathy's last night, she tried to fix my shift key on the computer.  I forgot to post that picture.

Today our only plan was a cook-out at our campsite for Joe M.'s birthday.  We went into town for a late breakfast and a grocery stop.  I-hop had a 20-25 minute wait, but we waited it out.  There are a lot of students returning to IU and their parents were taking them to I-hop before leaving them here, I guess.  And like everywhere else, I-hop was short-staffed.  The manager was bussing tables, and the host taking names said if they had enough wait staff, they could have had everyone in line seated and fed.  I told him I felt sorry for him, trying to run a business without enough help.  The grocery store was crowded with students too, stocking up for their first week.  But by the time we finished up there and got back to camp, it was going on 2:00.  We had a restful afternoon though.  Occasionally it would drizzle just a little, but the temperature stayed in the 70s and it was very pleasant, even into the evening.

Joe and Cathy brought some wood, so Joe F got a fire started shortly after their arrival.  It was a struggle, and took most of a bottle of charcoal lighter, but he finally got it going and we got to enjoy it for several hours. 

 Joe grilled hamburgers and hot dogs (he REALLY grilled the hot dogs), and I fixed some stuff.  Once the food was ready, we all dove in.

We even had a little carrot cake to celebrate Joe M.s birthday.  We did have a little intrigue going on -- the camper over by the woods was drawing attention because people walking by could hear an alarm going off inside.  While I was taking a nap, Joe noticed several park officials walking around over there, but then they left.  While we were all sitting around the campfire, another camper lady walked over there like she was on a mission.  When she passed by our campsite, she asked if we had seen those people.  She said that alarm had been going by for more than 12 hours.  Apparently she called the officials again because they showed back up, walked around it.  Then they left.  Then the owner of the camper walked up from the lake, with his wife.  She backed away from it while he went inside.  A little while later, he walked past our campsite on his way to the restroom, and stopped and talked on his way back.  He said apparently his wife had accidently his the button on the gas stove when she finished cooking breakfast, and turned the gas on a little.  But all was well, they sat outside for a long time but eventually went back in.  So no harm, no foul, I guess.

It was a very pleasant evening to sit outside.  And a nice day all around.  We are leaving this area tomorrow but Joe and Cathy really showed us a good time here -- we never knew much about this part of Indiana and they are great tour guides.  Now on to our next adventure.

Road Trip to Nashville and Columbus

 8-14-2021 - Saturday

Before we headed home last night, 

The campground seemed completely full when we drove through it this morning, and the sign on the highway says "full".  We still had campers arriving when we went to bed last night.

I texted Cathy and got them out of bed this morning.  They had indicated they wanted to take us over to the Farmers Market, and we needed to get an early start.  Joe said it was only 2 blocks, so we walked, but it was longer than 2 blocks.  Just saying.  Anyhow, we picked up a few items (tomatoes, cantaloupe), and we saw an old high school friend, Dale Marchino.  He and Joe rehashed high school days, and family.  We bought a cantaloupe from him, and he threw in an extra one.

Back at the house, I took some pictures of the flowers in the back yard.  They look lovely.  Cathy said this planting is a pandemic project, and the result of them watching Gardeners World with Monty Don.

Then we headed for breakfast.  On the way to breakfast in Ellettsville, we passed the new IU Medical Center.  Every time we drive in to their house, we go past the southeastern edge of the IU campus (beautiful) and some of the old fraternity homes.  

Anyway, Joe F used to work in Ellettsville when we first got married, and we bought our first boat there, so that was somewhat familiar territory, although we really didn't remember any of it.  While I went to the restroom, the group decided we would go on a road trip, so Joe M. drove us to Nashville and Columbus.  Joe F had worked Christmas trees in Nashville a long time ago (probably right out of high school), but neither of us had ever been to Columbus.  Nashville is a very touristy town, full of gift shops -- and people.  Parking is a problem.  The streets and shops were busy, and we couldn't find a parking place so we didn't do any shopping there, not even window shopping.

On the way to Columbus, we stopped at a flea market.  I picked up a toy truck to do some crafty thing with when we get home.  We checked out several birdhouses, something Joe always thinks he's going to create.  

I really like this little house because of the rocks on the chimney.

They also had painted rocks.  I thought I might try these frogs when I get home.

On to Columbus again, a very pretty, clean town, known for its architecture, among other things.  

all the bridges in town have artistic features, like this one.

downtown are some very creative buildings, this one has a neat statue on the grounds.

The Commons is a public playground and conference building.  Joe and Cathy did some work on this one, especially with the donor signage plaques and the logo.  It was closed but we were able to find an open door.  

Inside this building is a famous sculpture, '“Chaos I” is a large kinetic sculpture by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely located inside The Commons in downtown Columbus."  To me, it was not a beautiful thing, but Joe said when it is moving, all the parts move, and it is pretty awesome.  He added that it is in every fine arts textbook.

This is the Columbus courthouse, very majestic looking.

We tried to stop in an ice cream shop for a snack, but there was a 20 minute wait there. 

 

But when Joe F stepped off the curb here, he did something to his foot and from then on, could hardly walk.  His plantar fasceiitis has been acting up again, so we assume he did something to aggravate that.

We checked out 2 other places across the street for food, all of them closed.  Joe's foot was hurting so bad that Joe M went and got the truck and picked us up.  Then Joe M decided just to take us to Tony Stewart's favorite place in town, the Dairy Queen.  They like Tony here too, they have a big poster of him in the back.

The Cummins Engine Company is headquartered here in Columbus, so we stopped by there.  It's a huge facility, and they have a manufacturing plant here too.

This Cummins engine is in the front of their building.

This is their manufacturing plant.

they had a row of semi trailers just waiting to deliver.

Joe drove us around some other buildings in Columbus, including their new learning center.  This is the description of this venture. 

"Using the power of place and community collaboration to solve grand challenges that span public, private, and social sectors. On September 16, 2005, Columbus, Indiana dedicated 

the first shared-use facility in the  state supporting Indiana University Purdue 

University Columbus (IUPUC), Ivy Tech Community College,

 Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and WorkOne under one roof.  

This is a very impressive complex, so large I couldn't get a good picture.

Finally, we finished Columbus and headed out of town.  Joe wanted to take us to a brewery they liked, Hard Truth Distillery Company, but the parking lot here was completely full too, so we just did another drive-by.

We got back to their house about 5:30, and they worked on my computer for a while.  My right shift key still doesn't work.  Cathy took that key off, and cleaned a bunch more sugar out of it, but she couldn't get the key back on.  Joe M also took a stab at it, but I guess I have to move up to the next level --we will be seeing Paul Croxton on Tuesday (my other consultant) so maybe he can get me put back together.

We do finally have a plan for the next few days, and a destination.  Paul is in Ft. Wayne at Dixie and Jim's, so we are heading back to Ft. Wayne to see all of them.  Then, we think we are heading across Illinois on hwy 24, and then hwy 36 across Missouri and ----- (that's as far as we have figured out).  

We had good weather today, a high of 82.  Joe and I sat outside when we finally got back to camp -- and watched our neighbor kids play football.  It was very pleasant, with campfire smoke reminding us of days gone by.  Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be about the same, although there is a chance of rain.  And Monday we leave.

Down Day in Bloomington

 8-13-2021 - Friday

Well, we didn't do too bad with our "down day," although Joe got up at 6:30 (said he was awake since 4:30) and totally shocked me.  I didn't wake up until about 7:00.  We had a slow morning, but after breakfast we headed into Cathy and Joe's office, and took Joe his birthday cookies (which, of course, we shared with him).   I wanted to get a hair cut, so after we bothered them for a while, Cathy gave us an address for a shopping center with a Great Clips and a White Castle.  I had a 55-minute wait for a hair cut, so we shopped for Joe a new phone holder, since he ripped the back off his yesterday, getting out of the Jeep.  He actually found one at "5 Below" for $5.55, and so far he likes it.  I had my hair cut, then we stopped at White Castle, but it was carry out or drive through only, so we got ours to go and drove back to the RV park.  By then, they were no longer hot, but they were ok.  

We got a nap in today, then Cathy invited us in for dinner, so we headed back into town.  Joe M. cooked some wings on the grill, and we had a nice meal with them, finished with sitting on their deck.  Joe brought out the remaining cookies, so we topped our meal off with them. Then it was back to the RV, in the dark.  We saw a deer right before we turned into our campground, it was getting ready to jump into the road so I was glad we both spotted it.  

The campground is full now, and in the dark, it was hard to find our roads even with the GPS directing us.  With only one wrong turn, we found our way back home and called it a night.  Tomorrow we are supposed to meet Joe and Cathy early and go to the Farmer's Market, which is only 2 blocks from their house, so we need to get a move on.  Then we will see what the day brings.  Hoping for cooler weather.