Today is the last day of April, and it is cold here in Colorado – currently 45 degrees, going down to 28 tonight. However, we did have fun this afternoon. Marilyn and I toured our third Budweiser Brewery in Fort Collins, CO. It is always nice to re-visit how to make beer.
And of course you get to see the famous Clydesdales and their beer wagons.
Later
We drove from Loveland up into Rocky Mountain National Park. Much of the Park was closed, and most of the scenery was obscured by snow, but we did stop at two welcome centers, and did see elk and mountain goats.
Here is one of the entrance signs:
We only got to 8,918 feet in the park, which goes much higher.
Here are some pictures from inside the park:
As I indicated, we did see some elk:
Then it was time to shop at Sam’s and Wal-Mart.
Later
Beautiful day here in the Denver Loveland area with a high of 72. We even got to open some windows this afternoon. This morning we drove south through Denver to Littleton to see our good friends Harold and Linda, and this time it was at their beautiful home. Linda put together a great lunch, after our tour of the house and gardens. We drove back to Loveland a little after three.
Later
We had a wonderful visit with Harold and Linda Hills. Harold and I served in the same Battery in Viet Nam. They arrived at our house (Johnson’s Corner in Loveland) around noon, and after catching up on our lives and children for an hour or so, we went to Mimi’s Diner for a delicious lunch. Marilyn and a fish wrap, and the rest of us had Thai chicken wraps. We sat around visiting some more, and then they had to drive back through Denver to Littleton, so they left around 3:30. Marilyn and I then went for a half-hour walk around the campground.
Later
Well, our route diversion to Loveland, CO turned out to be a bust. We had made an appointment with RV America to get some work done on our rig. the bedroom air conditioner had quit, we were have intermittent trouble with the slides (we would have to wait a half hour of being plugged in to get them to go our), and Tiffin left a small leak when they put a new floor under our fresh water tank. They agreed that the a/c needed to be replaced, but could not get one until next week when we would not be here. The slides worked so they could not find the electrical problem, but the shear pin broke on the dinette slide and they could fix that. They did not have a tool that could crimp the clamp on the hose that was leaking. So, for $200 we did not get much done.
Oh well, we probably will not need the a/c until we return to the US in Mid August.
We have moved rather rapidly for us. We are now at the Johnstown Comer RV Retreat in Johnstown, CO. We spent last night in Seibert, CO.
As we passed the 3200 foot mark on the way to Seibert, we started seeing patches of snow along the north side of the road. This morning, we awoke to white lumpy rain at the campground in Seibert, CO, which turned to rain. It stayed cold all the way to Denver, and maxed out at 50 degrees.
The owners of the campground, Shady Grove, in Seibert were very nice. This morning they placed Easter baskets at every RV in the park. The treats are delicious.
We are planning a delicious Easter Dinner of steak, grilled vegetables, and Champaign. What more could we want.
Type at you later.
We left Springfield, MO this morning at 8:30 and drove 328 miles to Lindsborg, KS. It was a windy day, and we were both tired when we got off the road at 4:15. Other than driving, we have not done much today.
I forgot to include in yesterday’s blog our sightseeing while waiting for the oil change and lube job a Freightliner. We went to Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World (first store for the company). They have everything from stuffed game to tanks of fish. Catfish, bass, crappie etc. It was a fun afternoon. I got to have my picture taken with a bear.
Tomorrow we will be in Colorado.
We are out of service for our oil change and lube job here in Springfield, MO. Tomorrow, we will start toward Loveland, CO to fix a couple of things more on the rig. Then maybe we can meet up with Dennis, Carol, etc for a couple of days. They are planning to meet Don and Sharon Del Rosario on May 2 for a couple of days before heading to Alaska.
Type at you later.
As you know, we arrived in Marion, IL on Saturday the 16th, and we had a wonderful visit with our daughter, Beverly. Today, we started west to Springfield, MO because I had scheduled an appointment for 3:00pm at the Springfield Freightliner shop to get the rig chassis serviced, and an oil change for the engine.
This afternoon, once again we had trouble getting the slides to go out. The batteries are fully charged because they are new. While we were at Red Bay, we were told it was probably a solenoid, but of course the slides worked fine in the bay, so they did not replace it. In addition, Marilyn noticed that the rear air conditioner would not start – probably going to need a new one which we hope will be under our extended warranty.
Thus, plans change. We called the Tiffin dealer in Lincoln, NB, and he said they were booked up until May. Since we have friends in Littleton, CO, we decided to try the dealer in Loveland, CO. He said if we got there on Monday, he could have it looked at on Tuesday, and worked on, on Thursday, maybe. so we are going to drive to CO, visit our friends and at least get the slides working – maybe. I imagine we will not need the rear A/C very much in AK, but will want it in Gillette.
We have had a nice day today celebrating our daughter’s birthday (actual day is April 25). I cooked salmon, shrimp and veggies on the grill – great dinner, and Marilyn has strawberry shortcake for dessert. It is now 7:55pm, and there are strong storms headed this way. We are planning to pull in the slides, and go to the campground shelter (Julie said she had put the coffee on).
Tomorrow, we will move on west. I scheduled a chassis lube and oil change in Springfield, MO for Thursday afternoon. We will then start north to the Canadian border if the weather is not too bad.
This afternoon, I finished Tiffin’s work replacing the wet bay floor. I sprayed three cans of undercoating on the floor replacement. In Tiffin’s defense, the storms of Friday did prevent them from doing it before we left. This evening we are going out to dinner with the owners of the bookstore where Bev works. It should be fun since we are going to Fujiama’s to eat off their hibachi grill.
We left Red Bay, AL this morning about 8:30, and arrived here in Marion, IL about 2:30 this afternoon. It is cold, already 49 degrees at 8:30pm. We stopped at Wal-Mart to replace our electric space heater that died in FL where they were out of season. We got one for the living room and one for the bedroom. While we were out, we stopped at the Bookworm to see Bev, and then to Sam’s for a roast chicken for dinner tonight.
Here is a picture of home parked at Marion Campground.
No, tax returns are not due today. Monday, the 18th is the day to pay Caesar.
We were parked outside of Tiffin’s repair bay #49 by 6:45AM for our 7:00 appointment. We got in, and they worked most of the day removing our fresh water tank and the plywood floor under it. They say that they have fixed it. Due to storms going through Red Bay today, they were not able to spray an undercoat on the replacement floor. We decided that we could do that with a couple of cans of spray paint later. We have paid the repair cost, hitched the car behind the rig and checked out of the Allegro Campground so that we can roll in the morning. Here is a picture of our house in the bay.
Then, here are pictures of the work they are doing removing the fresh water tank, floor under it, and then repairing it.
We also got to see them lift a motorhome in the air to work on the rear end. They have four separate lift jacks, one for each tire.
As I am writing this at 6:15PM on April 15th, there are only 30 days left before we meet everyone in Dawson Creek, BC for our trip to Alaska.
One hundred forty nine years ago, the Battle of Shiloh took place in western Tennessee during the civil war on April 6 and 7. Since we had nothing planned for today, we started by driving to Corinth, MS where we visited the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.
This National Park center describes, through signs and two movies, the battle for the two railroads that intersect in the middle of town. The US armies grouped around the Pittsburg landing on the Tennessee river, and the Confederates around Corinth. This is Pittsburg landing today.
We then drove to the Visitor Center at the Shiloh Battlefield.
We ate lunch at a picnic area in the park with a nice view of Dogwood trees.
The Battle of Shiloh is named after a log church that was built about two miles from Pittsburg Landing. Shiloh was the first battle with huge casualties on both sides (approximately 10K Confederates, and 13K US troops), The battle raged for two days, and, after it ended, US Grant had the dead from both sides buried in mass grave trenches. The Confederates remain buried in the mass graves. 
In 1866, the US troops were re-buried in the Shiloh National Cemetery. 
The Confederates moved back to Corinth, MS, and in May the US troops came to lay siege, but the Confederates headed south again. Confederate troops attacked Corinth in October of 1862, and were defeated again. Corinth remained in Union hands until abandonment in 1864.
We had a very good day.
Today was a normal wakeup, cereal etc. for breakfast. Marilyn did a couple of loads of wash, and I scanned some more family pictures into the computer. Then we drove to Tuscumbia, AL to see Helen Keller’s Birthplace. We had lunch at the Palace Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop – good ruben for me and chicken salad for Marilyn. Before driving back, we drove over to Muscle Shoals to the TVA’s Wilson dam on the Tennessee river. And, then on the way back to Red Bay, we had to stop at the Coon Dog Cemetery. They take their dogs seriously. You have to prove it is a coon dog, and the committee has to view the actual dog body before allowing it to be buried there.
Here is a picture of our house at Tiffin, and another of the campground showing the size of the repair facility.
Following are pictures of Helen Keller’s birthplace. The last two pictures are of The Moon Tree growing on the property. The seed for the tree traveled into space in the early 70s, before being planted here.
Next are pictures of the Palace where we ate lunch, and a picture of the Wilson Dam.
Finally, you have to see pictures of the Coon Dog Cemetery, signs and some of the grave markers.
