Minnesota

We arrived Friday night.  We decided to stop by the neighborhood on our way to the campground, it was around 8:00 P.M.  We saw our neighbors:  The Moore's, Alver's, Moser's and Linda White who is staying in our house.  It was really fun seeing everyone.  We left there around 10:30P.M., which means we did not get into our campsite and set up until after 11:30.  

Anyway we went over to the house on Saturday afternoon and put some of our stuff we are not using down in the basement.  It was nice to get rid of a few items and make space for more stuff of course.  We ran some errands while the kids were all at friends houses playing and getting ready for sleepovers.  They were very excited to be hanging out with their friends.  We had dinner with our neighbors that live across the street the Moore's.  Later in the evening more neighbors came to hang out with us:  The Weierke's, Burgess', and  Fogarty's.  It was great to have some good laughs together!

Sunday we had dinner at the Burgess' house with the same friends from the night before.  We really enjoyed ourselves over the weekend.

Today (Monday) it was back to the normal grind, somewhat.  We had school, and then the boys went to the doctor for check-ups.  I then went to my old stomping ground Akin Road Elementary School to visit my former workmates. I got there just as school was letting out, so I also go to see some of my former students.  It was very sweet, and I got lots of hugs.   It was terrific seeing everyone.  I really miss hanging around all of them and felling their energy.  I went by myself so I could actually have some time to talk without the kids being around.

Illinois

The week is going good.  Sunday Bryce and I went for a motorcycle ride with his rep Mark and his wife Terri.  It was a little chilly, but a wonderful ride.  We stopped at a little pizza joint in a tiny town called Sharon.  Later in the afternoon the boys went to play some golf.

The kids started their Spanish lessons this week, they are doing really well.  I have also been taking part and learning Spanish, not too bad so far.  Bryce left very early Tuesday morning for work, as I said before, he is staying closer to his reps in a hotel.  

The highlight so far is that I took the kids to see the Blue Man Group at the Briar Street Theater in downtown Chicago.  What a treat!  I would highly recommend this show to anyone if you ever get the chance to see it.  We got seats for the third row in the center (SCORE).  We had to wear ponchos (which they provided) in case of flying debris (paint, food).  The show was funny, interactive, full of talent, and entertaining.  They do not allow any photos inside, but the kids got to take pictures with them after and get their autographs (which by the way are finger/hand prints and lip prints) We will definitely be trying to see them again so that Bryce could join us.  

Marengo, Illinois

We arrived outside of Chicago in the town of Marengo.  It was a little difficult to find a campground here that was still open this time of year.  A lot of campgrounds that encounter winter are only open through the middle of October.  We also had a difficult time finding a place to stay in Minnesota.  Must be time to head south!  So here we are at Lehman's RV Resort, which by the way is open all year long.  It is however in the middle of nowhere and not close to many things.  It is a large campground situated on an 8 acre lake with many canals.  Bryce will have to stay in a hotel this week in order to be closer to his reps.  Not sure what we will be exploring here this week, but we will let you know!

Goshen, Indiana

We left Thursday from Nashville and headed on our 7 - 8 hour drive to Goshen, Indiana.  Why Goshen you ask...well we are of course taking our trailer to the Keystone manufacturer so they can fix some of the things that we have been wanting them to fix.  We stayed the night in the hotel and they worked on the trailer today, Friday, October 15th.  We are staying the night in the Keystone manufacture's parking lot, at least they have hook ups.  I can't believe we have spent three nights in RV dealers parking lots in the last 3 months.  We are leaving tomorrow to head into Chicago for the week, and then on to Minnesota for the last week of October.  We can't wait to see all of our great friends back home in Minnesota!!

Nashville, Tennessee

Well we arrived on Friday evening into Nashville. When we arrived the campground we had made reservations at, it was not what we thought we were signing up for. We were disappointed, it was a dive(scary). We tried to call around to find another campsite, but they were all booked at least through the weekend. We had to stay at least through the weekend. So we spent the weekend out and about.

Saturday we went to downtown Nashville, which by the way was extremely busy. It was opening night for hockey, and the 85th birthday celebration of the Grand Ole Opry!(We tried to see if there were tickets available, but no such luck) We saw the country hall of fame walk of stars, the Grand Ole Opry(not inside), went to see Cooter's museum from the Dukes of Hazard, and ate at Neely's BBQ restaurant(they are from the food network) by the way it was delicious!!! We have tried several times to go to one of those Diner, Drive ins, and Dives places, but unfortunately they are always closed. Seems like most of them are only open certain hours.

Sunday the boys went golfing and the girls went shopping! Bryce broke 80 for the second time in his life!! Yeah Bryce!

Today (Monday) we moved to a new campground, Jellystone, we feel much better here, in fact we think we may come back to Nashville to spend Christmas. We will be leaving here on Thursday to drive up to Indiana to the Keystone dealer, yet again, where they will be fixing more things on the trailer.

Statesville, North Carolina

Well we stayed this last week in a KOA in Statesville, NC. Not much to report as we did some catching up with school, since last week we spent a couple days out and about. We did the usual of cleaning up, laundry, and school. We seem to be on somewhat of a schedule with the kids schooling. The kids do reading, math, and language arts separately. Together we have been studying the human body for our science, right now we are learning all about the digestive system. In Social Studies, we are of course studying the United States History. My dad sent me this great interactive web sight for US History. http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html If anyone has any other great interactive websites just let me know. I have been doing some art and music lessons. I hope to start our Spanish lessons this week, we are going to be using the Rosetta Stone for homeschooling. We are off to see the King! (He's actually in Memphis), but

we are heading into Nashville Tennessee this week. Yee Haw!!

Virginia

So we were headed to North Carolina this weekend. When we left DC we went up over the top of it to the north. We decided to first head into the Shenandoah National Park and take a portion of the Skyline Drive. We were unable to do the whole drive due to a tunnel that was 12'8" and we are 13'5". It was beautiful, you drive along the ridge of the mountains, and the trees are just starting to change colors. We saw some fantastic views. After exiting the Skyline Drive we headed over to Luray Caverns, the largest ones on the east coast. It was by far the best caverns I've ever been in, it was unbelievable. It was a self guided tour with an audio set and you punch in the numbers along the way to hear about specific things in the cavern. They even had a separate number for the kids to push in, they had them searching for all kinds of things. Later that evening we pulled into a KOA in Harrisonburg and took off the next morning into Statesville, NC for our next weeks stay. By the way before we left, yes I am going to say it, we had a leak from inside the walls of the camper, there was a nut on one of the pipes that was not tightened properly, imagine that! Luckily Bryce was able to get into the wall through a vent and the shower fixture and fix it.