Viva Las Vegas!

December birthdays are always a problem- coming so close to Christmas, they seem to get overshadowed. So, this year, Mom and I decided to take a girl's trip to Las Vegas. Monday morning and we were heading to the Orlando airport at 5:30 AM. It was an obscene time to leave but the traffic was blissfully light at that time of day. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our flight – no rush to get through the heightened holiday security – and plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. Since the airlines have started to charge for everything these days, we got a huge cup of coffee in the airport. The flight was fairly full, but we managed to get an aisle and window seats with an empty middle seat. In no time, we were landing in Las Vegas. We grabbed our car from Enterprise and were ready to hit the Strip.

The airport in Las Vegas is just south of the Strip and so wonderfully close to everything. It was obvious that tourism is down in Vegas- based on the price of the room at the Palazzo and the lack of tourists on the Strip. The Palazzo is one of the latest additions to the luxury hotel inventory on the Strip. The location was perfect- on the north end of the Strip, connected by walkways to both the Venetian and the Wynn. We valet parked the car, registered for our room and made our way to the guest room towers (with the obligatory walk through the casino.

Our room was on the 43rd floor with a view of the Venetian and the South Strip. The “suite” was 750 square feet—twice the size of our motorhome – with 3 HD flat screen TV’s (one in the bathroom!). Everything was gorgeous. You walked into the room – bathroom on the left with a huge soaking tub, large glass shower, two fluffy white robes, lighted makeup mirror and wonderful scented soaps. Down the hall was the bedroom with two queen size beds, crisp white sheets, a huge HD TV and a credenza with ice bucket and two wine glasses. (How did they know we were coming?) Two steps down and you were in the “living room” with a huge picture window with a beautiful view (the drapes and the blinds opened and closed by remote control), with a HD TV, DVD, fax and copier and a huge L-shaped sofa. We unpacked, added our Walgreen’s 4 cup coffeemaker (no coffeemakers in Las Vegas hotel rooms!), and we were “home”.

But not for long- it was time to grab some lunch (after all, it was 1:00 LV time, but we were still on East Coast time). We decided to try lunch at the Grande Lux Café in the Palazzo. We stopped before lunch to get our “Club Grazie” cards and free $15 in slot play. (Added to the $50 in slot play and $50 drink credits from the hotel). One meal at the Grande Lux was enough to feed two people- but it was our lunch/dinner. After lunch, we took a bit of our “free” money and played the slots. But, we didn’t have much time- we were due at the Wynn for our show by 6:30.

The evenings cooled down significantly and we had a brisk walk from the Palazzo to the Wynn on the elevated walkway. We stopped outside the Wynn to see their beautiful 150 foot waterfall and then stepped inside to a holiday wonderland- trees loaded with sparkling white lights and gorgeous plants. The hotel/casino was built on the site of the old Desert Inn at a price tag of $2.7 BILLION. We had a bit of time before the show to get our players club cards (and another free $15 in play). I hit the jackpot (literally) with the Dean Martin slot. I hit a high of $280, but played it down to $210 before cashing out. Not bad when you’re playing on someone else’s money!

La Reve was spectacular. It’s hard to describe this Cirque de Soleil-esque show. La Reve (“the Dream”) theater is an “aqua theater in the round”—the seats circle a large stage made of water (one million gallons). The theater is very intimate- no seat is more than 40 feet from the stage. (We were fortunate to get seats outside of the “splash zone” – the first few rows where the audience gets wet). The show is a mix of aerial acrobatics, special effects and what the Wynn calls “artistic athleticism.

After the show, we played a few more slots then headed back to our room to relax and enjoy our view.
Day 2

We were up at 6 AM (our bodies still on East Coast time) and got to try out our bargain coffee maker. It paid for itself in one morning- room service for a pot of coffee was $12.00 –before tax and service – and we were well into our 3rd pot by 8 AM. After a leisurely morning, we walked from the Palazzo to it’s sister hotel, the Venetian. It was like walking into Venice – the “Grand Canal” running through the cobble-stoned shopping streets with cafes and gondolas – underneath a ceiling that is painted in the likeness of the sky on a picture perfect day. The canals lead to a replica of St Mark’s square. The stone is aged for a weathered look and the tiles are the exact copies of their Italian counterparts. The hotel reception area is designed to resemble the Doge’s Palace with beautiful inlaid floors and arched ceiling with gold and ceiling adorned with Renaissance paintings.

From “Venice”, we made our way down the Strip to the Bellagio and the feel of Lake Como in Italy. The Bellagio was one of the first true luxury hotels on the Strip and the extravagance is evident the moment you enter- with the blown glass flower sculpture on the ceiling and the beautiful conservatory. This time of year, the conservatory is decorated for the holidays with white and red and green flowers, huge snowmen, reindeers made of pecan shells and large mirrored silver boxes.

Once again, it was a walk through the casino to get to the Bellagio Buffet. We arrived at 10:50 AM—just in time to get in for breakfast prices, but take advantage of the full lunch offering. We had a VERY leisurely lunch- taking small plates and small pieces of just about everything—from fresh gulf shrimp to chicken Wellington, barbequed ribs, strange fish, carved turkey, salmon, and salads. And then, the desserts – there were hundreds of small plates with key lime pies, chocolate mousse, cheesecakes, cream puffs, chocolate raspberry cakes. We took a sampling and shared them over a cup of coffee. We were stuffed!

It was back to the Palazzo to get ready for our evening entertainment- Mamma Mia at the Mandalay. We got to the Mandalay early- a chance to play a few slots and walk over to the Luxor. We didn’t have much luck at their slots- but our losses were always fairly small. We wandered over to the theater and found our seats- behind two of the tallest people in the room. I took a chance and found a nice attendant and explained the situation- she hooked me up with the manager- who eventually got us two seats only a few rows from the front! Perfect seats- we were almost on the stage with the actors. The play is adorable- catchy, Abba tunes, a cute story and a cast who obviously loved their few hours on the stage. You couldn’t help tapping your feet and “mamma mia, here I go again..my my….” – how can I get that song out of my head!!

We drove back to the Palazzo- taking in the sights and sounds of the Strip at night. There’s nothing quite like it- the Wizard of Oz green and huge gold lion at the MGM, the primary colors of the Excalibur, the mini New York City motif at NY/NY complete with 150 foot Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State building and the roller coaster running inside and outside of the building, the Eifel Tower and lighted air balloon at the Paris Hotel, the pyramid and sphinx at the Luxor –even the McDonalds is glammed up with lights. After valet parking the car, we decided to use our $50 liquor credit at the Lavo nightclub – the new hot spot on the Strip. Well, talk about feeling old! The place was packed- wall to wall 20 year olds! We had visions of a few drinks at the bar- but settled for using our $50 for a bottle of wine- at the low end of their price list! We smuggled the bottle out of the bar under Mom’s jacket and took it back to our room for our own private view of the Mirage volcano from our picture window.
Day 3

We made use of our wonderful Walgreen’s coffeemaker again before heading out to take in a bit more of the Strip- stopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. It was over the top kitsch – trying to be Roman decadent, but coming across just a bit ridiculous- Roman colonnades, pillars, gigantic Roman statues… We took a trip up the circular escalators to the top, wandered through the “Forum” and decided that it was time for a bit of “Old Vegas”.

The drive from the Strip to Fremont Street is a depressing sight- poverty, pawn shops and abandoned buildings. Not a place you’d want to find yourself stranded at night. We parked at the Plaza and walked over to Main Street Station. Walking into the casino is like a trip back to early 20th century Victorian elegance. Wrought iron railings, stained glass windows, hammered tins ceilings, huge elaborate chandeliers…. We decided to chance another buffet- this one didn’t compare to the Bellagio- but was half the price and served it’s purpose- our “lunch/dinner” for the day.

We spent the afternoon walking Fremont Street- wandering into the old casinos- the Fremont (the first high rise in Las Vegas- built in 1956), 4 Queens, the California and Binions- where we got our picture taken with $1 Million dollars! John convinced me to try the “Dance Heads” DVD experience and put up the money if I could get my mom to try it. Well- it didn’t take too much convincing – and we were sitting in the kiosk in the middle of Fremont Street with a blue cloth draped around us – waiting for our debut. The music started- we were dancing girls singing “Viva Las Vegas” with our own Elvis. My head popped off my body a few times, but Mom got it immediately. She got the head bobs and facial expressions perfectly. We got a second shot at “Good Lovin” – I got to be the drummer (and lead singer) while Mom played bass guitar. What an experience- especially when they played both DVD’s for the crowd that had gathered outside the booth.

With DVD’s in hand, we played a few more slots- at the Fremont before heading to the Plaza. We picked up our tickets and I played my Super Jackpot Party while Mom found her machine right by the theater entrance – the Butterfly machine. We both walked away with a few dollars before the Rat Pack show started.

“The Rat Pack is Back” just moved to the Plaza and the setting is perfect. The theater is reminiscent of the 1960’s dinner theaters – with crystal chandeliers and red draperies on the walls. The show starts with the announcer encouraging “drinking, gambling and carousing”- not only encouraged, but mandatory. Then the voice of Buddy Hackett sounds- explaining that he’s sending the guys back for one last show. The 12 piece orchestra starts playing and you find yourself watching “Frank, Dean, Sammy and Joey” –Dean Martin, drink in hand singing songs like “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head”, Sammy Davis Jr. doing Mr. Bojangles, and Frank Sinatra with the brightest blue eyes- singing old standards. They even have an amazing Marilyn Monroe – who stole the show with her lap dance for a birthday “boy” in the audience. It was a bit of old Vegas and a perfect way to end our trip.

Our last night to enjoy the luxury of our room – we cracked open our last Bailey’s and enjoyed the view and sat up and talked till the wee hours. We had become accustomed to the luxury of Vegas- the drapes and blinds that operate at the touch of a remote, the automatic toilets, the sinks that turn on automatically, the paper towels and soap that dispense on their own, the doors that swing open as you approach- not to mention the joys of valet parking and maid service. How do we go back to reality?

Day 4
Our last valet park, a drop off of the car and time to enjoy a relaxed breakfast at the airport (and even throw a few dollars into the airport slot machines!). Our two flights were crowded, but once again, we had a window and aisle with no one in the middle. We got into Orlando about 7:30 that night and we were home by 9:00. E.D. and John were waiting with a glass of wine and a hot bowl of chili.

A visit from old friends

We had a visit from some old friends from Denver this week. We had just missed C.J. and Jeff a few weeks back- we were both at Rock Crusher –completely unaware that we were only sites away from each other. So, on their way to St Augustine, they made a 3 day stop to visit us. They have had quite a journey since we last saw them in Maryland. Just 5 years ago, they were living on their boat on the Chesapeake Bay. Since then, they sold the boat, bought a fifth-wheel, bought a house in Sun City, bought a truck camper (they didn’t feel comfortable with the size of the fifth-wheel). Now, they’re trying to sell the house and the fifth wheel and figure out what they want to do. We had a good time catching up, drinking a bit of wine and enjoying dinner at Margarita's.

The next day, we were faced with the “what do we do now” dilemma. We’ve really not played tourist in the area so we were wracking our brains to figure out something to do. We settled on a visit to the Homosassa Wild Life Park. Expecting the worst, we started a walk through the park and were pleasantly surprised to find a well-run, fascinating place. We watched the manatee presentation and walked through the various areas. The park showcased the “old Florida” before developers and sticks people took over.
The lush vegetation, the amazing birds were all here. The pink flamingos were a real highlight. Not only are they remarkable creatures- they are so sociable- and SO noisy. The park even houses a hippo that starred in the TV show, “Daktari”. Lu, the hippo, was born in 1960 and, at the ripe old age of 48, is living out the rest of her days in her own little pool.

We discovered a new restaurant in old Homosassa- called Neon Leon’s Zydeco Steakhouse. What a find! The restaurant is named after the bass guitarist for Lynard Skynard – the uncle of the owner. Leon’s family has sent a collection of memorabilia- Leon’s guitars, gold records and hats. The cook is a true “coon-ass” – straight from Baton Rouge – and the food was amazing! They’ve only been open for 5 weeks and are hoping to make a go of it in some pretty tough times. We’ll be regulars –great food and a little feel of Louisiana right in our backyard.

November 15th—our one year anniversary with our little mal-terrorist. It feels like Chloe has been a part of our life forever.

Boston, Bailey and Bad Backs...

We left Cleveland on Sunday, heading for Salem, MA. Seems like this year – in addition to being the year of the dog – has become the Year of the Long Drive. We made the drive in 2 days – arriving into Salem about 7 PM on Monday. Another drop jacks and get a glass of wine. Our beautiful waterfront site was a bit less attractive this year. The three prime sites on the harbor have been taken over by a government mandated clean-up. So, instead of the beautiful view of Marblehead, we had a view of a chain link fence, a generator and some PVC pipes hooked up to large metal barrels. Evidently there had been an underground fuel tank on this site when it was a naval seaplane base and now- years later – they’ve decided that they need to clean It up. Charlie’s lost thousands of dollars in rentals and expects that it will take over a year to complete the cleanup. Looks a little Rube Goldberg to us…. Nonetheless, Chloe’s early morning wake-up calls did give us the chance to see some absolutely gorgeous sunrises over the water.

We did the usual doctor, dentist drill (literally this year as I had to have a crown on my back tooth and John had several fillings put in). The bright spot in our visit this year was Charlie’s (the park manager) new addition- a 3 month old cocker- poodle mix puppy named Bailey. Bailey is the color of Bailey’s Irish Cream (leave it to Charlie to name his dog after liquor!) Chloe and Bailey fell immediately in love and our happy hours were spent watching the dogs chase each other around the motorhome. Right now, the two are about the same size and Chloe had the advantage of speed. Next year, she’ll be in for a surprise- Bailey will probably be twice her size and weight.

About mid-way into our stay, my mom ended up in the hospital in Wisconsin with severe back pain. Trying to deal with MRI’s, Pain Clinics and the bureaucracy of our health system remotely got to be just too much. So, leaving John home with Chloe, I was off to Wisconsin. With 4 bulging discs, she was in severe pain and the hospital was way to willing to just keep her on a morphine drip. I got there in time to pick her up from the small rural hospital (only 26 beds) and take her to the Pain Clinic in Rice Lake (the biggest town around). While the nurses were wonderful, the doctor’s bedside manner left a lot to be desired. But, the spinal injections did seem to do some good and we got her home with a bag full of drugs and orders to “take it easy”. I have to give her credit- within days, she had gotten off the morphine pills and was on Tylenol as needed. She is one tough cookie!

The next challenge was trying to figure out how to get the two of them from the house in Wisconsin (a two story house –definitely not ideal for someone with a bad back) to the house in Florida. With cold weather only weeks away, we decided to put the two of them on a plane to Florida and let me drive their car to Florida. Within a week, we had the house closed up and on Sunday, packed up the car. On Monday morning, after a hearty bowl of oatmeal, I was off. I had two long driving days and made it to the Panhandle of Florida on Day 2. It made for an easy drive to Inverness the next day. I got in on Wednesday morning and by the time Mom and E.D. arrived, the car was unpacked and the wine was in the refrigerator. Poor E.D., I forgot to get ice for his brandy and water- so he joined us for a glass of wine. He needed it- the guy just can’t seem to catch a break at airports. For the third time, he was stopped at security and had to go through a body search! Imagine- a 90 year old man, legally blind –this is the guy our airport security folks pick out as a possible terrorist!

Once the boxes were unpacked and the refrigerator was filled, I was flying back to Boston. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous and we had a beautiful week of fall weather.

Watching the river flow

We may have made it south- but the weather was still awful! We alternated between torrential rains and today, it's just cloudy, cold and damp. I've never been so interested in accuweather.com. We spent our time in Memphis enjoying the view and trying to relax after our motorhome blues. We' were at a park right on the MIssissippi and still marvel at the barge traffic..especially those boats going by at night. Would love to see what they use for navigation. One of these years, we will figure out a way to hitch a ride and cruise the river.

New Carpeting!

With new carpeting being installed, we were officially homeless. With all of our furniture unbolted from the floor, we had to pack our bags and move into the local “Baymont Inn and Suites” in Decatur. (Note- the “Suites” part isn’t really a true “suite”—all you get is a bigger bathroom and a Jacuzzi tub). But, they did have free breakfast and wireless internet, so we managed to stay sane for the 3 day ordeal. At the end of the day, we’d check on the progress. It’s hard to imagine the amount of work involved in replacing carpeting in this tiny space. It was a bit like walking into one of those HGTV shows where everything is completely gutted. Newmar doesn’t make it easy either. Rather than install the carpeting after the cabinetry is in, they take the easy way (for them) and install the carpeting first- then install all of the sofas/cabinetry on top.

We did learn an awful lot about carpet and tile care from the folks at Habegger. First, we realized that you really want to have someone who’s done this kind of work before to deal with any carpet replacement in a motorhome. But we also learned that for carpet care:
1. An annual cleaning is absolutely essential. And, it should be a hot water heat extraction cleaning process- not a dry cleaning. It actually re-sets the fibers in the carpet.
2. Once cleaned, it’s best to let it dry for at least 24 hours before walking on it (a little difficult when you’re full-time)
3. Find a reputable cleaner- the chain cleaners may not be your best bet.
4. With any carpet cleaning- even spot cleaning, the most important thing Is to make sure you remove all of the cleaner from the carpet. The residue, if left on the carpet, becomes a dirt magnet.
5. When you remove your shoes at the door and walk on the carpet in bare feet, you’re probably doing more harm. The oils on your feet are worse than the dirt from your shoes!
6. The best thing to do is leave your shoes at the door and wear socks or slippers. (Oh, are we going to become those horribly obnoxious people with a box of slippers at the door for our guests?) Well, at least for a while we are!
7. One of the absolute worst surfaces is asphalt – it will leave a residue on carpet and tile that actually causes a chemical reaction.

After 3 days, we came back to a brand new motorhome. It truly looks better than it did when we bought it new! The folks at Habegger did a great job. Of course, once we got the new carpet in, it was begging for a new area rug. And, wouldn’t you know, they had a beautiful oriental in their showroom. One of the major problems with our small space has been finding the right size oriental – they’re either too big or too small. With Habegger’s facilities, they were able to size the rug to “just right”.

Motorhome Madness!

We had planned to spend just a few days doing some basic maintenance, but the list seemed to grow daily. The missing button on the sofa meant a trip to Villa in Elkhart. A call from Spartan (the chassis manufacturer) required a trip to Charlotte, Michigan for a “recall on the recall from last year”. (Although, they never call them “recalls” anymore- they simply request that you come in at your earliest convenience – suggesting that- ‘for your safety’- sooner rather than later is better.) A visit to Monroeville to get our steering wheel aligned. And then, to pacify my “grout fetish” (as John calls it), we drove to Decatur to get our grout cleaned, re-stained and sealed. With a full day out of the motorhome again- we scoped out all the changes in Decatur (new Super WalMart, new restaurant downtown), had lunch at Arnold’s (a real 50’s drive-in complete with cute little waitresses on roller skates serving you at your car—ala the old A&W’s) and still had time on our hands.

Hanging around Habegger’s Abbey Floors while they finished the grout work, we decided to look at carpeting. With the grout now looking SO good, the carpet was looking SO bad. When we found out that the carpeting that we loved was actually in stock, we were signing on for 3 more days – this time really out of our motorhome. Replacing carpet in a motorhome is not an easy task. All of the sofas/cabinetry needs to be unbolted from the floor and removed. Needless to say, this was not going to be an inexpensive upgrade. With labor costs of $1200 and 3 days out of the motorhome, you want to make sure that you get a good quality carpet – so on top of the horrendous labor charges, you’ve got a whopping bill for the mere 366 SF of space we occupy.

With our 3 day carpet install scheduled, we had an insane day on Thursday starting in Monroeville at 7:30 A.M. for our steering wheel alignment. From there, we beat feet back to Nappanee to get the dash A/C repaired. We got there at 10:30 and weren’t out until 2:30 – holding our breath that they’d get the work done that day- since they’re on a 4 day work week and any delay would have meant a Friday-Sunday stay in Nappanee. Chloe did have a great time playing with her two new Maltese friends. Amazingly, two other Newmar owners were there with their Maltese puppies, Odie and Bijou. The 3 hour play date made for a quiet dog on the ride to Charlotte, Michigan that afternoon. We got into Charlotte about 6:30 and were in bed by 9. We were absolutely exhausted – and facing another day out of the motorhome on Friday.

8-8-08 – an “auspicious day” according to the Chinese, who were kicking off the Summer Olympics today. We, on the other hand, were driving around Charlotte at 7 A.M. realizing that by 7:30, we had seen it all. The motorhome crowd at the Spartan factory was fairly sparse, but the military business was going great guns (no pun intended). They make the military armored personnel carriers here in Charlotte. As we parked our VW Jetta in the parking lot, we realized that we were the only non-American car in the lot. There was nothing but Fords and Chevrolet’s for miles.

Nappanee, Indiana "Embrace the Pace"

We arrived in Nappanee for our factory service on Sunday night after a very long drive from Minneapolis. Normally, the parking lot is jam packed with motorhomes arriving for Monday A.M. service. In the past, we’d even seen heated conversations with people vying for the same spot. We pulled in at 7 P.M. to find the lot virtually empty. We knew that things were tough at Newmar (and the entire motorhome industry) since we were getting in for factory service during the summer- typically only warranty work is done during the summer months. Non-warranty work was relegated to those brave souls willing to come to Indiana from November to March. But, this year, they were taking anyone willing to make the trip with $4.50 diesel prices.

The next morning we got the standard 6 A.M. knock on the door and after running through our list, we were homeless on the streets of Nappanee. There’s nothing quite like facing the prospect of 8 hours with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Before the lovely Chloe entered our life, we’d head to the “County Table” for a leisurely breakfast. There’s nothing like a huge egg, sausage and toast breakfast to get you ready for a day in the “Big Nap” (where, of course, there are no Naps!). This year, it was the McDonald’s drive through for an Egg McMuffin. So, by 7 A.M., we had had our fill of coffee and a full breakfast. Only 7 more hours to go! John reminded me that we constantly talk about how time flies as we get older –except in Nappanee, the only place where the hours seem endless and the days never end.

We took a drive north to Elkhart (home of the RV Hall of Fame). Heading north on Highway 19, you pass through Wakarusa. This little town used to have two active motorhome manufacturers – Travel Supreme and one of the Monaco factories. Both have been closed - even the Camping World store had closed. Back in Nappanee, we got a sense of how bad things really are. The production line for Newmar is down to 3 days a week. The maintenance group took a 12% pay cut a few months ago. This month, they took another 10% cut in pay and had their work week cut to 4 days. The guys were talking about the challenges of trying to make it with 40% less in their paychecks.

With the entire region centered on the motorhome industry, not only are the mainline manufacturers hurting- all of the suppliers are facing layoffs and possible closings. After our maintenance work at Newmar, we took the coach to Villa, the supplier of the sofas and chairs. We had a button that had come off of our sofa and they offered to replace it. We drove into a factory the size of a football field and were met by 5 workers. The plant was barely operating. The offices were dark, there were a few Mexican workers assembling furniture. We had two guys working on our sofa for an hour – at no charge.

We did get a chance to visit our favorite hangout in Nappanee (one of the only places in town), the Hunters Hideaway. We missed our favorite waitress, Miriam, but did get to have one of their amazing “olive burgers”. And, as usual, we drank their entire supply of white wine (a total of 4 airline size bottles of Sutter Home Chardonnay). White wine isn’t the drink of choice for these beer drinking, cigarette smoking factory workers. With another 6 A.M. start in the morning, we headed to bed early on Monday night. At 11:00, we jerked out of bed to the sound of tornado sirens everywhere. We quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed the dog and ran to the front of the motorhome. People around us were running from their coaches to the little visitor lobby next to us. We knew that it wasn’t a tornado shelter – and we didn’t have time to try to find the closest church (the local churches open up their basements as tornado shelters). In John’s FMCA seminar, they said that the best thing to do is to turn your driver and passenger chairs around- away from the huge glass windshield and, as John yelled to me – “Strap yourself in and hold onto the dog”. Visions of Dorothy and Toto flashed in my mind – John, Chloe and me in the eye of the tornado whirling around strapped to our motorhome chairs. The fact that we were sitting in the middle of farm fields surrounded by motorhomes (the closest thing to the typical trailer park that tornados seem to seek out)- didn’t provide much comfort. The sky was frightening- pitch black with constant bolts of jagged lightening. The lightening wasn’t just single bolts to the ground, but multiple bolts joining together and lighting the sky like fireworks. With the weather radio blasting tornado warnings for Elkhart county, police cars regularly driving through the parking lot, and the thunder and lightening, we spent a tense hour strapped into our chairs, peering into the skies around us. At last, the warning was over and we headed to bed—only 5 hours till the alarm. The next day, the news reported major tornado touchdowns just northwest of us. (Poster by W.w.Denslow)

Summer in Minnesota

We're winding down our stay here in MSP. Chloe is the hit of the campground - she's fallen in love with the owner, Rick, and literally pees when she see him. The problem- she pees ON HIM!!

She just gets so excited when he picks her up (needless to say, he's holding her at a bit of a distance these days!)

Tonight we're unveiling her new t-shirt. All the staff wear these kelly green t-shirts- so I found one at PetsMart in the exact color with "I rule" on it. She's going to be devastated when we leave here!

The “girls” got together for lunch in White Bear Lake – and it was a real high school get-together. Even my mom came down for the afternoon. We wanted to eat at the little restaurant on the water, but it was closed. So, we went into downtown WBL. How strange to be back there- seeing all the same store-fronts, now housing yuppie designer stores. The Avalon theater is closed- evidently one of the retaining walls is collapsing and they’re trying to save it. The other theater is now an art gallery. The only thing I recognized was Bernie’s Barber Shop- still going strong.

We had a great lunch with Mom and E.D. at a little German restaurant in St. Paul. Great German beer and food.

We just got back yesterday from 3 days at "Mom's. What timing- her oven gave out the day we arrived, so all of our dinner plans had to be re-jigged. John had his list of to-do's (changing out the dish washer panel, fixing the screen door lock...) while I had PC work to do - plus an afternoon of shopping for new stoves. Fortunately, the selection is limited at "end of the earth" Wisconsin. It was a choice between the local-very expensive-appliance store and Sears (and not the big huge mall size Sears store---the little tiny country outlet.). It was tough trying to balance getting a great oven with every possible feature and a little less expensive one- realizing that she'll probably be selling the lake house in the next year or so - and is only there for 2 1/2 more months this year. We found a really nice one- on sale- with great features (even a stay warm option- AND even a "Sabbath Mode" for Orthodox Jews who can't "work" on the Sabbath- it allows you to pre-program your oven. What will they think of next?

It's always great to be at the lake- the views from Mom's house are gorgeous. Chloe got her first view of a lake and loved the dock. We did have to be careful with her, watching closely for ticks. Last year, Mom got Lyme's Disease and it was probably the worst thing she has ever endured.

This year, with high gas prices, the traffic up to lake homes has dropped off. It's a bit like having your own private lake.

Check out Chloe's new do---

Fire Safety

Well, we came back from the FMCA conference with a bag full of fire safety equipment. John went to a two hour seminar about emergency preparedness in a motorhome. Mac, "the fire guy", made a believer out of John and after having had several friends motorhomes go up in smoke, literally, we decided that we should have a Fire Emergency Plan (as well as $170 in new fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and even a glass breaking hammer!)

Amazingly, the motorhome manufacturer doesn't provide you with a fire extinguisher capable of dealing with the most common motorhome fire - electrical caused by the 12 volt wiring (most often in the dashboard). We also have had friends who had their motorhome go up in flames from an electical short in their refrigerator. Needless to say, this got our attention.

So, today, John installed our new fire extinguishers - in the entryway, kitchen and bedroom, added a smoke detector to the front of the coach, and added detectors in the cargo compartments --then we ran through our escape plan.

Check out this link for more info on fire safety--it could save your life!

http://www.rvtravel.com/publish/firerv.shtml

The FMCA Experience

Friday was our last day at the FMCA Conference at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. It was the conference to attend--a real chance to see the state of the RV industry. With diesel prices at an all-time high, the attendance was way down. Typically these conferences draw anywhere from 4000-7500 coaches. This year, the estimate was about 2500 total coaches attending. The vendors were putting on a brave face, but once you started talking, you would hear the stories of no sales, layoffs, and a very bleak future. On the last day, everyone was talking about the latest fatality - the closing of the Monaco factory in Wakarusa, Indiana. Coming on the heels of the closing of Travel Supreme and the multiple layoffs at Newmar, the impact to these small communities must be devastating. On the bright side, we did get alot of free maintenance done. Newmar took care of our keyless entry (which hasn't worked in months) and a few minor fixes. Dometic fixed our rear air-conditioner (a just in time fix- given the summer heat and humidity here in Minnesota!). All in all- it was well worth the trip.

High School "Reunion"

Our annual visit to MSP wouldn't be complete without a chance to catch up with old high school friends. For the past few years, it's always been a girl's lunch - and a time to get an update on everyone's lives and hear the stories of our classmates. This year, Jane volunteered to play host to a couple's lunch. So, on Saturday afternoon, we loaded the car with some food and wine (and even Chloe!) and headed to White Bear Lake (John is beginning to think that every trip in Minnesota involves a ride either to or through WBL).

Jane and Jim's house is gorgeous! The inside is beautiful (but what would you expect from someone who decorates some of the most expensive homes in the city!) -and the outside---well, it is out of a design magazine! Jane and Jim vacation in Maui every year and they're transformed their backyard into a little bit of Hawaii- complete with pool and a beach! In no time, we'd opened the wine and had settled under their "tiki hut"-- with sand under our feet and Hawaiian music playing in the background.

Time flew by - we got caught up on families, kids (now grandkids for Kathy and soon to be for Jane), travels and old friends. Not barely enough time to get cover it all - so we're scheduled a girl's lunch --the gossip will be flying!

"The Girls"