We arrived at Mill Creek Campground Monday around 2pm to find our mini-reunion group had just pulled in as well. Mill Creek is a wonderful Corp of Engineers park on Table Rock Lake near Branson, MO. We had planned this trip with friends way back last year and booked our sites just as the window opened to make sure we had sites together. Little did we know, we booked the most coveted sites in the park out at the end of the peninsula. We were surrounded by water on 3 sides and had great views of the lake activity. The sunsets were also pretty amazing and each evening offered a different palate to photograph. This park is was quiet and well kept. Bathrooms and showers were always clean and the sites were well cared for. We even spent some time talking to the hosts and restroom attendants about bidding for COE positions. They were a wealth of knowledge and we feel more confident on accurately bidding on those in the future. One thing we did not like however is that they said the park here requires a three year commitment. At this time, that is not something we are looking to commit to as we want to get out and travel. We know many other COE parks do not require this long of a committment so a COE workcamping position is not out of the question. We spent alot of time relaxing with friends enjoying the view. We did not have set agendas and had a very relaxed timeline. Our boys took their first road trip and came down Thursday evening to Tuesday morning. It was great to have them join us and the group was happy to see them again. The main focus of this visit was a mini-reunion of sorts for Rick and his Army buddies, Kirk and Bill. They were stationed together in West Germany (Fulda, Germany) in the mid 80's as part of the 11th Armored Calvary, "The Guardians of the Frontiers of Freedom". This was the time just prior to the wall coming down between East and West Germany. Every year their entire unit has a reunion in June and we have attended many in the past years. This year the reunion was in Boston, and unfortunately our travels and timeline would not lend to us being out east so we decided to plan a mini-reunion in a central location for the small group. Bill and Denise hailing from Texas, Kirk & Betsy from Northern Missouri and us from Wisconsin, Kirk and Betsy scouted locations and found this gem of a park in southern MO near Branson. We hoped to have a couple other troopers join us but plans did not line up. Hopefully we will see them next year at the reunion in Las Vegas. As you can see by the pictures, good times were had by all and some of the ol' libations from the years in Germany flowed freely. Outside of relaxing and reminiscing, we did plan a couple excursions. Some successful, some not. On Wednesday we ventured to Top of the Rock Ozark Heritage Preserve. This is an amazing location perched above Table Rock Lake. It was developed by Bass Pro Shops Johnny Moris and has an Arnold Palmer golf course and driving range, a golf cart tour of the area and caves, a Ozarks Natural History museum, as well as Big Cedar Lodge and amazing restaurants and shops. We took the Cave and Nature Trail golf cart tour and were able to get a military discount. They do charge $10 for parking but you can then use the $10 coupon they give you to apply it to any purchase, including the golf cart tour. They offer 2 and 4 seat golf carts , so our group of 6 took one of each. The views were amazing and the property was a very natural, but beautifully manicured setting. The bridges were Amish built and it looked as if they were going to be building another one over a ravine. This was a self guided tour and you could take as long as you wanted and had plenty of pull off parking spots to take in the scenery. Several of the waterfalls pooled and flowed over the golf cart path, making it more adventurous but never compromising safety. The paths were paved and roped to ensure there was no off-roading, much to the chagrin of the guys. The tour also had a cave that you drove through and had a drive up "Bat Bar" that served beverages. Of course, we couldn't pass that up! After the tour, we took the shuttle to the other end of the preserve to see the golf course, restaurants, shops and sink hole. Yep, you read that right, they discovered a sink hole in 2015 after some heavy rains, right next to the driving range. The Cathedral of Nature sink hole started out as 70 feet wide and 40 feet deep and is now 350 wide and 200 feet deep. There is some great footage here and more information on the journey of this amazing discovery. There is also a beautiful chapel, perched on a cliff, overlooking the lake that no doubt hosts amazing weddings. The entire property is amazing, thoughtfully done and a beautiful tribute to the area and its ancestors. We loved it soo much that we went back on Friday with the boys and took the nature trail tour again and also went thru the natural history museum. We were all amazed at the extensive collection amassed in this one location and how well the history of the Ozarks was told throughout. Thursday, before the boys arrived, we went out to check out one of the oldest icons in Branson, Dick's 5 and 10 in downtown Branson. It reminded us of the old Woolworth's, minus a malt & ice cream counter. They had everything in there and more. After everyone purchased their mementos, we headed over to The Farmhouse restaurant for some good ole home cooking. On Sunday, the group decided to head up to Springfield to check out the worlds largest Bass Pro Shop, Museum and Aquarium. Since I was a bit under the weather, I stayed back to keep an eye on the homestead. Everyone had a great time and there was soo much to see. It was a day of lots of walking and seeing some amazing things. Here is just a few of the pictures from the museum and aquarium. Since the boys and Denise and Bill were heading out Tuesday morning, we decided to do a jet boat ride in Branson on Monday. Since none of us were really fond of doing the Branson strip and battling the crowds and traffic, we were excited to see that the jet boat took off from Branson Landing, which is on the "quieter" side of Branson or what they also call Old Branson. I had called ahead to make sure they had room for us and was assured there was plenty of seats on the 4:45pm ride and to come on down. Well due to the curvy roads and traffic, that is a 30 to 40 minute journey. Once there, I called again to confirm their kiosk location as Branson Landing is an open air shopping and dining district. They gave us directions and again, said to come on down. Once we got to the kiosk, we were told that they cancelled the 4:45pm ride as they did not have enough people to go out and the next ride would be the following day. It seems they need at least 20 people and we only had 8. Interestingly enough though, several other groups came and inquired as well and were told the same thing. Doing the simple math, with those other inquiries we probably would have had enough people. We figured they really just did not want to go out again and turned everyone away. WOW, that was a disappointment! Not wanting it to be a wasted trip, we decided to drown our sorrows in some chocolate and ice cream! We then went back to the campground and enjoyed a wonderful steak and corn dinner and then smore's later around the fire. To cap off a wonderful evening, we were treated to fireworks across the the lake at a local resort. Tuesday was an early morning with a 6am departure for the boys and a 9:30 departure for Denise and Bill. They each have a long way to travel and the boys are doing another one day roadtrip back home to WI, which takes about 10-11 hours. They took a different route back to see some new scenery and avoid St Louis. Can't wait to hear about their adventures when they get home. As for the rest of our time here, we will be doing some more serious R&R! Tuesday afternoon we are going to a local farmers market and then a quiet dinner back at the campground. Wednesday we will be doing some laundry and other household chores to ready for our trip to St. Louis to visit with family. SHOP AMAZON HERE
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Holy smokes is it HOT!!! We are on our first road trip with The Grand Beauty, pulled by the Beast. Overall the trip has gone well, but long and HOT. We started off the trip at Harrington Beach State Park in Belgium with family. We had a great time relaxing and trying to keep warm. Yes you heard that right! Thursday night got into the very low 50's and with all the windows open, it did get pretty chilly! My cousin, Kassi, was a trooper and braved it out in a tent...with layers of clothes, a blanket and a sleeping bag. But we lived to enjoy another day at Harrington Beach on Lake Michigan. Friday after a little bit of rain, Rick, Kassi, our son Nicholas and I went for a nice long walk through the park. They do have some great picturesque trails on the lake, through the woods and around an old quarry which is now a lake. We even saw a couple deer who are not afraid of people or the pictures you take of them. Later in the afternoon, the rest of the family showed up and we had 7 sites in the non-electric section of the campground. We celebrated some birthdays and had a great night at the campfire, except for the darn hollow log that just wouldn't cooperate. Saturday morning we packed up early as it started to get warm and steamy. This is where the hot, hot begins! After saying our goodbyes and emptying tanks, we were on our way south. The drive through Milwaukee was uneventful, except for the bumpy roads that were pretty jarring at times. I wonder if I-10 across the south is really worse than these roads! Our first day was the longest drive from Belgium, WI to Springfield, IL. We left at 11am and arrived at the IL State Fairgrounds campground a little after 6pm. With 7 hours of driving, we were both exhausted and hot. It was 96 degrees when we arrived and very humid. We opted for full hookups with 50amp so we could run both air conditioners. Unfortunately, those sites were in the blacktop parking area. After setting up, Rick looked like a drowned rat! By the time we were done and the rv was cooled to a steamy 88 degrees, we decided to go get a quick dinner out. Way too hot to cook. We found a cool, hole in the wall gyro shop and had a relaxing dinner. When we got back to the RV, it had cooled considerably and we crawled right into bed, exhausted from the long hot day. Sunday we were up early, as it was going to be another hot day, with temps hitting 100. We went out for a Fathers Day breakfast and a quick fuel up at Walmart along with some needed items. We had originally planned to stop at Lincoln's home Sunday morning before leaving, but decided to forego that and get packed up before the heat of the day set in. We were hooked up and on the road by 11am. It was already in the low 90's and humid. Today was going to be another long day, with us looking to make it to Lebanon, MO where we had reservations at Happy Trails RV Park. Southern IL roads were in better shape and we sailed along. The landscape began to get a bit more hilly and trees were dotting the landscape rather than the flat, farm landscape of Central IL. Hitting St Louis proved to be a bit more challenging. We were wanting to go around STL on I-255, but due to construction and very confusing road signs, we missed that exit and ended up going straight through STL where even more confusing signage continued. When you are in a big truck pulling 42 feet of heavy metal behind you, it is almost impossible to make quick moves, much less change lanes on a dime like the other little cars were doing in front of us. Oh, and let's not forget the semi that decided he did not want to get on I-65 and cut back in front of us. Luckily, Rick saw he hesitated and gave him a bit of room to course correct. I think that proved to be the longest and most frustrating part of the trip thus far. Although, one other frustrating detail that proved to complicate things is that the new Tire Pressure Monitoring System(TPMS) for the RV continued to malfunction both days. This is a separate system from the trucks TPMS system and is monitored on a cellphone app. When working correctly, it is really cool and continuously monitors the temperature and pressure of each RV tire and alerts you to any abnormalities. The past two days however, it has continued to loose connection to two of the tire transmitters and then throws off an alarm on the app. Each transmitter has a flat, watch-like battery and initially we attributed it to the batteries going dead prematurely, so we changed them out with new ones that were sent with the unit. We soon ran out of fresh batteries and were getting pretty frustrated with it. Rick then decided to take the batteries out and let them sit when we hit a rest area, re-installing them before we left and that seemed to work for a bit, but then re-alarmed again further down the road. Our last ditch effort was to move the two alarming transmitters to different tires. We will see what happens there. We do have a communication into the company and an order for free replacement batteries. Perhaps it is faulty transmitters. If it is, we will need to wait to get those installed until we are back in WI. We arrived at Happy Trails RV Park around 4pm, which made for a 5 hour drive day. Many Fulltime Rv'ers stick to a firm rule of 3 hours of drive time or be off the road and set up by 3pm. I now can completely understand and appreciate that way of thinking! If we were not needing to be at our destination by Monday, I would not be pushing the drive time soo hard. After these two days of 5 to 7 hours of driving, not to mention in this heat, we are beat! Hopefully a good night sleep and only 3 hours of driving to our final destination tomorrow will be better. I will leave you with some pictures of our lovely full hook up site by the pond. SHOP AMAZON HERE
We participate in the Amazon affiliate program and we appreciate you using our Amazon link above to make your Amazon purchases. It does not cost you anything additional and helps us to support our blog. You can even save our link as a favorite and use that whenever you need to make an Amazon purchase. Thank you!!! The last couple weeks have continued to be busy ones. It feels like the beginning of May was just last week! Alot of things have been happening to ready the house for closing. Our estate sale went well with just a couple hiccups, like the estate sale staff locking themselves out of the house one morning! Now I can look back and laugh, but then it was a bit of a panic moment to figure out how to get them into the house since our real estate agent was about to board a plane for Washington DC and I didn't have the latest lock box code. So how did the estate sale go? Would this be a route we would take again to liquidate all of our belongings? Great and oh YES!! When we last wrote, we had moved the boys and we moved into the RV in the driveway. On Tuesday, the estate sale staff began to set up and organize everything. This is the piece I dreaded doing myself the most. Although we have not hoarded items over the years, there was still a bunch of stuff in the storage room and work room, not to mention the garage and shed. I was absolutely amazed that by the end of Tuesday, almost everything was out on display. It was surreal to walk thru that evening and see everything you had acquired over the years set out for sale. And yes, there were things we forgot we even had. More than I care to mention! LOL Over the next two days, the staff organized and priced everything. This I think is the critical point for folks considering using an estate sale company to sell their belongings of any amount. Obviously, most of your belongings have a sentimental value as well as a dollar value to you. Let's face it, you used your hard earned money to buy all of this stuff and dang it, it has alot of value (to you). I purposely put that in parenthesis because it is true...what you may value your items is quite different than what someone looking to buy it, would value it. This is why I hired professionals. They do this day in and day out. Not only does this company hold estate sales but they also go all over the country buying at estate sales. They understand what prices an item will sell for. Prior to them pricing, we had a great conversation about this very topic. Let me demonstrate with our dining room set. This set was a beautiful tiger wood table with extension and 6 padded chairs, two of them being armed captains chairs. We bought this set in Georgia when we moved into our new home where we had a formal dining room. We wanted a statement piece and this beautiful tiger wood table was it. We paid over $3,000 for the set, which back then was alot for us. In talking with the estate sale staff, they asked, are you looking to get top dollar or are you looking to get rid of things. He said since they are constantly buying and selling things, he could price the set for top dollar and it probably would not sell at the estate sale, but he would then take it back to his warehouse and in the next year, could probably get a higher price for it. Or, the other option was to price it competitively to sell. He said some people have a very strong attachment to things and want top dollar and others want to get rid of things. We decided to be the latter. We had come to the state of mind that things are just that...things. We can get more "things" later if we want. For our purposes, we needed to get rid of everything and we were not about to come back after the sale only to find a house full of stuff because we were priced too high. So with those marching orders, the staff went to pricing everything to sell. EVERYTHING was for sale. From furniture down to copier paper and cleaning supplies and everything in between. The sale started Friday at 9am and was to run through Sunday. By the time Rick and I left the RV at 7am on Friday, there was already someone parked on the road and more coming in. Friday proved to be a super busy day, as was Saturday and Sunday for that matter. They stopped trying to count the number of people coming through and estimated a couple thousand. They said that Friday morning was like a Black Friday morning sale. People were running through the house looking for specific things that they wanted to claim. Many family and friends came to the sale, as well as neighbors, but what surprised us was when the sale staff called us to ask if the new owners of the house, who had just bought most of the furniture and wall hangings, could keep the items in the house rather than move them out and move them back in when the house closes. On the first day of the sale they bought over two thousand dollars worth of stuff, and then bought more on Saturday and again on Sunday. Yes, they came every day and continued to buy more, including that dining room set! I think they really like the house...and our belongings! Once it was all said and done, almost everything sold, including cleaning supplies, liquor and shelves of yard tools and fertilizer. We had some misc items left and we had family and friends come back through to take what they wanted. Most of the remaining will be donated. We did have the option to have them clean everything else up and take it to donate or throw out, but we felt that we would dispose of the rest and donate to get the tax write off. As of today, there is only a couple boxes to donate and the house is empty...except for the items the new homeowners bought. Looking back, I would absolutely hire an estate sale company again. They took care of everything, including advertising and all the hard core bargain hunters that wanted alot for nothing. We did not make a fortune, but we set our expectations low and were pleasantly surprised. Communication with the estate sale staff was great and I would highly recommend them to anyone in the greater Milwaukee area. Ford Bros. Trading Company 414-305-3865, http://fordbros.net. One highlight of the sale happened Saturday afternoon when we came back to the RV to get some items. The sale was still in process and there were many people mulling about, when we heard someone talking to their kids about the house and recounting some memories of when they lived there. We turned around to find the original owner/builder that we bought the house from. This house was a labor of love for him and it held alot of memories. He found out we were selling from his parents and came to show the kids the house, since they were very young when they sold it to us. We had a good time going through the house with him, showing him the upgrades we made and he said that if he knew we were selling he would have bought it back. His goal is to someday buy it back as his retirement home and he loved everything we did to it, which was a real compliment. Just then the estate sale folks said that if we would have been there 30 minutes earlier, we could have met the new homeowners and had all three owners there at once. All in all, it was a good weekend and we are glad to be past that point and now focusing on the closing and activities that go with it. We have a minor repair to make, a radon system to have installed and the well and septic testing. Everything else is on target to close on June 29th. Also during this time, we needed to help find a new (used) vehicle for our oldest son, since his current car was dying a slow death and would not pass emissions testing without alot of work. This turned out to be a quick and painless process and he now has a reliable vehicle he likes. We also got in a great camping trip to one of our favorite parks, Astico County park. We try to camp here once a year with family since it has nice big sites and is a great place to camp as a group. The weather was beautiful, in the high 60's, and we enjoyed celebrating our oldest's 21st birthday. The weekend was full of games, walks and campfires. We had hoped to get out in the kayak but that just did not pan out with everything else we wanted to do. I will say that the strangest thing was getting ready to leave for the campground. This was the first time we did not have to load food, clothes and all the misc into the RV for the camping trip like we usually do. Since we are now living in the RV, it was a matter of hooking up and leaving. That was really slick! We could get used to this! Here are a couple pictures from our camping weekend. SHOP AMAZON HERE
We participate in the Amazon affiliate program and we appreciate you using our Amazon link above to make your Amazon purchases. It does not cost you anything additional and helps us to support our blog. You can even save our link as a favorite and use that whenever you need to make an Amazon purchase. Thank you!!! What a way to kick off the camping season but with snow on the ground! Cool and refreshing! But first, let me tell you about the events that led up to us finally getting on the road. We started the weekend with a frenzied rush to put the finishing touches on the house Friday morning. The realtor and the folks taking the pictures and arial footage came at 9am and I was literally vacuuming the last room! Rick was busy getting the RV ready to pull it out of the driveway so it would not be in the pictures. Then the issues started! The photographer started the pictures and he was loving the staging, getting great shots and then he went downstairs. He came back up with a sheepish grin on his face and said, I found a mouse. WHAT??? Dead? No very much alive and I have him trapped in a room. Oh Hell No!! Yes we live in the country and get them from time to time, but have not seen one in well over a year. Seriously??? On the day the house goes on the market??? Off to tell Rick that he needs to catch a mouse. Well he was having issues of his own with the RV. The back hydraulic jacks weren't coming up. With a bit of work and patience, they finally did. Well, then, with the recent snow/ice storm, the 50 amp power cord seemed to be frozen in the snow/ice and was not budging. By now the photographer was outside and standing in the snow waiting for the RV to leave the driveway. One moment please... With alot of elbow grease and chipping away, we were finally able to get it out into the cul de sac and pictures continued. Then the photographer with the drone started her indoor walk thru, which was pretty cool to watch as she went from room to room. By this time the realtor was putting the multi-lock on the front door and asked for the key to put inside. I went to look for a key and since we never enter into the front door, it took a moment to get some keys. Umm, well, when we replaced the front door, we never had it keyed to the other doors so the keys I was trying did not work. Here we go again, a mad search around the house, dodging the drone lady, to find more sets of keys and nothing was working. By then I was ready to sit down and cry. Where are the keys?? How are realtors going to show the house? Come in through the garage? Lovely!! I look back now and laugh at how crazy I must have looked running around and the entire time the realtor was soo calm! I am sure she has seen much worse. By now Rick was back and he tried the keys including the shiny new looking keys on a ring all by themselves. BINGO! They worked. Just took a bit more to push them in since the lock had never been used. Alright then! With drone arial footage done, we finished up with the realtor and set off on down the road to a relaxing weekend of camping. Here is how the house looked after all the snow we got this last week. Would have loved to have a snow-less yard but oh well, she looks pretty in the snow too. We stopped in town for a bite to eat for lunch and a socket to put the anode rod back in the water heater. Then we were on our way. The campground, Ottowa Lake State Park, was only an hour from our house and took the freeways through Milwaukee to get there. Traffic was not bad at all, which made for a stress free drive since this is only the second time camping with the new 5th wheel. We arrived a little after 1pm and was surprised to find out that they were going to be pretty busy for the weekend, even with all the snow on the ground. We checked in and had to fill up with water at the welcome station since they had not turned on the water at the dump station or at the restrooms. While filling up, we met a really nice couple, Allen & Lynn, from Madison, WI who were taking their new to them 5th wheel out for the first time. Rick was more than happy to help them through filling up and getting their water system ready for use. We chated with them and their friends and took tours of each others RV's. Allen was even smart enough to bring a shovel which came in handy for our sites. Once we got to our site, we found that even though it was a sunny site, it was still snow covered. The temperature was in the 40's and it was getting a bit slushy in the gravel drive and pad area. The firepit had a mound of snow in it. Rick did a great job positioning the rig on the first try and the new observation/backup camera really came in handy! We quickly set up and then began the snow removal process since it was starting to melt and making things a bit soupy. As you can see above, we put the mat out in front of the door because that is where we were getting a bit soupy. I scooped out the firepit and Rick got the handy dandy collapsible metal rake out, which did a fine job of combing the snow. LOL However, we wanted it to go away a little faster and he went and borrowed Allen and Lynn's shovel and in no time we had a nice opening around the fire and a path to the truck. At this point it was time to sit back, start a fire, have a cocktail and soak up the sunshine and watch all the other folks pull in for the weekend. It sure is nice to get to the campground early and people watch! There were 2 groups of boy scouts in tents and a couple other tents as well as pop-up campers and other assorted RV's. Friday turned out to be a beautiful day in the high 40's with sunshine and blue skies. Perfect for a camp fire. We ended up grilling some filets and had it with some rice pilaf and boozy sauteed mushrooms, oh and a bottle of wine. Not your average camping fare but it was the first camping night so we did it up special! Saturday we needed to make a run into town to get a couple items we forgot to stock in the RV...like toothpaste! We stumbled upon this little convenience store/gas station and found that they had a whole meat case with fresh meat and salads. Well alrighty then! We got these cheddar burgers for lunch and they were fantastic over the open flame. Now, before you think that all we did was eat all weekend, you are right!!! LOL We did get a couple other things in, but with Saturday not being a sunny, warm day, we stayed close to the campground instead of hiking the trails. We went for a nice scenic ride, took a couple walks around the campground, read and just plain relaxed! After a crazy, busy week of getting the house ready to sell, it felt good not to have to do much of anything if we didn't want to. Saturday night, friends came to visit and Rick cooked another wonderful dinner and we played Left, Right, Center dice games. For those that aren't familiar, it is a dice game played with quarters and dice marked with L, C, R and a black dot. You do exactly what the dice you roll says. So if you roll three L, then you pass three quarters to the person on your left. Well, Saturday night was not my night and I did not win a single game, nor did Rick. Denise and Elwyn left with full bellies and wallets! Sunday we did some more relaxing and made a leisurely "big breakfast" , as we call it when we camp, of cheesy scrambled eggs and hashbrowns and thick sliced bacon over the fire. By Sunday late morning, the sun had come back out and our site was starting to shed more of it's snowy blanket. This is what it looked like when we were about to leave. Hook up, dumping and the drive back went well. We took the RV up to my Dad's to park it while the house is on the market. We also met the folks who were buying our old camper there as well, so that they could come get it. We had stored it for them for the winter inside at my dad's and they were grateful for that since they did not have a storage place lined up. We are now back home and always in "show the home'' mode. I am constantly making sure everything looks just right so we can leave at a moments notice if someone wants to come look at it. We had 5 showings over the weekend and one of those being a second showing. We will see what happens with those, but look forward to more traffic this week. We continue to get things ready as well for the estate sale happening in 3 short weeks. In two weeks, we move the boys to their new location and Rick and I will float between there and the RV. It will be strange to say the least, but we are excited for the next chapter! Search Amazon Here
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