After leaving MO we headed to Arkansas to our first regional Grand Design rally.  We had been to the national rally in IN last year and really wanted to attend some of the regional rallies.  We were excited that we would be able to work in two rallies on our way to our winter destination.  We headed south through MO into AR via Hwy 65 that proved to be a picturesque, narrow at times, drive through the countryside.  We have never been to this part of the country and it was really beautiful country.  We had some inclimate weather and a short stay, but would like to come back and explore more someday.

Our final destination in Arkansas was Catherine's Landing RV Park in Hot Springs.  This was where the inaugural Grand Design Rally for Arkansas was being held.  It was a great park, with the perfect venue for a rally.  The park was located along Lake Catherine in a quiet setting with full hook up sites, a pool and hot tub, golf carts to rent and a zip line adventure course.  Unfortunately, with the rally and some inclement weather, we weren't able to really check out the amenities.  

The weather was quite warm, in the mid 90's when we arrived so set up was a quick one.  Luckily our site was across from a wooded area with a babbling brook that provided some afternoon shade.  Once we got situated we checked in at the rally and the festivities were on!  Moix RV was hosting the rally and did a great job of keeping everyone informed, entertained and well fed!!!  It was great to see some of our Grand Design family again and add more to the group.  We were fortunate to make new friends and even had two over to play some hand and foot card games!  Alot of great food, fellowship and fun was had and the weekend went by too quickly.  ​

Most of the rally attendees pulled out on Sunday but we made plans to stay another day and take in some of the mineral baths that Hot Springs has to offer.  We booked time for a couples mineral springs soak and massage at Quapaw Baths & Spa and thoroughly enjoyed our time there!  Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to go to the national park service and tour the Bathhouse Row but we saw some of the bath houses on the row.

We make a point to try some of the local cuisine and got a good taste of some at a catered rally dinner, complete with some fried catfish and hushpuppies.  We then went out to sample some of the local Mexican cuisine and were not disappointed!!  Rick also managed to squeeze in a quick visit with an Army buddy who he roomed with in Germany.  

Our time in AR went by very quickly but we made every minute count and now are looking forward to our next rally in Texas!

​​SHOP AMAZON HERE
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We said goodbye to family and friends and hit the road west to Iowa on a cold and rainy Sunday morning.  The Amana Colonies would be our first stop on our meandering trip south to Texas where we will spend several months exploring all of what Texas has to offer.  7 1/2 months to be exact!  Hopefully we will get a really good feel for the state in that time.

Most of our travel to the Amana Colonies was in rain and once we arrived at the Amana RV Park, the rain had finally stopped but the humidity was in force.  We could tell they got a good bit of rain as there were big puddles everywhere and some soupy looking sites.  We were fortunate to get one that wasn't as soggy, but still had puddles and mud.  We were only staying two nights so we really didn't mind.  The rv park is quite large and hosts several rallies every year.  We had a FHU site that we booked for two nights, and with our PassportAmerica discount, it was only $39 total.  Really loving these 50% off discounts we get with Passport America.  We stayed in the first night and just chilled and planned for our next day of exploring the Amana Colonies.   

The next day was going to be a hot, humid day so we planned to do our walk thru of the main Amana colony shops and museum in the morning and save driving around to the 6 other villages for the hot afternoon.  The majority of the shops and restaurants are in the main Amana village that is close to the the RV Park.  There is something for everyone, especially those that enjoy wineries and antiques.  

We first visited the museum, that was an $8 admission but included a very well done 20 minute movie that detailed the history of the colonies and the people that lived there.  We also toured one of the original colony buildings that had alot of historical information and artifacts.  If you enjoy reading, this is the place for you!!!  It was a bit overwhelming with all of the documents that were available to read.  To sum it up for you, the Amana Colonies is a utopian-like community, made up of 7 villages.  The people of the colonies are of German descent and came over from Germany in the mid-1800's looking for a new home where they could practice their beliefs and avoid religious persecution.  All residents were supplied necessities, including clothing and housing in exchange for their work in the community.  Communal kitchens supplied meals to all village residents and church services occurred several times throughout the week.  Many think the people of the Amana colonies are Amish, however, they are very different in that they embrace technology and were very forward thinking in that respect.

After leaving the museum, we walked thru downtown, visiting several shops and wineries.  It is a good thing we no longer own a house because the Christmas shop would have made alot of money off of me that day!  We only purchased consumables, like wine, chocolates and several different meats from the Meat Shop.  Alot of the stores had samples, which contributed greatly to our purchases!  They know how to get you!

​All of that shopping and walking made us hungry so we stopped by the Millstream Brewery Brau Haus and Rick had a flight of their beers, I had a glass of yummy riesling and we munched on their german pretzel and beer cheese soup.  Everything was delicious and the restaurant resembled a bavarian beer hall.

After lunch we set out on our driving tour of the other villages.  It was still very humid and with temps in the low 90's, we were more than happy to just drive through the villages.  Most of the shops we saw were either antiques or art, and since we do not have room for either, we didn't stop.  We did however stop at the High Amana General Store and glad we did.  The store was a glimpse back into what a general store would have looked like back in the day, but it also had handmade items from local artisans.  One thing that caught my eye was a handmade miniature size nativity scene.  It was beautifully carved wood figures with differing stains and the artist listed on the bottom all of the beautiful woods he used to craft this beauty.  We had a large nativity scene in our old sticks and bricks, which was too big for the RV.  This one was the perfect size and will have a special place in our new home at Christmas!

Later that evening we had a german dinner at the Ronneburg Restaurant.  It is located in one of the original communal kitchens and each dining room has a unique german theme.  We are suckers for a good german dinner and this one did not disappoint.  We went home happy and full!

 The next day we packed up and headed south to Jefferson City, MO.  Our friends live there and we found a Harvest Host winery near town to spend the night, and bonus, it had a restaurant.  Dinner at Canterbury Hill Winery was delicious, the views were beautiful, the wine was wonderful and the company even better!   Even though we get to stay for free as part of the Harvest Host program, we try to spend some money there or utilize their establishment.  We certainly did this time, but hey, we would have been drinking wine and eating dinner somewhere, so why not there.  See, I can reason that one!  We were the only ones staying the night, so we had the place to ourselves.  It was a hot day again so we cooled the RV down with the generator running and then turned it off for the night.  We ended up turning it back on again for awhile during the night as the temps were still around 80 and humid.  By morning it was finally in the mid 70's and we were packed up and on our way by 8:30.

We are now headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas to our first of two rallies with fellow Grand Design owners.  We went to the national rally last year in Elkhart, IN and are looking forward to our first regional rally...and then another in TX.  Stay tuned for all the rally shenanigans and antics!

​​SHOP AMAZON HERE
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Sometimes you go into something with high hopes and a positive attitude but you soon realize it just wasn't going to work.  No, we are not talking about our RV life!  We are talking about our latest workamping gig.  We signed up and interviewed for our latest workamping gig way back in March when we were in Mesa, AZ.  We had a virtual face to face interview with the local Lifetouch leadership team that we would be working with in WI and came away from that interview with a really good feeling that this would be a good fit for us, and it was...except for the fact that because of past surgeries and medical issues, my body did not agree!  We started with training and shadowing on a Monday and by Wednesday it was very apparent that I was not going to make it.  We felt really bad not being able to finish out our assignment but we finished out the week and left our company paid campground spot on Labor Day.

For anyone considering workamping with Lifetouch, your benefits are great!  You get your FHU campsite, every hour paid, pay for travel time, mileage and a gas card as well as company shirts to wear.  The job itself is taking school and ID pictures for Pre-K thru 12 but we mostly had Pre-K through 8.  We were split between two markets so our travel times were going to be longer, but we were paid for that time.  We had lots of training and shadowing to set up the lights/camera and backdrops and props.  This would be a great workamping position for someone who can stand for a good amount of time, set up the kits and work with children.  We met a couple other workampers and they really enjoyed it!  

From there we headed back up to our favorite family moochdocking spot at my Dad's and are spending the month of September there.  The peaceful setting gives us time to relax and visit with family, getting lots of hand and foot card games in!  

​We also had a going away party for my sister and her boyfriend who are moving to CA for a couple years while he finishes his studies at Stanford.  Always good to see extended family!

We also got to see the nearly finished resto-mod 1938 Lincoln Zephyr my dad has been restoring.  It is a far cry from the state he bought it in.  Really a beauty!

We took a day to go explore a beautiful park in Fond du Lac nearby.  Lakeside Park is located on the shores of Lake Winnebago.  This 400 acre park is a real gem!  There is a marina, lighthouse, ball diamonds, petting zoo, fountains, playgrounds, picnic areas, kayak rentals and a meandering river through the park with several bridges.  The landscaping is beautiful and well cared for.  We were there on a Sunday and volunteers were busy deadheading plants and picking up trash.

While we are in the area, we also started giving the boys their Christmas presents.  This year is all about "experience" presents.  Our youngest, Brady, has always loved Hamilton, knows every single song and has always wanted to go see the Broadway production in NY.  Well we did the next best thing and took the boys to see the Broadway production in Chicago.  It was an amazing show, with seats in the first row center of the first balcony, we had a great view of the stage!  The CIBC theatre is a beautiful, historic theatre dating back to the gilded age.  The show was amazing and had you laughing and crying.  Yes grown men were wiping their eyes!  After the show, we went to The Italian Village, one block over for a wonderful italian meal.  This restaurant dates back to 1927 and is still family owned.  What a great way to spend a Sunday in Chicago!  Nicholas' "experience" Christmas gift will be later this year in TX.  Again, something he has always wanted to do.  

We also were fortunate enough to get 4 free tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers game through VetTix.  If you are a military service member and have not looked into this program, it is awesome and you need to!  Companies and individuals donate tickets to things like sporting events, shows, concerts, etc. for these military members to use.  We have mentioned this in prior posts and cannot say enough good things about it!  We took Brady and my Dad, since Nicholas had to work.

Rick has also had time to put together a little invention he has been thinking about that will help him dump tanks with the macerator with relative ease.  For the macerator to work, it needs 12 volt power and having the truck right near the macerator to power off the truck battery isn't always going to be possible, so Rick made a hook up cord to solve for that.  Some folks do mount a power receptacle in the RV bay or power off the RV battery, but Rick liked this solution for greater flexibility.  He used a 25 ft, softer rubber coated, 14 gauge ext cord, cut off the end and wired in battery clamps attached to a battery tender cord, that wired into the extension cord.  He did cut the battery tender cord as well to wire in a 12 volt switch where he can easily turn power on/off to the macerator. On the other end of the extension cord he wired in 12 volt, male/female connectors that attached to the connectors on the macerator.  On tip on this wiring configuration is to keep black battery clamp to black wire all the way through the line.  This set up works really slick and we are now able to dump tanks just about anywhere, giving us greater flexibility in the locations we camp.

​He also replaced thecabin filter in our F350 truck and a missing clip on the outside refrigerator vent.  

​We are wrapping up our time here in WI and will soon be making our way south.  As luck would have it, now that we are no longer committed to a workamping gig for October, we have been able to sign up for TWO Grand Design rallies in Arkansas and Texas.  We are super excited to see some Grand Design owners we met at a previous rally and meet some new ones!  We are also meeting up with friends in MO on our way to the rallies.  

​SHOP AMAZON HERE
Would you like to help support our blog and keep these updates coming?  It is easy to help, just do your Amazon shopping through the link above.  You still get all your Amazon Prime benefits and the prices are the same.  Since we are in the Amazon affiliate program,  any shopping you do through our link, provides a little kickback to support this blog.  
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