RVing at it's best!
2000

January 15, 2000
Coachmen 191 met at the Glenaire Club House and had a nice roast prepared by John and Linda along with other good eats.  Had a planning meeting for the rest of the year and work on the upcoming RV show.  Football also seemed to be on everyone's mind with major playoffs taking place!  This was also the 121 club meeting in Falls City, NB at the Vondershcmidt home.  We had a baby show to attend and it was a single effort for me to make the 191 meeting and Carol didn't do either but did make the shower.

February 19, 2000
Coachmen 121 had a nice lunch at Jo and Jim's place and then about 20 of us went to the Steamboat Arabia Museum at the River Market here in Kansas City.  That was more than quite an event.  The Steamboat Arabia and the history associated with the riverboat trade on the Missouri was a real learning experience enjoyed by all.  The club then went to Stroud's for dinner while Carol and I went to her mom and dad's for a 56th Anniversary celebration.

February 23-27, 2000
Kansas City Spring RV Show is where we'll spend a lot of time this week.  Both clubs will be helping the folks at I-35 RV in getting set up and greeting people at the show.

March 16-19, 2000
Carol and Myself along with Madison (3 year old granddaughter) went up to Wallace State Park, MO (6 miles south of Cameron off Mo Rt 121).  We were a day early for the weekend campout and it felt good to get out of town.  We spent a quiet night.  Two other club members were also there (Loges and Parker) but there were no activities.  We were late after eating a late dinner with Madison's Mom, Dad, and sister Amanda.  I drove back Friday afternoon and picked up Amanda from school and we went back up to the campsite.  It was trying to rain a little Friday night and we roasted hotdogs over the open fire.  The kids enjoyed the satellite dish with the cold and rain keeping them in.
I got the couch in the front of the motorhome and went to bed early.  Had to get up Saturday at 5:30 and drive back to work all day.  Saturday night we had a real nice potluck dinner at the shelter house in the State Park.  Ruth Ann received a little gift that Carol and I had for her.  The photos tell it all <grin>.  We gave her a roll of 'natural' toilet paper that I had come across in my shop.  It is actually a roll of straw that has been molded and formed to look just like a roll of TP.  She got a kick out of that one!
We awoke Sunday morning to snow... not real deep or anything but there were a couple of inches on the ground.  Very wet and a lot of conversation getter there!  Elden and Madalyne decided early on that they had better head back for Nebraska 'cause it was reported to be worse their home direction.
We stayed around and were the next to the last to leave.  As you'll see from the pictures... David's parents came by for a visit so they were the last left there as we left. <PICTURES HERE>

April 07-09, 2000
Carol was scheduled to go to Osage Beach with her mom and a daughter Cheri... which left Roy by himself.  I took the motorhome and headed for Bennett Springs State Park with Coachmen 121.  I arrived around dinner time and after setting up went to the Lodge for dinner.  Bennett Springs has a really nice dining lodge with a buffet right in the park.  The rest of the stay was a quiet one with a tour of the park escorted by Jack on Saturday.  A pot luck Saturday evening provided an excellent dinner.  Didn't really do much on this trip other than relax and enjoy.  Drove back Sunday around noon and had an uneventful trip.  Great lunch at the truck stop in Collins, MO.  When they say 'ham and eggs' it was a ham steak and eggs.  Coachmen 191 went to Talley Bend and they had a bit of a problem with the electricity going off.  They ended up going on to Higginsville to complete the weekend.  <PICTURES HERE>

April 14-16, 2000
State planning meeting in Higginsville.  I had to work so Carol stayed down in Higginsville while I drove back to work and pick up Amanda.  Amanda wanted to play with the other kids there.  Carol made chocolate chip cookies for everyone.  There was an auction of pure junk it looked like at the 4-H building.  Not much there.  Other than that we had a nice BBQ dinner Saturday night at the Bates City BBQ. <PICTURES HERE>

April 19-20, 2000
Took the motorhome to St Louis for a Microsoft training class.  Parked in their parking lot for the night and got up to walk right into the building to get the training.  My internet service is part of the Microsoft Early Adopter Program.

April 29-30, 2000
Carol and I went to Montrose, MO at the wildlife area to enjoy the fish fry with other members of the Coachmen clubs.  The fellas spend a couple of weeks fishing and then they fix up one heck of a nice fish fry.  Camping is primitive with no water, electric, etc. available.  Not a big deal when we all have generators and such.

May 5-7, 2000
Coachmen 191 Deer Run campout.  We won't be able to make this one.  Plans with kids to go to the lake.  Have a birthday party for a friend also on the 6th.  His birthday is actually the 9th while mine is the 8th.  The birthday party won out.  The kids have had fun without us.  I actually spent a lot of time in the motorhome this weekend.  Rearranged a lot of the shelves and equipment to better address the actual usage habits.  After awhile you find that there are things that are readily available that don't need to be and other things that would sure work better where you can get to them.  I just addressed these issues.  I also rewired the whole satellite/entertainment system to remove a lot of excess wire and put in a better quality cable.  I'm going to put in a new stereo that will work with the TV to produce a better sound and play CDs.

May 19-21, 2000
Friday we got a late start since my son-in-law Joe had an alternator failure and had to be towed in.  We stopped and ate on the way down and of course a complimentary stop at the Wal-Mart in Warrensburg for a few late supplies.  We got into Truman State Park and had camping site 21 waiting for us.  Everyone had arrived already that was coming on the campout and everyone had pretty much gone to bed.  President Jim Walls came over and helped us get in place.  We had a small problem which created a lot of humor for us.  The satellite went right up and found its mark.  The grandkids went to turn on the TV in the bedroom area and my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter Madison was on the bed waiting to watch cartoons.  The TV failed and the screen just came up pink.  So much for a year old TV that had only been used a few times since it was bolted into the motorhome.  I commented that the TV was bad and there was nothing we could do.  Madison (just out of the blue) says "We'll just have to go to Wal-Mart and get another one."  And she gets up and starts getting ready to go.  I explained to her that it was late and we'd have to wait until the next day to go get a 'new one'.   We did take care of that on Saturday.  Amanda had a good time and met the grandkids of Tom and Donna Goff.  They played and we really didn't do a whole lot for activity this weekend.  There were two new members, John and Sue Cutshall, that were in attendance.  Obie and I cooked the crab legs and shrimp, along with the potatoes and corn... and ate around 4:30 or so. Ruth Ann provided the humor and gave me a new pair of underwear that she had located.  They had colorful decorations and accessories such as a whistle and a cork, along with a a corncob and some paper.<grin>  Jack had a great fire going and we all had a nice business meeting and an evening around the fire.  Sunday, it began to rain and put a bit of a dampener on the day.  We toured the park and headed home following Jack and Dorothy.  They had had a failure on the way down and didn't want to head back without someone making sure they were good to go.  The drive home was uneventful.  We had a nice lunch at the Country Meat Market just south of Harrisonville, MO.

May 26-29, 2000
Our annual Memorial Day weekend was spent this year at Lake Paradise in Oak Grove, MO.  We have a membership there and several other of the campers we normally camp with were there.  David and Ruth Ann Francis, Obie and Sue Oberweather,  Ed and Kathy Campbell, along with John and Linda Loges.  We found several other friends camping around the park.  The park was probably 90% full.  A good time was had by all.  The kids went swimming and hiked around the park.  There was a play area for the kids to swing and slide.
Saturday night we cooked together and Obie did the ribs and chicken wings.  The usual fruit and vegetables were present.  A nice campfire provided a place to cook 'somemores'.  Good 'ol Hershey's chocolate bars, roasted marshmallows, and graham crackers.  It was almost too nice to go to bed.  The weather was excellent after a Friday night of heavy rain.  We had three of our grandkids with us by then.  Amanda, Madison, and Alyssa enjoyed the fun.
Sunday was another nice day and Sunday evening we all had fish... perch, bass, shark, and crab legs.  I had another case of crab legs and brought half of them with us.  That was just about right for the smaller group that was at Lake Paradise.  We made home made ice cream.  Had some strawberry with Ruth Ann's home grown, fresh picked strawberries.  The other batch was good ol' vanilla.  Obie and I forced ourselves to have root beer floats made out of it.  In fact we had a couple of floats each... and then tried the excellent strawberry ice cream.  So much for the diet.
Monday was also a leisurely day for the crowd.  Ed Campbell got up and fixed breakfast for everyone.  Carol and kids apparently slept in.  I missed that breakfast as I had to go back to KC to work.  Every year the same thing... direct traffic in front of Floral Hills Memorial gardens for the folks that are coming to see the 2600+ flags for the veterans.  Each year flags are retired and new ones are placed.  There is usually quite a crowd but this year we estimated that there were perhaps half the normal crowd.  It just didn't seem to draw as many people this year.
After working I went back to Lake Paradise and went swimming with the grandkids.  Two of our kids with their husbands and the grandkids were out.  They had already eaten a lunch.  We made ice cream after swimming and a good time was had by all.  Everyone left around 7PM and the wife and I packed up and came home.  <PICTURES HERE>

June 05-09, 2000
Carol, Granddaughter Amanda, and I decided to head over to the Coachmen Kansas State Rally a day early since there was nothing going on around home.  We drove over to the Crossroads RV Park which is 3/10ths of a mile north of the intersection of State Highway 268 and US 75.  The park is located on the west side of the road there and is very nice.  All but 6 of the sites are pull-thru and full service.  We had 50 AMP electrical and no leveling required at all.  Put down the jacks to stabilize and we were set up.  The campground offered an excellent restroom facility with spacey shower areas and a nice laundry area.  Everything was clean and well kept.  There was a public use building available to the club for meetings, etc.  In case of a weather emergency there was a tornado shelter complete with generator for power.  We walked around their 1 mile long walk set up around a field w/benches every so often to rest on if needed.  We've got to get our exercise <grin>.

Crossroads was the highlight of the trip.  It was an excellent park run by really nice folks.  The facilities were excellent and the area is well cared for.  The rest of the weekend we'll give to the Kansas Rally...
When we arrived on Thursday, Cleve & Zela, Frank & Judy, and John and Linda (Missouri members) all arrived within 15 minutes of the time we got there.  Missouri had quite a representation for the Kansas Rally.
Thursday evening there was a potluck dinner and some really fine dessert was available such as Boston Cream Pie among other things.  There were some 30 units at the rally.  Everyone sat around and visited Thursday evening.  Friday we spent part of the day with Cleve and Zela Lovvorn and went up to Lyndon, KS for lunch at A & L Cafe.  We then went over to Lake Pomona, a Corps of Engineers site, and toured it.  There were literally hundreds of campsites and multiple camping areas from primitive to sites with electrical service.  Most had plenty of shade available.  There were also a lot of places to put in your boat and shelter houses were available.
After returning to Crossroads RV Park... Cleve, Richard, and myself ran up to Ned Hiatt's Country RV Sales (rally sponsors) and did a little window shopping for RVs.  The one I want was definitely a nice one and will require some creative financing. <grin>  We came back to Crossroads and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting.  Everyone got together and cooked hot dogs and we had a nice casual dinner.  There was a dinner theater playhouse offered but for the ones that stayed back it was obvious that the additional $34 per couple price tag was not appreciated.
Saturday morning there was a flag raising ceremony and breakfast served by the Kansas Chapter.  Here's where the rally got to the point that I was not satisfied at all.  The rally was attended by an older generation.  I'm not all that young but compared to the group that must have set this up... I was a kid.  That information weighs heavily on the rest of the rally.  Breakfast was biscuits and gravy and an eggbeater casserole that could use some work.  I've been known to eat pretty much anything but left a good part of mine on the plate.  The drinks were water and tang.
There were some fun games played such as bocce ball, washer toss, and bean bag baseball.  A good time was had by all.  Amanda played bean bag baseball and had a ball!  Cleve loaned us his Explorer since we had the old Jeep with no rear seat in it.  We went to Ottawa, KS to pick up another granddaughter... Kristina and she spent Saturday evening with us.  This was good for Amanda to have a friend/cousin to play with.  We had Cleve's car washed at a benefit car wash next to Wal-Mart and had lunch at the Sirloin Stockade with Kristina, her step-sister Samantha, dad Brian and our daughter Stephanie.  Lunch was excellent.  There basically were no other kids her age to play with around the camp.  The Kansas folks were showing their age.  Lunch was on our own and we pretty much skipped lunch for Carol and I and the kids had a sandwich.  Dinner was supposed to be furnished by the Kansas Rally folks.  Steak, salad, green beans, baked potato, water or tang.
Dinner was a disaster in my opinion and the opinion of others.  The charcoal wasn't started properly and in time.  Charcoal lighter fluid was put on the charcoal to try to spur it on... with the steaks on the grill.  Our steaks all had that smell and taste of lighter fluid.  Most of our group didn't even eat their steaks, nor much else of the dinner.  The 'baked potatoes' were cooking potatoes that were too small to be called 'baked potatoes' and Carol indicated that the two little potatoes she had weren't done.  There were no condiments offered that I saw.  We brought our own silverware but plastic disposable plates were furnished.  Here's where it really gets ridiculous... water and tang to drink.  We paid good money for what was supposed to be a furnished dinner.  Pop is available for about a quarter a can at Sam's club and most grocery stores.  Store brands are cheaper.  2 liter bottles bring the price down further poured over a little ice.  Iced tea would have been nice and I'm sure there were those that would like coffee if they drank it.
None of the above were available.  Poor planning and even worse execution on this meal.
After dinner there was entertainment.  Lorena Prater did some real nice singing.  After about an hour performance Carol thought that the young lady was taking a break and that we'd get to hear some more.  Not so... that was it and she was history.  There was an auction in a dark tent.  The dinner fiasco had pushed back the entertainment and auction and there were no provisions for lights in the tent that Ned Hiatt's RV had been nice enough to put up for the group.  The auction was a sale of donated items to the rally and there's nothing like blind bidding on an item you can't see. <grin>  Also, awards were given out for the games.  Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen was available as a courtesy of Ned Hiatt's.
Sunday seemed to be a day of leaving and not much else.  Many of our friends left early to get back for other commitments and to get ready for the Missouri rally next week.  We stayed around and had a leisurely day.  Drove back through Edgerton and dropped off Kristina.  It rained a little Sunday but nothing that was overpowering.

June 14-18, 2000
Carol and I took the RV down to Higginsville, MO for the 2000 Coachmen Missouri State Rally.  We arrived late due to some driving I had to do earlier in the day to pick up several 'Wienie Rollers' for our camping.  Had to go out of town to get them.  Picked up Carol's mother Betty on the way back through Olathe, KS.  Betty likes to camp with us and we looked forward to the rally.  We had a late supper Wednesday night after we arrived, and went on to bed 'cause it was getting late.
Thursday was a day of preparation for the rally and all worked to get tables set up and other such things.  The Missouri State President John Loges had again mustered one heck of a rally.  His efforts over the last eight years have been exemplary.  Thursday night a tradition was in store for us as Billy Rummins cooked ribs on the grill while John and Frank deep fried turkeys for everyone that had come early.  Donations were accepted to offset the expenses for the meal.  Pot luck completed the meal and everyone was stuffed.
Friday was a day of checking in the rest of the 67 units that had not arrived until then.  Motorhomes, fifth wheels and trailers were among the arrivals.  Didn't have a single pop-up camper.  Young campers... where were you?  There were only about a dozen kids at the campout.  There were a lot more 'seasoned' RVers.  I also spent some time working on fellow campers with satellite problems and getting folks parked and set up.  Friday evening I-35 RV had purchased the dinner which was a really long Subway sandwich.  Actually it was quite tasty and there was plenty for all.  Entertainment was provided by a young couple that sang gospel and country music.  Root beer floats were a tasty dessert after all the singing.
Saturday AM was the traditional biscuits and gravy meal along with pot luck breakfast.  More than enough to eat... to say the least.  After breakfast there were games for the kids and adults alike with a scavenger hunt for the adults.  Sheets were given out listing the businesses in the Higginsville area that were participating and there were three tickets on the top of each sheet.  The goal was to match the ticket to a winning ticket at one of the participating merchants.  Complementary gifts were given by the merchant for a winning ticket.  After we got back we kicked back  for a bit and then I drove back to KC to pick up Amanda.  After getting Amanda it was back to Higginsville and a wonderful catered dinner from Bates City BBQ.  Entertainment for the night was The Krazy Kats from Olathe, KS.  They do old time rock and roll and there was plenty of dancing to be done.  After the dancing there was ice cream and cake.  We were beat by that time.
Sunday morning was a light breakfast and packing up.  10 AM was the state meeting and new officers were elected.  11 AM was one of the local chapters (121) meeting and I did a presentation on my web page and some other ideas that I have regarding the camping out.  Finished packing, emptied the unit at the dump station and went to a nice father's day lunch with my daughter Nikki at Countryside Inn in Odessa, MO.  Back home after a wonderful weekend.

As a side note... Carol and I have been shopping for a new RV.  We're thinking of doing some trading... who knows?

June 28-July 3/00
Took the motorhome out to Lake Paradise on Wednesday morning so I could get a decent spot.  It seems that there were some 20 less units this year compared to last year when the final count was in.  I did get a full service spot where the satellite dish would get out.  This was important with the bevy of grandkids that I was taking out there with me.  Had to get back and work Wednesday but went out Thursday with five (5) of the grandkids.  My wife stayed home.  The kids and I had a ball.  They were so tired by the time it came to go to bed... they all dropped off pretty quickly.  Thursday evening before bed we went into Oak Grove and got to see a couple of the grand kids play softball.  I was really impressed with the games and the kids all had fun at the city park where the games were.
Friday I came back into town and picked up Carol and we went back out with four of the grandkids and spent the rest of the weekend.  Most of it was spent swimming with the grandkids.  I was pretty much beat from carrying around Madison, the 3 1/2 year old.  Uppy, uppy seemed to be her call.  It was a long walk to the pool from our campsite.  Water pressure went down while we were there and a part of the resort lost electricity.  Neither was an inconvenience since we were 'camping'! <grin>  We had plenty of water and we just turned on the motorhome pump to keep the pressure up. The tank could fill at its leisure.
Saturday evening we had a beautiful fireworks display at Lake Paradise.  We had an added bonus in that the City of Long Jack had their fireworks display and it was clearly visible from where we were sitting.  Two for the price of one! <grin>  Nikki, Cheri and families came out to see the displays so we had quite a crowd there.
Sunday morning there was a pancake breakfast at the pavilion and afterward a brief board of directors presentation was done.  Current status of the park was briefly covered and the staff was introduced.  Had some homemade ice cream Sunday evening after dinner.
Monday it was up early and pack up to leave.  Had to get back to get to work.  There were a few others that had left the camp already.  There were still about two-thirds of the campers on site though.

July 14-16, 2000
Carol and I left at about 5 PM on Friday after doing some work for a customer that ran me late.  We went down 69 Highway in Kansas to Ft. Scott.  A right on US 54 and another right to the Fort Scott Campground and we were there.  A quick and easy trip and there was a lot to see in Fort Scott.  We were joined by 6 other Coachmen campers from Roddy's Rowdys.  Friday night we fixed hotdogs and hamburgers on David's grill and had a variety of the usual additions to this low profile meal.  Plans were made for the next morning and we all got together to go into town.  We rode on the 11 AM Trolley tour through Fort Scott.  It seems that the fort is of great interest and there is a lot of architecture and history to be seen.  The Trolley needed the A/C fixed and it was another 100 degree day we were starting on so it was hot.  We toured the fort and checked out the antique stores downtown after grabbing a sandwich for lunch.  We also purchased tickets for the Fort Scott Jubilee that evening.
The antiques were routine.  Fort Scott itself was definitely interesting and there was a lot of history and information on how these folks lived... and died on the frontier.  At 5 PM we all went to the Red Barn just down the road from the campground to eat dinner.  Dinner was excellent to say the least.  Servers were pleasant and the food was served in a timely fashion.  After dinner we killed some time at the campground and then went to a 7:30 Fort Scott Jubilee show in the auditorium at City Hall.
The seating was somewhere beyond cramped and the seats were hard to boot.  Even my little wife didn't have room for her legs, so you can imagine what room I had coming in at over 300 lbs.  I got up to go to the men's room and didn't bother to come back.  It was cooler and more comfortable standing in the hall.  At intermission it was quickly decided by David, Ruth Ann, Carol and myself to vacate the place and go get a Dairy Queen Blizzard.  The show had some good singing but the sound system was pitiful and the choreography was pretty much none existent.  We didn't waste our money but we got pretty close.
The next day (Sunday) we had a pot luck breakfast that was fantastic and then everyone packed up to go home.  We spent some time in the pool before packing up so that we could cool off and not be too early getting back to Edgerton, KS for one of our granddaughter's 8th birthday.
Obviously we didn't make the 191 campout at Weston Bend.  It was someplace we had been and didn't want to miss Fort Scott.

July 31-August 9, 2000
The Gillette trip for the Coachmen International Rally has a lot of info in it so I've made it a separate page. <CLICK HERE>

August 17-20, 2000
Louis and Clark State Park appeared to be filling up and there would not be room for us so Carol and I went to Ol' MacDonald's Farm located between St Joseph and Savannah just off of old 71 Highway.  They have quite a layout with a rodeo, meeting building and entertainment stage.  The new owner was working on getting the camp up to specs.  He reports that the electricity will be brought up to 50 AMP service within the next year.  We had 30 AMP in one section.   The rest of the camp had 20 AMP service (old boxes w/fuses).  Listing on KC Area Sites page.  Jack and Dorothy Torrens went up early with us and we spent a quiet Thursday evening.   Friday evening there were 12 units from Coachmen 121 present.  We all went out to dinner at the local BBQ restaurant.  Saturday was spent running into St Joseph and hitting the proverbial Wal-Mart Supercenter.  And then the rains came.  The rodeo went on... rain and all.  We had a club meeting and some suggestions were offered for next years campouts.  I passed out a copy of the KC Area Sites page to everyone.  A report was given on the Coachmen International Rally in Gillette, WY.  A birthday cake and ice cream was provided by Bill and Phyllis Fernau for Jack Torrens and Carol Timberman, both of who appeared to have been born on August 19th... a few years apart.  And then the rains came.  We barely made it back to the motorhomes before the rains really busted loose.  All night it rained.  Very little wind.  Smithville had severe winds and a lot of damage.  We were luckier.  Sunday we got up and visited around until about 1 PM and then had to get back for a birthday party for Amanda.  We did not go to the Big Lake State Park w/191.  We have resigned from 191 and become members at large (MAL).  We will be camping with 191 in the future but just not this time.

September 6-10, 2000
We left at about 6:30 PM on Wednesday and drove to Macon, MO where we spent the night at Longbranch State Park.  Even though the site listing says no RV sites, it has 39 sites with electric and water that are definitely RV sites.  There are other sites available also without services.  We were in at 10:30 PM and out at 5:30 AM to be on our way to Geneseo, IL.
Thursday we went up US 36 to US 24 and then through Quincy, IL and up IL 96 out of the Quincy area to US 136, US 34, over to Macomb, IL and up to Galesburg, IL and on to Geneseo, via I-74 & I-80 where we arrived at noon or so.  Had lunch at Roy's Taco House and then went to surprise my cousin.  Turned out we had gotten there on an excellent day since Dave was in a play with the Richmond Hill Players in Geneseo.  My cousin Dave is an amateur actor and has done a total of 39 plays since 1968 with the Richmond Hill Players.  It was quit an evening and we had a great time at the play after having dinner at the Victorian Restaurant just off the square in Geneseo.
Friday we we got up casually and got around to leaving and going on to Amana Colonies where we were to attend the Iowa State Coachmen Rally on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  All meals were furnished at the rally and we didn't cook at all.  Saturday there were three seminars to attend relative to RVing.  I went to the first one, on Brake Guard.  Brake Guard is for the hydraulic brake system owners and is designed to enhance braking.  The second seminar was put on by a local dealer and was a maintenance information seminar.  It is always a help to have a master mechanic that can ask those unanswered questions about your RV.  The gentleman was excellent in giving us some tips and helpful answers.  The third seminar was put on by SkyMed.  These are the folks that will handle an emergency evacuation if you are RVing in an area away from home and need to get home.  I had no interest in that seminar and did not attend.  There were games for the kids and games for the adults.  I learned how to play Mexican Train Dominoes with a double twelve set of them.  We shopped briefly in Amana.  We'd been there several times and Carol pretty much just wanted some quilting information that they had in a shop there.  Saturday night there was entertainment and a good time after dinner.  We went to bed early and about 3 AM we got a gully washer of a rain.  We had pulled in the awning and put up the chairs and other equipment Saturday night as we returned to the unit.  Good plan.
It was damp Sunday morning but it wasn't really bad.  It had started to dry off by the time we left for home (10 AM ).  We followed Jack and Dorothy home for safety reasons (Jack had been ill) and we stopped in Eagleville to get some lunch.  We were home by 4 PM and the kids were on their way over in the heat.  Their A/C had quit.  They were hot.

September 22-24, 2000
We were going to go up Thursday but work says I have to stay in town so we left at about 4:30 PM on Friday and ran up to Big Lake State Park near Craig, MO.  That's exit 79 off of I-29 and then west about 15 miles nearly to Rulo, NE.  We had a chilly, rainy weekend but had lots of fun with a campfire and friendship.  There were 6 other rigs there from Roddy's Rowdies and a couple of friends that were S.O.B.s (some other brand than Coachmen).  They were welcome and we had a good time.  I drove back to KC Saturday noon to work and and after work picked up Amanda so she could enjoy some time with us.  Her sister Madison was already at the campground with Grammy (Carol).  Back to the campground.  Saturday night it decided to downpour.  Sunday was drizzly.  We had a Mexican theme pot luck Saturday night and then Jo/Jim fixed the breakfast Sunday morning with everyone leaving by around 1 PM or so.  We had a leisurely drive back to town.  Have to move motorhomes out of Bartle hall this evening after the RV show closes down.

October 20-22, 2000
We ended up leaving a little later than planned (6:30 Friday) and got to Berry Bend a little before 10 PM.  We met a large turnout of Roddy's Rowdys (Coachmen 121).  They had already had dinner and we had stopped on the way down and eaten so it was a short evening to get into bed...  I got up early Saturday morning and enjoyed a session around the campfire with the group.  The meeting was held for 121 club activities and plans were made for the 2001 camping season.
Carol and I went into town for the Warsaw Heritage Days and came back quickly.  It was a nightmare of people and little, if any, parking available.  Carol could not walk far and I didn't want to... so we went back to the campground.  Ended up eating BBQ with Jack, Dorothy, Cleve, and Zela at the BBQ place out on Highway 7.  We went back into town to see if it had cleared at all and found more of the same.  All of us decided quickly to return to the campground.  We did stop by a couple of flea markets and made some purchases.  Went by a friends lake retreat to see if he might be there.  It was way back on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere.  Didn't find him home.  He'd come back to KC early it turned out.
Saturday night was had a nice dinner at a local restaurant.  There were 24 of us that went.  I gorged myself on shrimp and it was great.  Back to the camp and a good time around the campfire.
Sunday we had a nice breakfast, chili for lunch and then headed home around 4:30 PM.  It had started raining Saturday night and it was a light mist on Sunday.  We had no problem with travel.

The months of November and December turned out to be an early winter for us.  I winterized the motorhome at what I thought was an early time.  It was two days before the first frost it turned out and we've had the second coldest winter on record here in the Kansas City Area.  In retrospect, I was lucky to have winterized when I did.  It was quiet and there was no camping to be done anyway it turns out.  I had a lot of personal efforts to make and business was ugly.  We did go to the Coachmen 121 Christmas Dinner on December 9th.  The highlights of the rest of the two months seemed to be spent going to the hospital to visit camping friends that had some problems.  Thank God that all of them are still alive... but a little worse for the wear. Strokes and heart attacks seem to do that to you.  Let's hope that the new year brings a little better health for all concerned.