I am a HORRIBLE blogger!

At least that is what I think!  I guess I will see if any of you have hung on and are checking to see if I'm still at it.  Soooo, here goes....

Since my last post...and I can't believe it's been since July 9th....we have been quite busy and at a few points not very good internet, so I couldn't have posted anyway...achh...no excuses..

We left for Madison and I visited with my friend Patty who I haven't seen for almost 2 years.  I left Dave at "the house" and drove 30 minutes from our temporary port to Madison to spend a very nice day with Patty doing some sightseeing and catching up. She works as the volunteer coordinator for the Dane County Humane Society and it is quite a large one...they have over 500 volunteers, so that keeps her very busy.  It combines her love for animals and her wonderful organizational skills.  It was so nice to spend time with her and I hope we will be able to see each other again sooner rather than later.

After seeing Patty we departed the next day for our short drive to Twin Lakes for our next gig....Country Thunder in Twin Lakes Wisconsin.  As with all our festivals it was a blast!  Rained Wednesday night before the first day so the obligatory festival mud had arrived.  We DID get to see some of our friends from Country Stampede as well as Country Thunder Arizona.  Laurie, Johhny B, Liz and Gil, Brent, and KT.  We will see them all again next year...it's one of the highlights of being a festie...seeing everyone and hugs all around.  And a GREAT surprise, Kathy and Tim came up to stay with us.  I am SO glad they came!

Sunset Tuesday evening

The farm used for parking

The Mud!

More Mud

Friday Night Crowd

Backstage with Johhny B

After Twin Lakes we drove over to Howe, IN to the DRV Mobile Suites factory to get some work done.  Now, we have been trying to get a few things fixed all along the way and the dealers we have dealt with have not been very helpful.  Several months ago Dave contacted DRV, explained our problems and made us an appt for repairs.  Without going into a VERY lengthy discussion on what and how they fixed them, suffice it to say that we spent a very frustrating 10 days getting everything fixed.  Keep in mind we were only supposed to be there ONE day, maybe two.  By Wednesday of the next week, after being ping ponged between Lippert in Goshen and DRV in Howe, we once again contacted Tom Peck, the Customer Service VP and were assured everything would be fixed on Thursday.
They made sure they had all involved persons there at DRV and by Thursday afternoon we had a bedroom slide that actually worked and everything on our list fixed to our satisfaction.

At Lippert

After fixed the first time and 80  miles later!

Back at Lippert..Ron as frustrated as we were!

Now, Dave will say, "not everything".  We have a stability issue with the level up system, but really nothing can be done about it.  He notices it more than I do and it really bugs him, but I guess we will both have to live with it.

Let me just say that Tom, once we called him back to let him know what was going on, jumped on it and made sure we were happy when we left.  One other thing, before I move on...if you ever need an RV "whisperer", Troy Bontrager of Bontrager RV repairs in Goshen is your man.

After Indiana, we traveled back west to stay in Aurora IL for a few days to visit with Dave's sisters Janet and Judy.  Judy had back surgery the week before and he really wanted to have been there earlier.  We haven't seen them since Dave's mom's funeral and it was wonderful to see them.  We had a GREAT visit and Judy is recovering better than expected.  Go Judy!!

Judy.....

Janet

When we left there the intentions was to hit I-80 and head to our next festival in Grand Junction, Colorado.   We were stopped in a very nice campground just outside of Iowa City, Iowa....The Colony Campground....and decided we would drop South to I-70 and surprise the kids and grandkids in Manhattan and Abilene KS.  Almost perfect timing as two of the grandgirls had birthdays this week.  Emma's party was Saturday and we were happy to make that.  Not so happy that we are missing Erica's this coming Saturday, but must be in Grand Junction on Monday.  We had both the girls overnight at "the house" complete with a fire and marshmallow roasting.  mmmmm

We arrived in Grand Junction today and will be staying at the RV Ranch until we move on site for Rock Jam on Monday or Tuesday.  We will be doing some sightseeing, relaxing and probably some 5er cleaning.  Haven't decided WHAT we will go see yet, but will be out and about at some point.

After Rock Jam we will be heading SW to Las Vegas for two weeks.  We hope to hook up with Beth and maybe even Barb and Buck.  I would love to see a show...Blue Man Group maybe...and of course do a little (very little) gambling.  Dave and I both want to go see Hoover Dam and to see the sights on The Strip.  We will be staying at the Nellis AFB Family campground.  Looks like it will be a nice one AND convenient to everything

I know I have made all of this sound like it didn't take much, but between the traveling, the working, the frustrations and the visiting we HAVE been pretty busy.

till next time......


SHOUTOUT:  to Cindy and Ernie...we hope you DO stop by in Vegas on your way to California!!!  AND to Patty....loved our visit!