What I did at summer camp (Winnebago Grand National Rally)

Let's face it. Sometimes you need to do things you don't really enjoy in order to please someone else who thinks this is the best thing since Apple Pie.

To me it is the annual Winnebago rally. 16,000 coaches park in a field during the hottest month of the year to attend seminars about generators, chases, refrigerators, satellite systems, etc. Can you see where I am going with this?

So I decided to tailor my week to get the most pleasure I can from it.

Day 1 Friday.

Left home in our coach which is always a great pleasure. We spent the night in Clear Lake Iowa as they will not park you at the rally after 5PM. We also needed to take on water. I should have guessed this might be a problem when the campground host told us they had plenty of "soft water" for everyone. Not even lemonade mix could take away the sea water taste. We had to buy bottled water for drinking. That's another whole post about how I rarely will buy water someone else put in an echo unfriendly bottle out of someone else's tap.
It rained all night

Day 2 Saturday

We arrived at the rally grounds around 10 AM. We thought we would have time to set up and enjoy some of the Forest City Puckerbrush Days festivities. When we arrived, we were kept in line until noon waiting for the field to dry up enough to park coaches on it.

Day 3 Sunday

A great day. We went on a bike ride with 43 people. Believe it or not, the group spread out quite nicely as the various levels of bikers found their own paces. Lunch was catered by a deli and there was a ranger talk at Pilot Knob State Park, our ultimate destination. We were advised that there was an alternate route home which involved crossing over a mountain, but on the other side of the mountain was a winery. The guys I was with were not about to miss the winery so over the mountain we rode (walked). The winery was a delight. We rode up to a little family of 3 generations having brunch on the patio overlooking their vineyard. By the time we tasted their wares we had their life stories.

Day 4 Monday

The rally begins. I had planned on attending a quilting class so I bought a new sewing machine for the trip. We made a lovely, functional tote bag and I met some interesting people which is the best part of GNR.

New sewing machine: $150 - Tote bag kit: $35 -Thread: $2 - Spending the day in the only air-conditioned room on the grounds: Priceless. Anyone want to buy a $187 tote bag? It is very large and very beautiful.

Day 5 Tuesday

It rained all night.
I nosed around the vendors of motor home equipment, and a few craft vendors but the only thing I found to spend my money on was the most beautiful coach I have ever seen. Don decided he had better keep me busy.

Day 6 Wednesday

We golfed at Beaver Creek Golf Club. What fun. On the back nine we fed our balls to the creatures living at the bottom of Beaver Creek.

Day 7 Thursday

It rained all night and into the morning.

Forest City is about 120 miles from Mound Minnesota so I took the car and drove up to cuddle our twins Robbie and Jacob for the day. While they napped I had a nice visit with Gretchen and after a nice dinner with the family I headed back.

Day 8 Friday

It rained all night.

We headed for home with a short stop at a tire place in Mason City. That short stop probably saved us from sitting through what might have been the worst storm and wind we have ever experienced in a campground. We drove to Geneseo, Il. All along the road we saw streaks of lightning and darkness ahead of us. We arrived at the campground to find the electricity in the town was out due to a storm with 70 mph winds and enough rain to flood some of the sites namely, ours. We boondocked for the night.

It rained all night. Do you see a theme here?

Day 9 Saturday

Home sweet home. It was a better experience than I had anticipated. All that rain seemed to hit us mostly at night, I found some great things to do while Don attended his seminars, and enjoyed the camaraderie that always accompanies gatherings of people of shared interests.

Driving Bertha

This morning we set out on a short adventure in our motor home. We call her Bertha, all 36 feet and 16,000 lbs. (add an additional 15 feet for towing the car).

Many women who own RVs with their significant others refuse to learn to drive them. I am here to say that it is not only easier than one would think, but somewhat fun. I set the cruise at 65 and do just that "cruise". I stay in the right lane for the most part and everyone passes me.

I had to find out how necessary it was the hard way.

A few years ago I swore I would never drive this bus. I was about 6 mos. out from retirement. We decided we would want to spend more time on the road and wanted to have a bathroom and a shower in our home so we went into a travel trailer. Our Feather Lite was a lovely little trailer. It had the requisite bathroom and also a TV and a kitchen - big upgrades from our pop-up. Unfortunately our Feather Lite was doomed to last only one night on the road. The very first time I got behind the wheel of the car, a truck barrelled past, set the trailer to walking and as I gently applied the brake, it swung around 180 degrees on I 65 and rolled over. Fortunately the car did not roll so we were safe even though our Feather Lite was totally junked.

We did a lot of soul-searching after that to determine where to go. For the first time in our adult lives we were without a home on wheels. I told Don he had to decide what we would do as he was going to have to do all the driving from then on.

Ultimately we decided we felt safest in a class C motor home - a Winnebago Minnie. She was wonderful and Don learned to be comfortable behing the wheel in no time.

Finally I took the plunge and got behind the wheel from one rest area to another. By the time I went 20 miles we had to pry my hands from the steering wheel. Every time a truck passed me I literally froze and prayed.

That summer we went to the Winnebago Grand National Rally, an annual event for RVers to learn about their equipment, attend a few seminars, craft classes, and entertainment. They had a driving class for women which was just what I needed. It gave me the confidence to get behind the wheel again. We were headed out West for a long trek and I put on many miles growing in confidence with each one. It was preordained that every time I took over the driving we ended up racing down a mountain in a construction zone and over a mile high bridge.

Well after my first experience GNR was not my cup of tea, but Don likes it so much we kind of agreed to go every other year. Two years ago at my second GNR I was bored so while he was at seminars I found us a new coach. Hence, Bertha.

It took a little time to adjust to Bertha's added girth. I also found out that now I needed a new license to drive her. So that winter I took the written test and procured a permit so we could feel comfortable that we were within the law should anything happen.

Last winter Don became seriously ill and was unable to drive the RV home from Florida. I took that baby from Lakeland to St. Augustine, backed her into our site going around hanging tree limbs, and motored her most of the 1100 miles back to Woodridge. By the time we arrived home, driving Bertha felt no different than driving our Tahoe.

Now we are headed for our third GNR. What do you think I might come home with this time if I get bored?

What I like about summer

Last night I was sitting at an outdoor Country Music concert with Lindsay and things began to run through my head that are unique to summer in the midwest.

My Favorite Things About Summer

1. Concerts in the Park even if it is Country Music

2. 4th of July

3. Bike riding

4. Golf

5. Sunday coffee on the deck with the Sunday Paper.

6. Dinner anytime on the deck.

7. Train rides into Chicago.

8. The Chicago Lakefront and Millenium Park

9. Mowing the lawn - yes, I like to do that.

10. Camping and campfires.

11. Putting on a coat to go indoors and taking it off to go out.

The Beginning

This evening we put the week's garbage out on the curb. The can was stuffed with dirty diapers and the recyclable bin was filled with more than the usual amount of beer bottles and fast food containers.

And now we are beginning the second forty years of our marriage.

Don and I celebrated in a big way this past week-end with the help of our family and friends.

Our three boys and their families were all under one roof for the first time since we hit the 15 member mark with the addition of three babies this year. It was totally wonderful chaos and we loved every minute of it. There were plenty of babies to go around for all of us motherly types and everything from toddlers to school age kids for the playful.

My brothers and sisters all came in from out of town for the celebration and friends from as far away as Effingham and St. Louis.

Of course our extended Woodridge family was well accounted for as well as Don's long lost and now found cousin.

The love and support coming from all present was overwhelming.

Even our niece and nephew who couldn't make it to the formal party began the celebration at their house the night before with the party before the party for the family.

We were not able to keep up with the picture taking and enjoy the festivities at the same time, but our kids arranged a formal photo shoot at the house on Friday morning, so we will have some wonderful family portraits as a remembrance of the occasion.

And this is how I chose to initiate my very own blog.

I hope to use this as a substitute for the journals I write in every so often to record my adventures and other life experiences in the hopes that someday my kids would be interested in reading about me. Well, they are the ones who encouraged me to do this so Guys and Girls this is for ya'll.

My husband Don and I have tried to make the most of our vacation time ever since the day we met. At first we traveled by trains, planes and automobiles staying in motels and resorts. Then along came the little ones and we realized that if we wanted to continue our little treks we had to find a more affordable way to do it. Hence, came the pop-up camper into our lives and we discovered the joy of camping in National and State Parks, KOAs and Jellystones across the country. After the boys left home we decided we liked to travel this way and even included my mother on a few memorable trips.

Don retired several years before me. When I decided to leave a long career as a nurse to join him in retirement we decided to spend more time on the road so we upgraded ourselves to a place with a toilet and a shower. We bought our first Winnebago, a 2004 Mini Class C motorhome. We spent months at a time in that 29 1/2 foot RV and got along quite well. After a few years though don wanted and easy chair and I wanted an ottoman to put my feet up so we bought a 2008 35 ft. Voyage with three slides which was so overwhelming to me in size that when he insisted I had to name her, all I could think of was "Big Bertha" so now she is Bertha for short. She is everything we need. We spend all winter in her and we have all the "stuff" we ever need available. I makes me wonder why I have so much "stuff" in our stationary home.

Over the years when people brag to us about their summer or winter homes, we proudly announce that our vacation home is parked in the backyard. Of course, Bertha does not fit in the yard so she now sits in a lot behind the Gentleman's Club in Romeoville. She likes it there too.

When not on the road we enjoy summer days on the golf course, playing pinochle with friends, and going to the movies. We are involved with our church and help out at the community pantry. Our children and grandchildren all live in distant cities and we take any opportunity we can to spend time with them. We have been blessed with good kids, wonderful daughters, and beautiful grandchildren. What more could a person ask for?