Sharp's Travels

After our morning walk we went shopping for motorcycle ramps. I took back the ones I bought yesterday. We made a quick stop at Feet Farm for wiper blades and bolts. Than we headed for West Bend to a place called Discount Ramps. I checked on the internet and they have a large supply of all different kinds of ramps. When we got there it was all internet sales and had no store front. But I was able to get what I wanted. We stopped at Applebee’s for lunch on the way back. We took back roads on the way back to Fond du Lac for some different scenery. When we got home I put the ramps together and think they will work fine. I got a call that our fuel tank for the truck is done and can pick it up on Tuesday. We went over to Coz and Nikki’s for supper and to watch the packers play, not much of a game so we left for home after half time.

It was a cool misty day, didn’t see the sun until late afternoon. We made a trip to Fleet Farm so I could get some bolts to install the chock on the trailer. Cheri bought some clothes while we were there. From there we went to Wal-Mart to get a few things and then to Menards to get ramps for the trailer and looked at paint for the fuel tank. On the way home the mist in the air almost turned to rain, just enough so I couldn’t work on the trailer. So I did some surfing on the internet to see about having the fuel tank done with a Rhino Coating. I found a place here in Fond du Lac that does it and so I made a trip to the body shop. To make a long story short he told me it would be better to have it painted with epoxy paint. So I left it with him to paint. When I got home the sun was starting to come out so I hooked the trailer to the truck and got my new ramps out and was going to load the motorcycle. Well the ramps were to short, will take them back tomorrow. Nikki and Coz came for supper and cribbage. The girls won both games.

I got a call yesterday that the fuel tank for the truck would be delivered sometime this morning. So first thing this morning I headed over to Coz and Nikki’s to wait for it. Well it didn’t come until 11:30 am. After I got it on the truck and tied down I headed back to the 5th wheel for lunch. Cheri had done some laundry and cleaning. After lunch we went to the grocery store to get some pork chops for supper. Then I dropped Cheri off at the 5th wheel and went back to Coz and Nikki’s to get Coz’s bike and take it over to the dealer to have the engine light reset. When I got back to Coz and Nikki’s I had another package from UPS, it was the chock for the motor cycle. Coz, Nikki and Cece came for supper and cribbage. It was a split one game for the girls and one for us guys.

We got a call from Nikki this morning and wanted to know if we wanted to go out for breakfast with her and Cece, will you don’t have to twist my arm very far to go out and eat. We met Nikki and Cece at Rolling Meadows Restaurant about 8:30. We just got inside when it started to rain. It didn’t quit raining until about noon. Cheri, Nikki and Cece went shopping after breakfast. I went to the Harley dealer to get a shock adjusting tool for the motorcycle. After it quit raining I was going to start washing the 5th wheel. Will I filled my bucket and found out the bottom had a hole in it, so much for that job. So Cheri and I took a short ride of the motorcycle. At 5:30 pm we went over to Coz and Nikki’s for supper and cribbage. The girls won one and us guys won one.

It was a beautiful day with a high of 75 degrees. We did our morning walk and then got ready for church. After church we stopped at the Mall to look at bed spreads, Cheri wants a new one for the 5th wheel. Of course I don’t see anything wrong with the one we have now, but us men look at those things differently. Cheri and I took a 40 mile bike ride around the area. When we got home Nikki called and wanted us to come over. They bought 4 new stools to go with their new dining room set and want me to help Coz put them together. The girls order pizza from Pizza Hut. After supper Coz said I got one more job I need help with, he said the toilet was broke. So we took it apart and put in a new flush valve. We got home around 8:00 pm.

Happy 65th wedding anniversary Grandpa and Grandma and I forgot to mention yesterday was Darren and Jodi’s 5th wedding anniversary. Today Coz and I took a motorcycle ride to Appleton where we met Nikki, Cece and Cheri for lunch at Chucky Cheese. The girls spent the day shopping and Coz and I spend the day riding bike. We did make one stop at the Harley Dealer in Appleton were I bought some goggles that would fit over my glasses. They keep the wind out of my eyes and make it easier to see. We rode a total of 145 miles. We had left over brats and hamburgers at Nikki and Coz’s for supper. I watched the NASCAR race and called it a night.

We received more showers off and on today; at least it wasn’t a wash out. We got a call this morning that our motorcycle trailer was in, so I was excited to go and get it right away. We took the truck to pick it up at the freight depot. It was on a bigger pallet and I had to take off the 5th wheel hitch so I could have them load it on the truck. It weighed 650 pounds. This was the first time I have removed the 5th wheel hitch and it was a piece of cake to remove. We took it over to Coz and Nikki’s to put together. Well it took Cheri and me three hours to get it put together. Cheri got a call early afternoon from Nikki this afternoon and she said a woman ran into their truck last night. She drunk and wasn’t able to drive her car way so she started running down the street. The police found her and brought her back to the seine of the accident. Her licenses had been taken away for drunk and driving. She had no insurance on the car and the license plates where from another car. The insurance adjuster hasn’t looked at Coz and Nikki’s truck, but said on the phone that it probably would be totaled. For supper we grilled out at Coz and Nikki’s and watched the movie Wild Hogs, a very funny movie.

We got more rain last night and today. There were time when it was nice and the sun was shining and then it would cloud up and rain, then clear off again. Cheri and I went shopping today. Our first stop was at Menards to look around and price some materials to build a fire place for Kari and Jason. Then it was on to Rogan’s to look at some shoes, then to Wal-Mart for a few things. The last stop was at the Mall, still looking for shoes, didn’t find any to fit my budget. Cheri fixed supper for Coz and Nikki. After supper we went over to Coz and Nikki’s to watch the Packer play. It turned out to be a late night for us.

Nikki dropped off Cece at 6:30 this morning. Cheri spent the day playing with Cece and did some laundry and fixed chicken and dumplings for Coz, Nikki, Cece and us. I spent most of the day on the computer researching a motorcycle carrier. I finally ordered a one wheel trailer that will fasten solid to the back of the 5th wheel. The wheel will pivot and turn as you back up or turn. I also ordered a motorcycle wheel chock that fastens to the frame of the bike. The order should be here the first of next week. We had some rain this morning and some sun this afternoon. We played two games of cribbage and we guys won both.

It was a day of no sun and mists in the air all day and much cooler with a high of 63 degrees. Cheri, Nikki and Cece left at 9:00 am shopping and didn’t get back until 3:30 pm. I spent the morning working on the computer and then went to Fleet Farm to look at loading ramps for the motor cycle. Then I went over to Target and bought an external hard drive for our computer. Our computer has been acting up and I wanted something to keep an up to date backup on. Nikki fixed supper for us and then later we played two games of cribbage. We guys won both and last night the girls won two games and they almost skunked us both games.

It was still raining when we got up this morning and continued to rain on and off all day (more on than off). Kari and Jason came over for a late breakfast. They never did get a chance to do any quad-ding because of all the rain. Early afternoon we packed up and were ready to leave at 1:30 pm. We said our goodbyes to Kari and Jason and headed for Fond du Lac. We arrived at the Fair Grounds and was 5:30 pm before we got set up. At least we got set up before it started raining again. Coz and Nikki stopped over for a visit. It was 10:00 pm when we went to bed and still raining.

Jason and Kari came over for breakfast and it started to rain just has they were leaving to go back to their trailer to get ready to go quadding. Cheri and I took it easy, reading and watching TV. About 1:30 pm Kari and Jason were back for lunch and it was still raining. Jason said they didn’t do any quadding because of the rain and that Kari took a nap and he watched a movie. After lunch the four of us went to Wal-Mart shopping and then came back to the 5th wheel to hang out and it was still raining. Because we had a late lunch we had snacks for supper. Jason hooked up our DVR to the internet so I can now make calls for updates to the software. We watched the Packers play. At 10:30 we called it a night and it was still raining.

We were up, packed up and on the road by 9:30 am. Roger had things set up so I could get our truck and 5th wheel weighed. I was surprised at where the weights came in, thought we were way over loaded. The 5th wheel was 65 pounds over and I know when we get to Fond du Lac I will be removing quite a few things. But now I have to make a decision on how I am going to haul the motor cycle. It is going to be a permanent mount on the back of the 5th wheel or I can get a one wheel (that rotates on turns and when backing up) trailer that mounts solid to the back of the 5th wheel and carries most of the weight. I like the idea of the trailer, but there are several states that it is considered to be an additional trailer. Then they say you are pulling triple bottoms and that is not legal. I will write more on that later when I get it figured out. We arrived in Black River Falls around noon. After we got set up we went to Wal-Mart and got groceries. Jason and Kari arrived around 8:00 pm. Jason built a fire and it felt good as it was a cool evening. It was 11:00 pm before we got to bed.

Roger picked us up at 8:30 and took us to Westby for breakfast. After breakfast we did some Geo-caching. We found four caches and one of them had three parts to it. We also had one we couldn’t find. Then Roger took us out in the county to show us a log cabin he helped build. It was a very nice little cabin setting on hill with a beautiful view. Roger had some errands to do, so he dropped us off at the trailer. When Jean got home from work they came over and picked us up to go out for Chinese. After we eat Roger had to go the theater as he had to usher for the evening show and Jean had to go back to work. At 6:45 Cheri and I headed for the theater for the show. It was a country and western band from Madison called the Dang-Its. It was an OK show but have seen better. After the show Cheri and I went over to Roger and Jean’s place to visit and say our goodbyes. It was midnight before we got to bed. (Thanks Roger for showing us such a great time while we were in Viroqua)

I was awake early this morning and it started raining about 4:30 am. I got up a little before 5:00 am. I was showered and dressed before Cheri got up. Burl and Dorothy picked us up at 8:30 am and took us out for breakfast. We had to close up the trailer in the rain; about the time I got done it quit raining. Then just before we got to Viroqua it started to rain again and had to set up in the rain. It quit when we got set up. Roger stopped in before we got done setting up. We talked for a while and then went and got a bite of lunch. He gave us a tour of the town and then took us to the Temple Theater for a personal tour of the theater from top to bottom. They have restored the theater to its original state. Roger, along with lots of other volunteers have given hours of their time, cleaning and painting etc. They have 5 shows a year in the theater now. They have an area set aside in the basement to display all the old artifacts. Gay and Roger even climbed up into the attic over one side of the stage to look at the pipes for the old organ they have in the theater. Check out their web site at www.temple-theatre.com for more information. After the theater tour we did some Geo-caching, we found three caches. Then we went back to Roger and Jean’s house has Jean was home from work. We had a short visit and then went back to the trailer to get ready to go out for supper. Roger and Jean picked us up and took us to the Firehouse Supper Club for supper. It was excellent. After supper we came back to the trailer and played a game of dominoes that we guys won.

Last night it was another thunder storm that started around midnight. Lots of thunder, lighting, and rain, it wasn’t as bad as the one we had a couple of nights ago. It was over before morning. We did our morning walk and later Cheri did some laundry and cleaning. I did some putts work on the truck and had a nice visit with another full time rv-er here in the park. It’s always fun to exchange tips and pick up new ideas that will work for us. The rest of the day was a lazy one.

Cheri and I took our morning walk; it has been two weeks since we have done our walk. We need to get back in the swing of things. This morning we went up town to take care of some business and get groceries. Later in the afternoon we took a trip to Richland Center to see Ken and Eileen. We had a nice visit with them and also Ron who was there to work on Eileen’s computer. Around 6:30 pm we went out for a sandwich. We also had planed on seeing Dean and Betty but they had gone camping. We got home around 8:30 pm.

We had a bad storm come though last night around 12:30 am. The wind blew really hard with lots of lighting and thunder. In fact one bolt of lighting was very close to the trailer. I was already awake and it made me set up in bed. It rained very hard for about an hour before it slowed down. Also got a little hail mixed with the rain. After church Burl, Dorothy, Cheri and I went down town for coffee. Later Burl and Dorothy picked us up and we went to Readstown for dinner. After dinner we stopped at Crazy Franks Discount and then on to Spring Green to a place called the Stage Coach. It was after 3:00 pm when we got home. I turned on the TV to watch the NASCAR Race and my Directv didn’t work. The message on the screen said that Authorization has expired. I couldn’t call them because we have no cell phone service here. So I tried to e-mail them. About an hour later I received an e-mail from them saying they did a reset on our service. I checked and sure enough we had a working TV.

Cheri was up most of the night, she said she couldn’t sleep and her bones hurt. I got up at 6:30 am and she was done showering and was dress looking at e-mail on the computer. I showered and got dressed and found her sitting outside by the river. It was a beautiful morning. Later Jason came out with coffee for us. The four of us sat out there by the river and visited for a long time. It was very quite as the river is closed to all boats because of the high water. It was 11:00 am before we got on the road for Boscobel. It was 3:30 when we got to Boscobel and someone had just pulled into the site we usually up in. So we took the next site and were set up by 4:30 pm. It feels good to be home. We watched some TV and then went to DQ for an ice cream treat.

I was up before 7:00 am and Kari was just getting ready to leave for work. Jason stayed and worked from home. This afternoon we took a ride to Menards and dropped Cheri off at Hobby Lobby. On the way to Menards the Jason’s truck lost oil pressure according to the gage. It looks like he is going to have to get a new oil sending unit. We stopped in at the Napa store and they told him a new sending unit was $265.00. Before we went in we thought it would be around $30.00. When we got home Jason looked on the internet and found it for $90.00. We had picked up some materials to fix the boat left and got that repaired. Jason did brats on the grill and we ate outside. We tried to have a bonfire but the wood was to wet.

Cheri and I didn’t get up until 8:00 am and then was in no hurry to get cleaned up and dressed. In the afternoon I did mow the lawn for Jason and Kari. The rest of the afternoon I was on the computer doing some updates and then did some reading. Cheri spent the day reading, watching TV, and took a nap. She did bake some chocolate chip cookies. When Jason and Kari got home from work we had a couple of drinks and then went out for pizza. It was 8:30 when we got home, had a short visit and went to bed.

It was a warm day with a high of 104 degrees. We took grandma down to the bank so she could cash her check. On the way back we stopped to get some bananas. I put up a shelf in the bedroom and a plaque up over the door in the living room. The telephone man came around 12:00 pm and found the spot where the cable guy cut the phone line. So after dinner Grandma was able to get on the computer and check her e-mail. I think she had around 6 new e-mails, she like receiving e-mail. A couple here in the park picked us up at 2:30 pm and took us to the Tampa airport. Our flight left a 5:40 pm, but didn’t take off right away as they told us all fights in and out of Chicago were grounded do to a tornado warning. They told us it would be an hour before we took off. It turned out to be only about 15 minutes. They made up the time in the air and arrived on time. We picked up out luggage and stepped outside and called Kari and Jason to let them know where we were and 5 minutes later they arrived. On the way back to their place we stopped and had supper. It was around 9:00 pm when we arrived at their place. After a visit and bringing each other up to date on what has happen for the last to weeks it was time to get to bed (12:00 am).

Cheri and Grandma did some laundry and then went to Wal-Mart for groceries. I took the hanging light fixture down and cleaned it up and put a coat of paint on it. Also put a new chain on it, looks really nice after I got it back up. We had to stay around as the cable TV person came to install Cable for Grandpa and Grandma. He had to bury a cable to the trailer. Wanted to make a phone call this afternoon and the phone was dead. I think the cable guy cut the telephone line when he buried the TV cable. Late afternoon we took the van in for an oil change. I think we have everything done for Grandma and Grandpa until we come back for the winter. Cheri and I fly back to Chicago tomorrow afternoon.

It was a high of 98 degrees today. Cheri and Grandma put more stuff away in the trailer and I worked outside, sprayed the lawn and under the trailer with ant and bug killer. Put away all the storage boxes and took trash up to the dumpster. Also put the charger on the golf cart. We had several places to go today. First we went to the bank and then to find a notary as we had new wills and power of attorney to be signed and notarized. Then we headed for Lakeland for a Chinese dinner, sure was good. After dinner we went to Linen and Things, Target to pick up some things for Grandpa and Grandma. When we got home Grandma’s new computer was here (Kari sent her a new one). I worked on installing it and got most of everything working. I ran into some trouble with a couple of things, so I had to call Kari for help, she worked me through everything that had to be done. It was 10:00 pm when I got done.

It was already 90 degrees this morning when we left for church. When we got to church all the doors were open, their air conditioning wasn’t working. So it was hot in church, but the minister said we could be in a hotter place. This afternoon Cheri and Grandma went shopping and Grandpa read and napped. I watched the NASCAR Race on the computer as we couldn’t get it on TV. Tuesday we are having cable TV installed. We ended up with a high temp of 99 degrees.

You noticed that our web page was down for maintenance. Darren was doing some updates with the latest software. Thanks Darren, Cheri and Grandma finished unpacking and most of their things have been put away. They also did laundry. My job for the day was to finish building the cabinet for the TV. I had to make a trip to Lowe’s to pick up some more building materials. By the end of the day the cabinet was done and in place. It turned out nice; it also has 4 drawers for more storage. At 7:30 pm it had cooled down to 90 degrees, so I took a walk around the park. Cheri wouldn’t go, she said it was to hot.

We took Grandpa and Grandma to get Florida car insurance and license plates for the Van. That took most of the morning. When we got back we had lunch and then Cheri and Grandma went shopping for food and supplies. I stayed at the trailer and put up the clothes line and other miscellaneous jobs. We also found a couple that will take us to the airport on 8/8/07. It was hot and humid with a high of 96 degrees and no rain. This is the first day that it hasn’t rained since we have been here.

We had a bad storm come through last night, it started around 2:00 am, and the good news is it was over by 3:30 am. Cheri and I took a late morning walk; it is the first time we have been able to walk in a week. Cheri got a call from Pat Dunbar, her girl friend from Maine. They had a good talk catching up on things. They talked for over an hour. Cheri gave me a much needed hair cut. We didn’t do much of anything today. My biggest job was to clean the lime out of the coffee pot and Cheri did a load of laundry. I did want to get the motor cycle out, but it looked like rain and it did finally rain around 4:30 pm. We went over to Nikki and Coz’s for supper and cribbage; the girls won two games and really rubbed it in.

It was raining when we got up and didn’t quit until 6:00 pm. Our day was a day of problems. I bought a new range hood to put in and found that it was a 20” instead of a 24”. So back to the store and they didn’t have a 24”, in fact there is non in town, had to order one and it won’t be in before we leave. It will have to wait until we come back this fall. Then we got the new stove in the trailer and started to unpack it and found it was damaged. So we loaded it up and took it back and exchanged it for a different one. We left here at 6:00 pm to go and pick up Grandpa and Grandma from the airport. Their flight came in at 8:05. By the time we got their luggage and something to eat it was 11:00 pm before we got home.

Happy birthday Cheri, we didn’t get to celebrate as we were working on getting the trailer ready for Grandpa and Grandma. Cheri and I did more unpacking and putting things away. In the afternoon we went out shopping for a new range hood, stove, and cabinet to set the TV on and for storage. We also got a new light fixture for the kitchen. We stopped down town to see about getting Florida insurance for the van, but need Grandpa and Grandma to sign papers. It rain again this afternoon and was still raining when we went to bed. We did go out to Golden Coral for supper.