Posts by amilebaron@yahoo.com

We have made it to Nashville….I have previous things I’ll get back to but here’s where we are now.

NASHVILLE

Lesson 1 for the Boys-Judge on personality not looks

We are at a RV park that is well, rugged. A transformer blew up next to our RV so the entire RV Park was in a tizzy. We met a lot of nice people and my boys learned a thing or two about handling people that speak different and look a little different. They learned that you don’t laugh at a man wearing short shorts with suspenders because his belly is too big to keep them up, oh, and bright colored crocs are very comfortable. They learned you don’t ask someone if that if those are their real teeth. Lots of good lessons.

Lesson 2 for Me -Don’t change the process in front of a server

Know what they are planning on oredering before the server gets there. My friend Kathy recommended a restaurant called The Aquarium. I have always let the boys order for themselves. This has caused some issues because the two older ones are now ordering off the adult menu…”I’ll have the lobster” and I may scream if one more mac n cheese plate shows up to my table. They also…never choose a vegetable. So tonight I thought I would influeance their choices and insist on a couple of things during the ordering process. Two of them are lucky that they got anything at all!

Lesson 3 for my dad- Not all boys remember to put on underwear

It is really humid so we decided to go dinner in casual clothes and bring our pants to change into when we got to the Opry. I had to go get the tickets at will call, so dad offered to go back to the car and help the boys change pants. By the time I got back to the car one of them had peed in a bottle, three had not put on underwear and were not loving pants with no undies, two of them out grew their pants and were complaining, and one forgot his shoes!

Lesson 4 is for the Grand Ole Opry

We got our tickets, we were dressed in our Sunday finest, and were in the 2nd row. There were a variety of performers singing and even some dancing. It was a great show and the boys loved it. I’m not sure if the Opry loved it. For some reason, they allow food and beverages in the seats. The second row had no chance with those boys and the their eating habits. Seriously, they are like pigs at a trough!

Lesson 5 Dad Again- Don’t choose Griffin as your walking partner

It was raining when we left and our car was pretty far.  We were walking through the parking lot and the boys were, of course, rain skating! It was a little stressful because it was night, cars were everywhere, amd it was raining.  Dad decided to attempt to hold Griffins hand.  Well trying to hold Griffins hand during a rain skating seesion prove to be a challenge.  Fin almost took dad down a couple of times.  He was jumping and trying to slide.  It was so funny watching my father try to stay upright with a little boy carrying on like a cat getting put into a tub of water! I was so funny!  By the way, Fin won dad let go and just enjoyed the RAIN SKATING!

Let the Good Times Roll

Let the Good Times Roll

 

Fin’s B-Day

Dad is here

St Louis

Graceland

Tomorrow Nashville

We had a great time exploring Hannibal.  We got back to our rv right outside of Monroe City.  We were enjoying a nice evening and then we got the warning.  There were a series of thunderstorms with hailstones the size of baseballs coming our way.  Because it was a series of storms, we had a good chance of tornados and unfortunately we wouldn’t have any warning.  We should seek shelter.  So I called my friends Cindy and Kerry in Chicago.   It was 10:30PM and I was freaked out.  They were so awesome!  They steered me away from the storms, found a hotel, and stayed on the phone with me all night til I was safe and sound in Mexico MO 50 miles away!

We got there after midnight…Which was Griffin’s Birthday!!!!! He was able to wake up safe and sound because of our Chicago Heros!

We had a great time in Hannibal MO.  It’s the town the Samuel Clemen’s aka Mark Twain grew up in.  The entire town is Mark Twain land.  From the Riverboat, Sawyer’s Creek, and Town Hall; where Huckleberry and Becky Thatcher lived.  We had read the Ton Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin so it felt like we were walking back in time.  We even hiked through the caves that were referenced in 5 of Mark Twain’s books.  We got to hear the storied behind the characters of the books and see and tough and walk their paths.  He really was a great author.

My Bookends

My Bookends

A great quote by Mark Twain is, “To succeed in life, you need to things: ignorance and confidence.”  Well I guess this means that our trip is going to be very successful!  My ignorance for tornado row……My confidence that is just a regular old road trip!  This trip is definitely going to be successful if the wisdom of Mark Twain is correct!

 

Sorry for the hiatus!  It’s been a crazy week! Let me see if I can get you caught up….

While we were in WaKeeney,we met a great family that told us to go to Deer Creek in Topeka.  We left and stopped at the Eisenhower Museum.  When we came out, I realized I left the key on in the Explorer while I was towing it and the battery was dead.  I made my call to Triple A again and waited.  They came jumped my car and we were on our way.  The wind on the 70 was horrible.  I felt like I was in a wrestling match trying to keep ol’Bessa on the road.  When I arrive at Deer Creek, I was told that we are having tornado warning and given my evacuation information.  It was beautiful out and I just kinda of giggled at the thought.  Maybe that’s just what they do here in Kansas.

Well I got to my camp sight at the cleanest RV park ever and started setting up when I realized, the Explorer was dead again.  Luckily, there were a couple of old guys sitting in their chairs and I ask for help.  Well ask and you shall receive!! Harold and the boys got their battery chargers and extension cords out and I spent the next 3 hours learning about this very interesting sub culture.  They Live like nomads but have homes and seem to be a pretty tight group.  They taught me things about Marine grade wiring and the difference between 6-20 volt battery charges.  They knew more about my coach and tow car than I could of ever known.  If you ever are in the market for an rv….rent one and go talk to these guys that are at rv parks!  They know it all!! During the course of our multiple conversations they informed me that the tornado warning was very real and we will be having an exciting night!

My new friends Trish and David came by to say hi and gave me the low down on what was going to happen and what we needed to do! David was an ex storm chaser. As we were talking the weather changed and a storm came in.  I have never heard lightening crackle over head before! One word, Scared! I was with the boys so I had to smile and assure them this was just part of the adventure and it was fun and exciting!  We all crawled into my bed and watched and listened to the night deliver quite a punch to its California guest! I had Aiden and Mason on each side of me, fin laying at my head with my hair over him and P wrapped up in my legs.  We found a lot of laughter in our fear and they slowly fell asleep and I quietly held my guys as the storm made its way east and left us in our bed.  Next word, Grateful!

 

It’s been a busy few days! Our air conditioner wasn’t working so we had an awesome guy meet us at the fairgrounds, where we were staying the night.  He was there at 8AM and fixed our AC unit.  We were very happy as we are heading into some heat.  Mike’s new best friend.

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On our way to the KOA near the Denver Airport, Mike was flying out in the AM.  The coach aka Ol’Bessa! stop running, Mike got her out of the intersection and almost made it to a parking lot…then she died….right there in the entrance to a shopping center.  Mike jumped on the phone with triple A and I started directing traffic.  Well we spent the next 4 hours waiting for a the tow truck that tows big rigs.  Thank You Triple A, that one tow was the cost of 3 years of roadside service!

Poor Ol'Bessa!

Poor Ol’Bessa!

The people of Colorado were for the most part, sooo awesome! There were the ladies who brought us ice cream and words of encouragement.  A few jerks that rolled their eyes as they passed because they had to go around. But in a category all by themselves was Craig and Lyeah, the nicest couple!  They not only stopped  to see if he could figure it out but then offered to let us stay at their home in their barn/office.  Even when they found out we had four boys, they offered a bbq and said they had a pond the boys would love! Who does that!?!  They were so cool that I wanted to take them up on it!  Then, Mike offered up a Marriott suite with two rooms!   Mike also found a mechanic that came to us and he beat the tow truck.  He got ol’Bessa running and we moved her to the parking lot.  Then as he was going through the wiring, it started smoking!  We had a short in one of the cables to the battery.  He disconnected everything, told mike that the best course and safest action would be to take it to the International Service place because they could figure out exactly where the short was so we don’t end up having a fire.  He was great!  Mike had already talk to the International guys and explained he was to catch a flight and his wife and kids would be stranded, could they help? Yes!!!  By 7AM on a Saturday morning, they were working on it! Had it fixed by 2 and Mike went stand by and made the 4 o’clock flight and I pulled into WaKeeney Kansas by 7!!!  What a great day and I feel soooo grateful to all the people that helped get us back on the road!!!

We are in Route!

We are in Route!

 

 

….so I don’t kill them and we all still like each other!

The boys have earned their 10th junior ranger badge.  I’m finagling figuring out how to mange the process. We have had a few where we are trying to do the packets while exploring the park. There are some pages that have to be done at different location and there are other specaility badges. But for the most part it goes like this. We get to the park get our ranger books. Check to see whar area have to be hit. Talk to the rangers about what we should do based on our time. Then we go to dinner or back to the RV and complete the books school style. Then we go back in the morning get our badges and do one last hike or activity and we all leave happy and unstressed!!!

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Well the boys have a favorite! Dinosaur Monument is a boy’s dream! Both Mike and the boys were beside themselves. It is a huge dinosaur fossil quarry…and I mean huge! They have processed most of them but left a huge mound of them still imbedded into the earth for people to see. They even left a real skull. Along the bottom of the quarry and along the trail there are a few huge femur bones that you can actually touch. It’s awesome!!!

I have to say traveling with Mike is a little different than Nana. Nana is a doer and getter doner. Mike, not so much. He is more of the meandering type. Although, I can walk for miles listening to him imitate a dinosaur hunter!!!

The area around here is beautiful! There are two rivers with campgrounds within them. Rafters come in and out all day long and the scenery is spectacular. The weather even entertained us! The boys got to experience their first thunderstorm. It was a little scary but exciting too and it even gave us a huge rainbow when it was over! All in All…..Awesome!IMG_1650

ohhhh touching a real bone.

ohhhh touching a real bone.