Yogis Time of the Year

Well we got a little snow this week. There's only one person here who like it ( well he a Dog but thinks hes a Person ). That's Yogi, 0ur dog loves the snow he can be out there for hours. Heres some of Yogi's pictures in the yard relaxing in the Snow. Yogi will lay down a take a nap in the COLD SNOW. That ain't my idea of a good nap time.
Marti and I can't wait to hit the road to the warmth of Texas. We are house bound for another month or two with some Veterans appointments, so I guess we will just wait till then to go. Well I better think about the Christmas presents. Maybe I'll search the net.

Thanksgiving

Well today's Thanksgiving!!!!! We were scaled down this year for Thanksgiving, just the four of us and Marti's mother Tillie. We had a 10lb Turkey and a 7 lb Turkey breast, we will be eating Turkey for some time. I made my White Castle Stuffing that is always a hit and the day after too. Well all the Food was great Thanks Marti!!!
Today I think back to what I'm thankful for, Family that gets bigger everyday. We have added a lot of New Friends to our extended Family List.
I always think back 39 years ago when in Viet Nam Thanksgiving Day we were off No Flying!!! My regular pilot asked me to take a ride to the rear ( Bad Move ). Well we made it no problem, but on the way back we suffered an engine problem ( more commonly called an Engine Failure). When the engine in a Helicopter goes to sleep, you are really in deep Poop. We made a safe landing for us as we walked away OK ran away but (not for the Helicopter ). Well six or seven hours in the bush we were found safe & sound, well maybe we needed new shorts. I laugh at it now but I wasn't laughing then. I was one scared buck a roo.
I do miss the years when we opened our home to some Navy recruits from Great Lakes. We started with 2 or 4 guys and in past years had as many as 8 guys. We would feed them a home made dinner, then turn them loose on the phone to call home. The time always flew by as we had to get them back to the bus.
I miss the Family members that are not here with us any more. Thanks for the memory's.
Hope I didn't bore you Wayne now We need a Nap !!!!!

Stuck at Home

Well we are at home for the Holidays and that's a Good thing too. We love Christmas for the true meaning of Christmas!!! Well I guess the presents are OK too.
We took the Jayco to the dealer for some service. I told Marti the yard looks bare with out the Blue Bird out there. The dealer said they will have her done next week or before.
We are putting the planning for the Texas trip in full speed. Yesterday I received a Texas RV book. I will be calling the 800 # as we narrow the choices down, there only 300 plus parks.
Well that's it on this end, we have to get the Turkey for the Big Day!!!
Happy Thanksgiving !!!!!! Marti will be shopping on Black Friday. Shoppers Please Beware!!!!

Wayne

Remembering our Veterans

Today I was lucky to go help at our local Veterans Home in Mateno Illinois.
Our church All Saints Lutheran put on a Bingo for the Vets. I have done this before but this time it was hard at first. The Troops come in the play Bingo. Some smiles, a couple grumpy guys but that's OK too, as not every body has all good days ( I know that first hand ).
I wondered how life has treated these Warriors?? Well I figured we better have some fun. Well being the Class Clown I figured lets hackle the Rev and the Bingo Callers. You see my Troop's weren't winning. Well my people started winning the more I hackled and all was well. A couple of the gents told me they had a good time and I said I did too. We served the group some Home Made treats. The troops were Thank full, I pushed a couple men back to their rooms. I thanked them for their service to our country.
Veteran Homes throughout the country can always use some home made treats for the warriors. At the Holidays the homes get a lot of stuff but, you can always drop off some goodies any time. Our family tries to drop off in January or February, Maybe you can pick a month any time to have a family bake-off. Then off to your veterans home to remember some veterans you will get that Warm Fussy Feeling .
Thanks for Your Time Wayne

Branson Veterans Day Parade

November 11 2009 Veterans day

Well like I said Branson Remembers Veterans !!! We were at the Parade route an hour early No Parking spots. Hey that's a good thing. Well we got a spot and waited for the start. I have never seen a deal like this, Thank You Branson !!!

Thank's for the True Meaning of the words Veterans Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not just a Sale in a store.

Well here's some of the Pictures we took.

I met a couple Veterans who had some Health issues do to Agent Orange. Well as a veteran with some issuses. I told them how to apply for medical care and health benfits. When ever I can help a vet , I get a warm fuzzy feeling. That's the true meaning of brotherhood!!!!

Welcome Home to Brothers and Sisters!!!!!

Branson View Campground

We pulled into the Branson View Campground for a nine day stay. We got a double site that was nice, the view was Great too. Marti , Yogi and me toured the area. Yogi loves riding in the Black Pig with his head out of the window, he gets alot of looks too.
We toured the Escapees park Turkey Creek Park we met some friends from Illinois SKP. The park was very nice, they were very people friendly.
Thursday the newly retired Scroggins the Famous ____ Terri and Danny pulled in to help us cerebrate Veterans Day.
We went to a pile of Great Shows , Branson had some great deals free or half off for the vets. You just can't beat a deal like that.

I got stuck doing KP at the mobile homestead but that's OK too. We had a good time and had some laugh's too.

Well we are back home till after Christmas and New Years them off to Texas to be Winter Texan's or Snow Birds.

Branson Trip Detour

WOW what a great trip!!! We started out on Friday 30 of Oct. We were hooked-up and ready to go, at 7:30 and on the road. We rolled thru St.Louis about noon. Well about 12:30 the phone rings. Chuck & Kim Maher ask if we want to detour to there local hangout. Lost Valley Resort for the week-end, a Halloween week-end. Yogi liked the Trick or Treater's too.

We haven't seen Chuck & Kim since our trip to Michigan in Aug. So we detoured to Lost Valley. We got the site next to Chuck.
We took a tour of Daniel Boones Home. Daniel wasn't home but the maid was doing the house tours. The house was very old too with no inside plumbing a little tough for a 2:30 AM potty break. We also went for a Cave tour but as it was a mile walk so I passed on the cave tour.
Monday Morning we said our Good-Bye's as we headed to Branson.

Wisconisin Week-End

Week-End of the Oct. 17 & 18 we met my Brother Glenn and his family at Hidden Valley Campground in Wisconsin. We arrived on the Wed. before to get a head start. We had a great time as the kids and Glenn trick or treated around the park. I have never had that many treaters . We went through some 500 pieces of Candy. We really Sugared up those kids. We had a Pancake Breakfast for all in our party. Glenn made some Smok-in Hot Mexican Dish that had people sweating.

Caboose Lake Campground

We were returning home from Nick's Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio. We detoured here and spent three days at this Campground in Indiana. Great location off I65 little noisy but I didn't hear anything. The sites were nice as pictured. The lake was nice and stocked but a little chilly for fishing. We toured a Dairy Farm. Fair Oaks Dairy Fram that was really cool and saw the birth of a baby cow. They also had a store with some really good Ice-Cream too, not too good for a Diabetic but you can't teach an Old Dog new tricks!!!!

Cardinal's Last Ride

Well here's the Cardinal's last ride to the Jayco Dealer Campland RV. You know I miss this rig but the space was limited as the Cardinal was a 29 footer and the new Jayco is a 37 footer with four slides. We get ready to do alot more traveling.
Talked to Laura at Campland RV. Laura said the Cardinal was sold a couple weeks after her last ride. Good Luck to the new owners.

Finally

Well after Months of kicking tires I finally did it. We we ordered our dream 5th Wheel Jayco Designer a beauty. 37ft RLQS with all the Bells a Whistles that we wanted. We ordered our unit from Campland RV. We have the Best sales person Laura. Well as some of you may know I don't do anything fast, well after 5 months we inked the deal. Poor Laura never thought that day would come. We ll our baby is home and ready to hit the road. We have a trip to Kane county then on to Ohio with a stop in Indiana. Week at home. Then off to Wisconsin and then to Branson my favorite place for Veterans Day.

Well here I go. I'm trying this as a novice. I guess we'll see how easy it is as everyone say's. I hope i don't bore you too much.