July 1-6, 2021 - Back in Blog Mode After Spending Time with Family

July 1-6, 2021 - Back in Blog Mode After Spending Time with Family

So, I did not plan to post until the start of our trip west the first of next week (July 12/13), but I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so here goes.

Earlier I made a short post that blogger was going away - that was not correct; actually blogger is removing the option to sign up by email for those who follow, or want to follow the blog.  I'm sorry for the misinformation.  For those of you who reached out to me, don't worry, I will make sure you are added to the new mail service if you are not already on the feedburner list that Blogger has had in the past.  I am able to move it over to the new platform.

The last couple of months have been very busy.  I tried to work on the blog in the evenings, and I find myself nodding off.  Something had to go, and as much as I love writing the blog, we had too much going on for me to keep up with it all.  

I started this portion almost a week ago:  

It's hard to believe it is the first day of July, 2021 - half the year has passed us by.  Last week we spent several days in Branson, MO with Dean's son, Matt and his family Monday-Thursday.  His youngest son, Jarred and daughter Emerson arrived and stayed with us in Bentley Tuesday evening until Friday morning, when we all made the trip back to Oswego.  Dean's four boys and their families, Heath, Brett, Matt and Jarred rented 3 of 4 small AirBnB's in Oswego that are located next to each other and a larger house, which is also an AirBnB.  It was a fun weekend with all but 5 of our 16 grandchildren attending.  Friday night after enjoying Angelo's sandwiches (a long time business in nearby Hallowell, KS) they spent time playing a version of baseball with a "plastic" ball that one of the kids brought with them.  It was fun to watch - I was busy taking the pictures and keeping an eye on the smaller gkids when mom and dad were involved in the game.  The AirBnB's are located on a busy road heading north out of Oswego.  Many people honked and waved at us as they drove by.  The house Matt & Megan stayed in was owned by the parents of a dear friend of mine's when they first moved to Oswego back in 1972.  I have good memories of being there.

Just a little information on the AirBnB's.  A local woman, Kim and her husband decided to take on this project these a couple of years ago.  They purchased three homes, remodeled them and they were an immediate success. Matt and Brett utilized two of them last year in November.  Not long after that they purchased another home (Matt & Megan's) where they also constructed four new cabins on the adjoining lots.   Two of the cabins are two bedroom, and two have one bedroom.  They are very nice and each one has a theme based on places they have stayed in the past, i.e. coastal, country, rustic retreat, etc.  They are fully furnished with full kitchen appliances and all of the necessary utensils to prepare food, including many basic condiments for cooking.  Each of the houses have washer/dryer units in them.  The cabins have a separate building nearby where they have use of a washer/dryer.  There are beautiful concrete walkways from the parking area south of the cabins to each cabin, and then continues to the house. There is a nice fire pit and chairs available to renters. Unfortunately, it rained and dampened our plans for an outdoor fire.  The owners are still finishing a few minor things outside as weather and rain this winter/spring slowed them down more than they expected.  I am thrilled with this addition to our community.  We have needed something like this for a number of years.  It's a huge boost for us!  Kim and her husband are wonderful hosts.  

Saturday all of Dean's boys, Megan (Matt's wife), and 4 of the grandkids met my daughter Misti at the Oswego Golf Course for a game of golf.  With 10 of them playing, 4 hours later they finally returned.  It was a hot day, so I was glad to stay back at Matt & Megan's house to keep an eye on the younger children.  That evening we grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and brats with sides of coleslaw, grilled vegetables; and desserts - peach crisp, watermelon and smores.  It was a fun evening, ending in a game of How Well Do You Know Your Family.  Overall, I'd say everyone playing knew something about someone in the family.  I believe the kids were amazed that when my card read "name the birthday of each person present" that I got almost all of them correct,  I did miss the date by a day or two on a few.  It's alot to remember and it took awhile to go through 20 family members.  Lol!

Sunday Heath and Jarred's families headed back to Wichita.  Matt and Brett stayed until Monday before they started their return trip home.  Matt and family drove from Grand Island, New York, and Brett and his family flew into Tulsa, OK from Winnemucca, NV.  It was a great time being  with everyone and we hope to make it happen every year or two.

I said my goodbyes to everyone Sunday evening when we left, since Monday morning I had a routine Dr. appointment in Vinita, OK at 7am.  I had a very good report, and who doesn't like that?  I stopped to visit with my dad's cousin Martha on my way back to Oswego.  It's always good to catch up with her and her family.  After returning to Oswego, I stopped by my sister Cindy's to help her add an app to her phone.   She only recently gave up her relic of a flip phone.  This was her first app experience.  One last stop before finally returning home, was to meet up with former co-workers Carol and Renee at Carol's house for lunch.  We spent the next 2.5-3 hours catching up with each other.  Carol's backyard is beautifully landscaped.  She enjoys her flowers/plants/birds, etc.  Renee has a huge yard of the same.  I shared some pictures of hers last year.  I'd like to think that someday we can enjoy some of the same at our property.

Tuesday Cindy and I headed to Joplin.  We both had items to return to Amazon, so we stopped at Kohl's for that purpose.  Upon returning my items, I received a $5 off coupon....so I had to do a little shopping.  I bought a couple of tops that were on sale 2/$20, so $15+tax and I had two new shirts.  Cindy had to return her items through UPS, but we still had a couple of stops to make before that.  From the Mall we stopped at Best Buy to pick up the new printer we finally determined would work with our Chromebooks, then stopped for a bite to eat at Schlotzsky's.  We pulled into the nearby Target parking lot under a shade tree to enjoy our sandwiches.  Our last stop was at the UPS on the far southwest side of Joplin.  It went quickly and we were soon headed back to Oswego.  

With all of that over the past several days, I also worked on getting Bentley back together since we were in and out so much, that things had piled up.  Laundry was high on the list, and coming up with ideas for dinner - sometimes that can be a real chore when so much is going on and I haven't had time to go to the grocery store, but we managed to find something to satisfy us.

Dean set up the new printer and wa-la it works!  We are so happy.  We are very satisfied with our choice.  We decided to go with a laser printer this time.  It isn't as fancy as the one we had that could scan, copy and also had an auto document feeder.  This one will automatically print on both sides if needed, we just can't place documents in a feeder to print  We can scan and send documents from our phones though and, so far it has worked well for us.

I've also been seeking out locations to stay and making reservations as we head west the 12th of July.  It does take quite a bit of time choosing the location where you can spend time visiting places/scenery we have wanted to see.  Fortunately, I have not had any issues finding a place to stay, even on my first choices.  I was concerned about that after all of the articles I have read that RV parks are full.  We also joined Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts and expect to utilize them several times on this trip.  As I was checking out Boondockers welcome I discovered several places right near us - one only a few miles away!  What a surprise!

I will be able to join Medicare starting October 1, so researching my basic plan, supplemental and medication plans has taken some time.  I have a meeting on Friday July 9th to meet with someone and may seek another agent's input as well before making the final decision.

Our grandson Logan, who was recently stationed in Hawaii, left there the first part of June to spend six months in Japan.  Dean and I, along with Misti and Haleigh hope to visit him sometime next spring/summer after he returns to Hawaii.  

In addition to all of that we are acquiring the property north of our lot.  We will have a lot of work to do but we are excited for the opportunity.  We are currently having house plans prepared, and we hope to either begin building mid 2022 or early 2023.  Of course, we will keep Bentley and continue to travel.  We belong to two camping clubs; our local Escapees group (KS, MO, OK and northern AR) and the Heartland Owners Club.  Dean is now President of our Escapees group (as of our April rally in Grove, OK).  We will continue to attend as many of the campouts/rallies as we can each year; and hopefully we can still travel east to see Matt & Megan and west to see Brett & Emilee, alternating every other year.  It will give us the opportunity to travel to other areas on our way to see them and back.  Most likely, we will head south in January but that has yet to be determined.

Dean has spent endless hours working at the lot, cutting stumps from small trees, and digging up rocks that protrude so the lawnmower blades do not hit them.  It looks so good!  We are anxious to be there and enjoy the wildlife and birds that frequent the area.  It is so peaceful and quiet.  The neighbors are wonderful and we know we will love this location.  Our niece's husband mows are lawn when we are gone, and he wants to make sure these are not an issue for him.

We have been busy with grandchildren's activities and events during the spring school year, soccer, football, tennis - traveling to Wichita and several nearby communities for tennis matches.  We had three graduations events this year, our grandson Tucker, and nieces Dani and Hannah.  It was a fun year with all of this.  We've enjoyed April and May rally/campouts with our Escapees group.  We try to find a host for each month April through October to host a rally.  There were no takers for June and July, but August through October there are some great ones planned.  We will miss the August campout.  We are disappointed about it as it's a place I've always wanted to visit, but we are looking forward to being on the road again.

There are so many other things I could throw in but I'm not writing a book.  LOL!  We hope to be back with an update July 12 or 13, then back to consistent posts.  Thank you to everyone who follows us.  I have been surprised and thankful for each person who has asked if we are still going to blog since they haven't heard much from us.  I appreciate you asking.  I am not ready to quit yet.