A 60th Birthday Party

Tonight we went to a 60th birthday party for Randy. It was fun, good food too!

Carlyle Lake, Boulder Campground, Boulder Illinois

Carol wanted to go camping this weekend at Carlyle Lake. We did not have reservations, we just left Thursday morning to see what we could find. The spot we took was ok but not along the lake like Carol wanted. They were all taken.

We had a good time and we did a lot of bike riding. It was a little warm in the afternoons. It's the middle of August, what did we expect.

It was good to just relax and take it easy. I ate good too, Carol made some awesome food.

Yesterday the weather looked like it could be a problem, big storms. Carol said maybe we should pack up and go home. I told her we couldn't run everytime the weather looked bad. We are both a little concerned after our previous experiences.

This morning at 12:30 AM we woke to big thunder storms and heavy rain. It lasted an hour but the Aliner did ok. We woke up again at 5:00 to heavy rain.

After breakfast I told Carol I was ready to head for home. I don't think she was ready yet but it was going to be another hot day.

The GMC Terrain did good, 18.8 MPG towing and only used a half tank going to Carlyle and back.

We are not sure when our next trip will be, too many things going on.

Another birthday celebration

59th Birthday!

I made it to 59. Carol made me a nice steak, baked potato and got me a piece of key lime pie from the "Blue Owl". It was great. Carol had a soy burger. I guess that is why she looks like she does and why I look like I do.
The boys are coming over Sunday for another birthday celebration.

Gathering of A-Frames, Clinton Lake Illinois

We just had a great weekend at Clinton Lake Illinois, near Dewitt IL.

The weather was great, sunshine and blue skies all weekend. Unusual for us. We tested out the new GMC Terrain towing and it was no problem. We averaged 17.7 MPG over 430 miles (not bad, not great, but Ok) which included us running around the campground and towing at 70 on the highway with an AWD car. Carol had a few problems trying to drive to the shower house at night but everything else went good.

We had a good time with the group, an eclectic group for sure. That's what makes it so fun; everybody's different, some are funny, some are odd, some weird, some peculiar, a few are normal. I wonder where I fall in. Who cares, it's just always an enjoyable weekend.

Aliner back in service

After the storm in Amana Iowa when our camper came apart and got flooded we weren't sure what was going to happen. When the rain let up a little we packed it up and drove home. At home when we opened it up, it already smelled bad. The laminate on the countertops was popping off, the cushions were moldy, the curtains were stretched out of shape and drooping. But the mechanical parts seemed ok. State Farm wanted us to take it to an Aliner dealer 2 1/2 hours away and get an estimate for repairs. I knew they would not be able to get countertops, drapes and cushions for an 2004 camper. Then we figured that the prices would be so much that they would total the camper. We decided we had too much in this one to just walk away. We found a local countertop company that would make new tops. Carol picked out material and found someone to make new curtains. Carol was able to clean the cushions and we got new foam. We made a deal with State Farm and they paid for most of it. We did most of the work, taking it apart and putting it all back together. State Farm got off cheap, but we got our camper back. These pictures do not show the true colors. It was dark.