VP Weekend cont.

Didn't get to finish posting about the weekend with Sharon's family. On Sunday afternoon, we were able to visit with her brothers and sisters. Here's a few pics from that visit, yes they're all taken in the kitchen. Where else?




And, of course, we can't forget the ones who didn't hang out in the kitchen. Sorry, I don't have a picture of Sharon watching the Packer's game. However, she was very good and didn't yell - at least that much!! And, can you guess who may be losing a game?



Overall, we had a very nice time. Even stayed an extra day. Brought back some bakery goodies, also. And, of course, we stopped at the candy outlet for the mints and Lindor balls. Such good chocolate.

VP October Weekend

Went up to northwest Iowa this past weekend and spent some time with Sharon's family. Had a good time. Spent Saturday afternoon with Sharon's mom. Went for ice cream and a short drive around town so she could view the changes. Sharon also had the chance to visit with her mom on Sunday afternoon, too.

Stayed at Donna & Arlyn's. They had 3 of their grandkids Saturday night and Sunday. A few pics from those days. Since I'm writing the blog, no pictures of Sandy & Kiland on the golf cart.






Will finish later.

Rainy Saturday

Well, I should be doing some cleaning but it's raining. Shouldn't clean out cupboards if you have to walk to the trash bin in the rain, right. :) Sharon's working in the office this am. We close the office between noon and 3 now. Been checking out office/host type jobs. One was posted for Dollywood during the winter. Sent a message to see if we may be suited. Who knows, maybe it will be Tennessee instead of Texas. Loved Texas, though.

Love the Fall. Been cooking again. Tomorrow, we're getting together with the owners for lunch. One of our guests left us some pork cutlets. I said I'd fix them. Best with mushroom gravy. Sharon will just have to miss part of the Packer game.

If can't find jobs, then we'll probably go down to Texas. Trying to decide whether to go back to San Antonio or down to the Valley for the winter. Who knows where the road will lead. Of course, if Sharon's house sells, then . . . .

Not much going on. Went to Jester Park and Saylorville yesterday to view the pelicans. Took some great pictures. It was very nice - picked up a little sun. My neck is still a little touchy this morning. They were on the opposite shore.

Went further into the park and managed this shot.

Then went back to the buffalo and elk. They cooperated nicely.


And, we can't forget stopping for the geese and the turtle.


What surprised me the most was the amount of silt in the river due to the spring floods.




Last night Stan and Vicki Hyde showed up at the campground. Stan's family lived next to my family for several years. It was fun catching up on the families last night.

The other work kamper couple left this morning. They're heading to Tennessee. Going to stop off at Memphis first. Graceland is on their agenda. Lucky people.

Sunday Afternoon

What a beautiful day. We have the windows open. No ac. That means there aren't any campfires either right now. Trust me. The windows will be shut when we head to work at 2:30. Campground is very full. Some really nice people and some, well, let's just say, it will be nice when they leave.

Another camper story. Had a family pull in the other night when I was working. He came back in and told us his plug wouldn't fit in the pedestal. He had a travel trailer and it was 30 amp. Both plugs were 30 amp. Couldn't figure it out. Dean, who works with us sometime, went out to check it out. He came back. Everything was fine. Guy was kind of new at this. He had the adapter for the house on his plug. Just needed to remove it. We just smiled. Didn't even laugh. But it does make a good story. Especially, since Sharon and I knew this from the beginning.

Promised some pictures from the fair. Well, here goes.

The first picture is one of the floats in the veterans parade. The second one is of the new exhibition center.

Here's a picture of Sharon getting a body detox. And, it worked. Her legs didn't hurt during the entire fair. The next one is the beginning of the sand sculpture.

Street scene from the first day. Very hot. The next one is the giant pumpkin.

Sand sculpture during the middle of the fair. Street scene just a couple of days later.

Matchstick sculpture from the Lord of the Rings. Another street scene during the middle of the fair.


Have a lot more pictures but should put them on another blog or facebook. Don't know which.

Fair is Over

Yep. We survived the Iowa State Fair. On the days we could "look around", it was either extremely HOT or raining. Oh well, that's the way it goes. Still enjoy the fair, though.

No news on the housing front or winter jobs. So we'll just move on and talk about something else.

Finished working on the 2011 volunteer schedules. These needed to be done by this weekend. Had an earlier deadline this year. Started back to working in the campground office on Tuesday night. Campers have started slowing down. However, you wouldn't have known it last Thursday night. Thought we were having a Big Rig convention in the park. Couldn't believe how many 35+ feet motor homes pulled in that night. Kept us busy for a few hours.

Took some pictures at the fair. Need to download them. Then I'll post some. Hopefully tomorrow. Next item on the list is cleaning and doing laundry. Being at the fair for 12 days created quite a mess and a lot of dust in the camper. Let alone the laundry pile up. I (Sandy) have tomorrow off so hoping to tackle a few loads tomorrow. Neither one of us has to work tomorrow morning so looking forward to "NOT" setting the alarm. Planning on a nice leisurely breakfast of french toast. Yah, life is good.

Well, that's about it until I get the pictures downloaded. Just wanted to stop in and say HI!.

Birthday Lunch

On Wednesday, the 28th we had lunch with my sisters, Pam and Marcia. Marcia has her birthday on Saturday, the 31st and Pam has hers on Tuesday, August 3rd. We ate at Granite City. A couple of pictures. They didn't turn out very well - had the little camera and couldn't adjust. Don't they just look so happy to have their picture taken. :)




Downloading these pictures found a couple more on my camera. One of my great niece Jersey. We were waiting for Raegan's recital. Her Dad,Jeremy, is holding her.


Then I found a couple of pictures from a lunch I had in June with a few of my prior co-workers from my pension days at Principal. I always enjoy having lunch with them.


Hopefully, the camper and truck are getting washed today. There's a new mobile service in the area that the owner will let wash on the premises. Otherwise, there's no washing of campers or vehicles. The people bring their own water. Hope the camper sparkles when their done. Thinking about taking before and after pictures but very much doubt it.

Sharon's working this morning and I'm going in this afternoon and evening. Patricia is going to get a tattoo on her big toe today. Can't wait to see it. Still sounds very painful to me.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.

Tuesday Night - July 27

Neither one of us is working tonight. Sharon's watching the Cubs. I was outside talking with a neighbor. It was very pleasant-slight breeze - didn't feel so hot and humid. Then someone started a campfire. Time to come in.

I'll stop for a moment and wish Ruth a very nice 63rd birthday. My goodness. I still have a few years to go. Sharon's close behind,though. HaHa

Had a nice birthday last Saturday. Didn't do any work - and that included laundry and dishes!! Went to Biaggi's for dinner. Their bruschetta was a little different - had fresh mozzarella balls and a balsamic vinegar glaze. Very good. Loved the atmosphere. Couldn't decide between eggplant parmesan and butternut squash filled ravioli. Chose the eggplant. Need to go back to try the ravioli. Brought home half of the dinner and dessert. Sharon had chicken cananoli. For dessert, she had white chocolate sauce bread pudding (with strawberries) and I had a piece of chocolate fudge cake. Brought home the desserts, too.

Yesterday, I thought someone may be thinking of robbing the store. There were several kids in shopping so the guy left. The story is better in person but. . . Two guys came into the store. One stood over by the door. The other guy walked around just hanging out. Had some kids in the store trying on bracelets and looking at jewelry. Mom was looking over the bears and coffee cups. He stood around in a couple of places and then asked about the price of a gallon of water. Told him it was marked on the bottle. He went over and looked. Then the other guy nodded at him and they left the store. Drove off. Guess it was just weird but I was one number away of calling for help.

Tomorrow, we're going out for lunch with my sisters. Marcia's birthday is on Saturday and Pam's is next Wednesday. We try and get together for lunch around our birthdays. Going to Granite City - my choice this time.

Been updating the fact sheets for the volunteers for this year's fair. Finished today. Sharon's going to proof before we send them off. Quite a few changes this year. Two good things - Rock It, the robot is coming back and so is the sand sculpture. The new exhibition center looks awesome. We drove over to the fairgrounds a couple of weeks ago. Picked up some posters for the store and took a look around at the changes. Made me excited for the fair to start. Got our schedules. Patricia was great - she didn't schedule us for the day after the fair. We won't be working at the store until the Tuesday following the fair. Nice - we'll be able to sleep in and relax a day.

Want to drive down to Winterset and see the covered bridges. It's been awhile and it's hard talking about them when haven't been ourselves. Would like a sunny day without high humidity. Maybe we'll just have to suffer and go anyway.

Made a couple of new friends from Arizona. Their just doing the housekeeping for their site.

Sharon took some pictures of the butterflies around the camper yesterday. Thought I'd post a few of them.