Homework in Florida

Our visit to our daughter Heather and Ryan’s home has been filled with plenty of activity, mainly work and more work on the house and yard. The house was repainted over the course of three days under hot and humid conditions. But before the work could be completed, Anneke and Heather had to decide and more importantly agree on the color. I did the prudent thing and stayed out of the discussion. After two days of discussion, trips to numerous paint stores and test runs a color was finally decided and the work could begin.

Since the house is only one level on a slap foundation, the painting was not that difficult except for the oppressive weather conditions. With some teamwork and regular supervision from Anneke the job was completed without major problems and, I think, in a timely fashion.

Once I recovered from that effort, we tackled some of the larger issues in the yard, including major tree trimming and removal of what turned out to be half a ton of old rotting firewood.

I have decided that I am ready for some R & R before anymore projects.

Grandson

We spent four nights and the better part of five days in Resaca, GA to visit our daughter –Gretchen and family. Of course, I think we can say without offending anyone that the star of the visit was Aleister, who turned one just a few months ago. He has changed a lot since we seen him last, he was a whole new and even more interesting person. On our last visit, he learned to roll over. Now he is on the verge of walking. I suspect it will be any day now. He moves with agility in the crawl mode and can move around upright with the support of objects as he moves along. He is a happy and bright child, who will no doubt amuse and torment his parents in the coming months and years. That seems only fair. :)

http://babybandy.blogspot.com/

We stayed at the same Bed and Breakfast as we did on or last visit- The Little River country inn and petting farm. This is a very nice place owned by friendly and helpful folks. We again made use of the golf cart provided to guests to tour the farm and enjoy the animals and river views. This time Aleister was old enough to take part in visiting the petting farm. It might be a stretch to say that he enjoyed the visit. Perhaps next time.

http://www.littleriverfarms.com/

It was a great visit and we wish we could spend more time watching his young antics, but we certainly plan to be back. It is a busy time here, with Aleister learning new tricks every day, working parents and the current project of expanding the homestead with a large add on to the house. This project will give them needed room and more spaces for Aleister to explore. If only the contractors will show up once in awhile. They all must take a special course on scheduling and reasons not to show on the agreed dates.

We are off next to visit Heather and Ryan in FL. We miss the motorhome but not the diesel bills.

The Face Lift

One of the main reasons that we have spent so much time in Ohio this summer is our unsold house. One of the items that needed to be addressed before the next northern winter is the roof. Ours has nearly reached the end of its useful life and we have spent a considerable amount of time looking for the right contractor and deciding exactly what we wanted. If you count the whole time we have been thinking about this, it has been about five years. Now the time has come. We have found the contractor that we think we can rely on and made the final decision on a possible face lift, as well.

So this past Monday, it began. We decided on streamlining the appearance of the roof and remove the false dormers in the attic. This proved to be more of a task than I expected, as they were very well mounted on the roof. The roof is very steep and the contracting crew had to definitely use the old sailing adage one hand for the ship and one for yourself to stay firmly on the roof.
It was very interesting to watch as they proceeded to change the appearance of the house. They completed the work in a timely fashion, in the way we expected and with a pleasing result. What more can you ask.

There were several thoughts that lessened my joy on the completion of this long thought about project. First, how much diesel this project cost could have purchased and the second-well -that old timeline thing-the roof has a longer life expectancy than I do.

With this project complete, we are off on our delayed trip to visit our grandson and family and then head further south to our daughter there.

Erie, PA

June 2, 2008

We had to make a quick trip to Erie for some business and revisited a town that we have not been to for some time. I remembered Erie as a bit of a rundown place with not much to offer. Erie has a long history with its strategic position along the shores of Lake Erie and has had a part to play in American history from the mid 1700’s thru the revolutionary War, the war of 1812 and right up into at least the early 1900’s before its star began to fade.

We found a B&B in the downtown area locally known as millionaire’s row. It was built in the 1870’s by a leading banker of the time. We had not been on this area before and found it quite impressive with restored large homes being used as apartments, B&B’s and office spaces. We also found a small rejuvenated area of the business section with restaurants and shops. The City is also trying to redo its public access areas along the lake with a large convention center under construction and amusements to attract people to the area. We dined in a pleasant restaurant that was housed in a former firehouse.

We then drove thru the Presque Isle State Park located across an inlet from the downtown area. It has numerous recreational activities, mostly associated with the lake with nice beaches, hiking and biking trails and picnic areas. After leaving the park, we stopped at a 50’s spot for some ice cream and people watching.

It turned out to be a much more enjoyable visit than expected.

The Toybox

Last weekend we attended an impromptu gathering with some of the members of our Winnebago club. There was no formal meeting planned for June, so one of our members, who owns property near Archbold, Oh invited us to come and camp on his property and see what would develop. This turned out to be a great long weekend with four coaches attending plus our generous hosts. The owners refer to this property as the “Toybox”, as this is where they have inside storage for their motorhome and some of the classic cars that they have collected. This spot also has a very nice area around a pond for campfires, cookouts and some fishing.

In addition to our usual fun activities of eating, card games and storytelling, a few of us tried our hands at some pond fishing. For me, this was the first time in a long time I had a pole in my hand. We also got an up close look at some classic cars and in my case, had my first ride in a model T Ford. This was a real fun experience.

Our hosts also operate a business, making, among other things, special screens for the RV industry. So we also made a visit to their factory and got the dime tour. Clearly some folks have a stronger sense of entrepreneurship than others (like me). Anneke says that is too bad.

I am glad to say that this kind of outing is what makes the RV hobby so much fun and makes you forget about the ever rising cost of fuel.