Cardinals

You know we're always looking at one kind of bird or another. This week it's been cardinals - the few we've had at the campground and the team that's playing baseball in St. Louis. We've been to two games this week, one on Wednesday and another Friday, today. The Cardinals play in Busch Stadium which is just a few blocks from the famed S.L. Arch. Pat has a greater interest in baseball than I, but even at that I must say that the games have been interesting - as has watching the fans. I'm convinced that most of them don't go to the game to watch the game. They are there for social life, bad food (that is incredibly expensive. Would you believe $5 for a bottle of water?) and beer. The beer is $7.75 a bottle! Wednesday I bought Pat a fountain soft drink and a soft pretzel. The tab was $10 even.

I had started to wonder why we hadn't received any email this week. Discovered our server, supersat2, had some problems and we can't send or receive email. Spoke with their tech today and they are working on the problem. If any of you have tried to send email in the past week and didn't receive a response, or if your mail was returned as undeliverable, please try again soon. As of midnight Friday the problem still has no been fixed but I'm sure it will be soon.

It's raining again and there is no place for the water to go. The ground is saturated, the streams and rivers are running bank full, and worse, and the rain continues.

Check back often, and please leave a comment so we know someone is reading us occasionally.

Dave & Pat

Memorial Day, 2008

On this year's Memorial Day we were trying to recall if we ever had a Memorial Day (in the midwest) that wasn't rainy, windy, cold, or all three. Couldn't remember a single one that had beautiful weather, and this one was no exception. It did more than rain. It was a deluge. We spent most of the w/e at Steve's, so our RV just sat empty at Scott Air Force Base. The combination of heavy rain, strong wind was too much for one of the living room slides. It leaked enough to soak a part of the LR carpet. A little sponging up with towels and running fans overnight dried it up pretty well. As much as anything can dry with humidity readings in the high 90 per cents. NOW we remember what it was about the midwest that we didn't care for all that much. There was a tornado in MN that killed 8 people, but we're still in IL.

We all (Steve, 3 kids, Pat and me) went to St. Louis to the City Museum on Memorial Day. This is a facility that is difficult to describe. It's a tall building, maybe 6 stories, in downtown St. Louis that has been reclaimed and remodeled into a hands-on playland for kids (and adults). There is climbing, sliding, games, art studios, and more. We were there less than 5 hours, but could have spent the entire day, and more, and not run out of things to see and do. Never got into the aquarium part at all. Perhaps we'll return another time and try to see it all. If you are a fan of old buildings, vintage architectural stuff, and the remake of "found" stuff into something useful, then this is a place you will like.

Tuesday morning things are still gray and humid. The morning calm was shattered by the take off of two fighter jets (I think F-16's). After take off they turned back and flew overhead at low altitude. Very noisy!

Back on normal schedule now. Kids are finishing school this week, Steve is back into baseball mode, and we're still retired and free to do anything we choose. Getting used to the life.

It's baseball season

We've been getting a large dose of baseball while visiting at Steve's. Daniel and Maciek are on a little league team that Steve coaches, Steve umpires several games per week at fields in the area. Sometimes it means an hour of travel, or more, just to get to the game. Many of the games are right in Mascoutah, so there is very little travel time. This coming week, Steve has tickets to a Cardinals game in St. Louis that he is taking us to. Sports, especially baseball, is important to Steve and the kids so we're getting a lot of it while here.

Yesterday we all went to St. Louis to the Grant Farm. This facility is owned by the Anheuser Busch people, and is quite a thing to see. The farm houses the breeding and training facilities for the Budweiser Clydesdale horses, has a museum and a natural setting-type zoo with lots of exotic animals. We spent one afternoon there, but could have easily been fully occupied for the entire day, or even longer. Pat and I will go there again the next time we are in the area.

As we have traveled through the upper tier of states since leaving Washington I've noticed that the type of roadkill you see along the highway changes slightly from state to state. Now, perhaps roadkill is not of any interest to you. That's OK. I only make the observation that you can kind of tell where you are by the type of roadkill you see. It's deer everywhere, but you can add skunks and badgers in Wisconsin and raccoons and opossums in Illinois.

It's apparent to me that many areas are cashing in on nature and their local arts community to attract tourists. It's a combination that works.

More in a few days.

Dave & Pat

Scott Air Force Base

We've left the birds of Blackhawk Valley for a different kind of bird. Our RV site is in the FamCamp at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The 'birds' are the type the Air Force keeps around for a variety of uses. As we turned into the campground we passed a whole flock of KC135 aerial tankers. At the same time, there was a C5A on final approach. We're just far enough from the runway that the noise is not terribly loud.

Drive time from Rockford to Mascoutah was about 7 hours. No major hills to overcome in central IL, so it was a fairly smooth and easy trip. Son, Steve, met us near the main gate and got our base passes for us. First order of family business after setting up the RV was to attend a baseball game in Mascoutah. Steve is the team coach and the two boys, Daniel and Maciek, are on the team. They won, 12 to 8. I have a feeling that we will be taking in a number of baseball games during the 2+ weeks we will be here.

Mascoutah is about 30 miles east of St. Louis. The town population is about 8000, and growing. As you go about the town it's easy to see the influence of the air base in the businesses and also the appearance of a majority of the males. The military haircut is a dead giveaway.

When Steve retired from the Air Force a year ago he decided that Mascoutah was a nice, wholesome place to live. He got a job on the base, as a civilian, and is doing pretty much the same job he did while he was on active duty. The difference now is the AF can't send him overseas again as they did so often while he was active.

We'll be spending some time on the base during the next couple of weeks. It's been many years since I was in a military environment. It's familiar, but definitely something from another time period of my life. I expect most of our time will be with Steve and family going to ball games and doing other small town and family things.

Oh, and Dusty (our cat) now has a new home with Steve and his kids (they wanted him). Dusty made the trip just fine, and seems to be adjusting to his new home quite nicely.

Check back often.

Dave & Pat

Catch-up Post

Sorry for neglecting to write a new post for an entire week. We've been busy. I know, I know, we're not supposed to be busy, but it's so hard not to be. It's been a long time since we had grandparent duties and it's been kind of fun. Oh, it's not all day everyday, but it's a part of just about every day. The other thing is RV and truck maintenance. Trying to get all the little things that need fixing fixed while we have the time and weather. Not trying to get everything done in a day, or even a week - just something each day. It has not been onerous, but rather quite pleasant and with a sense of accomplishment to get things fixed.

We'll be leaving Blackhawk RV Park soon and heading a little more south to Mascoutah IL to visit our son, Steve, and his family. One thing that has caught our attention is the almost daily increase in the price of fuel. When we left WA we were paying $3.99 for a gallon of diesel fuel. When I looked yesterday the local price had increased to $4.70 a gallon. According to news reports, the increases will continue. I don't have to tell you that with each increase in fuel prices we have to reconsider our travel plans and possibly alter them slightly. Perhaps move less often and not travel quite as far overall. I'm sure we'll do some of our traveling with the car instead of the diesel truck and RV. At least that travel that entails visiting family and friends within MN and surrounding area.

We continue to assess our options for where to spend the winter. As we visit with other RVers we hear all kinds of ideas and opinions. There is a lot of "warm" area in the south and each area has its own offerings and amenities. When we decide where, we'll let you know.

Please leave comments and messages so we know we're being read. You can email us directly at dwink@supersat2.net if you prefer. Phone any time and any place at 509-936-2557 or 509-671-3007. Communication has not been a problem - it's mail that we don't get with any frequency. Haven't had a single piece catch up with us yet, but we should be getting a package today.

See ya.

Love, Dave & Pat

Lots of birds

We've been enjoying a lot of birds in Blackhawk Valley Campground. Several species here that we have not previously seen. The white-breasted nuthatch and rose-breasted grosbeak just to name a couple. Two days ago we put out some orange slices for the orioles. They ate them. Today we had an oriole pecking on our dining room window, as if to let us know the oranges were gone. We put out more orange, but the little guy just keeps coming back to the window, tapping and singing, as if trying to communicate with us in some fashion. Pretty bird. Stay tuned.

First Free Day

Happy Monday! It's Cinco de Mayo, if that means anything to you. We're still in Blackhawk Valley RV Park and enjoying a spate of decent weather. Last evening we fired up the outdoor grill for the first time and were able to sit outside while dinner cooked. Rather pleasant, given the kind of weather we've been having up till now.

Today is kind of a milestone. It's the first day since retirement, April 18th, that we haven't had any kind of an obligation or schedule to keep. Maybe retirement truly begins today. No commitments! Now what do we do with our time? We'll think of something.

Stay tuned.

Dave and Pat

On the banks of the Kishwaukee River

It's Friday already, and we've been too busy to write a post. Retirement isn't supposed to be this way, is it? Well, it's the travel and grandparenting duties that have gotten in the way, so to speak. We're in the Blackhawk Valley RV Park just outside of Rockford, Illinois. The Kishwaukee River runs through it. The weather has gotten much better since we left MN. It's not quite summer yet, but at least you can see the promise of green grass, new leaves, blue sky, and fluffy clouds.

Upon entering Blackhawk RV Park, the first thing you will notice is the plethora of wildlife, especially birds, in the area. We had to vacate a pair of Canada Geese from our site before we could pull in and set up. Since then we've seen various waterfowl, cardinals, yellow finches, red-winged blackbirds, (lots of) robins and lbj's as well as, sorry to say it, grackles.

When you enter Illinois from Wisconsin it seems that the terrain changes from a lot of farm land to a lot of built-on land. There is not a lot of open space visible - it just seems to be one continuous city. The CG where we will be spending the next couple of weeks is an oasis in the middle of this mess. It's quiet here, you can hear the birds sing, and there is no evidence that beyond the hills of this valley there are numerous large trucks, trains, and passenger vehicles speeding along as if it were necessary for them to get somewhere else as fast as possible.

We're just beginning to discover some of the attractions of this area. It is an area rich in rivers, museums, gardens (a little early for them, however), and tourist shops. In a week or so, when the weather will surely be more sunny and warmer and our grandkid sitting stint is over, we plan to canoe the Kish, as the locals refer to the Kishwaukee River. The Kish was named for the Potowatomi Indian word meaning "river of the Sycamore". Historically, the Potowatomi carved their canoes from large sycamore trees, trees that still grow here. We'll be looking for those trees as we canoe the Kish.

Stay tuned. More to come.

When you visit our blog, feel welcome to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks.

Dave and Pat