Grand Ole Opry, Ordering a new motorhome and Back in Minneapolis

I forgot to show the picture of our site at Seven Points Campground on our last post, so here it is. By the way, this was the last time we saw sun in Nashville until the day we left.


We went online this morning, April 8th, and ordered tickets for the Grand Ole Opry. We got tickets for the Saturday 6:30 PM show. We stopped at the General Jackson River Boat booth and picked up a brochure. If the weather holds out we might take a boat ride Saturday before we go to the Opry. On the way home we restocked our grocery supply. We also stopped in area called the “clover bottoms” and took this picture.


Today is Tuesday, April 3rd, it rained all day and then finally let up around 4:00 PM. In the morning I went to Bass Pro Shops to look for some crappie jigs with a bigger bite or gap then the normal ones for Terry and myself (that's hooks for the fish to bite on, not us). Although, we have taken the bait on some lures more often than the fish. I did find SOME 1/32 and 1/16 oz Big Bite jigs that look like they will work. Sandy stayed "home" and worked on projects while it poured rain. The high today was 60 degrees.




The low last night was 49.3 degrees and another storm came through about 4:15 AM. We had a lighting strike close by that tripped the ground fault. It’s still raining at 9:00 AM Friday. We moved from beautiful Seven Points Resort to Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park to be closer to The Grand Ole Opry. The park was OK, but not as private or scenic as at Seven Points. We did a little shopping this Saturday morning. The weather today was cloudy with a high of 61 degrees. At 5:30 PM we headed over to the Grand Ole Opry. There were a couple of changes to the list of entertainers, Jesse McReynolds was replaced by Restless Heart and a Bluegrass singer named Dale Ann Bradley. She was very good and sang Run, Rufus, Run. This is a song she penned about a cousin of hers who ran moonshine for his father.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfGmofFURM


The show was real good with the exception of Mel McDaniel, I think he was into the Jack Daniels before the show. The pictures I took did not turn out very good, but here is one of Mel Tillis. We were hoping he would have sung “Send me down to Tucson” which is one of our favorite Tillis songs. Each performer sings only one or two songs. Between each performance everthing stops for a commercial break since this is a live radio show. It seems a little strange to pay to listen to commercials but the entertainment is good.



On Sunday we got up to more cloudy skies and a temperature of 51. By the time we finished breakfast at Cracker Barrel, got packed up and ready to leave it had cleared off and turned out to be a beautiful day. Of course, the day was spent driving to Normal, IL. We stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart. It was 67 degrees and sunny.

After getting up we drove 22 miles to Chenoa, IL where I wanted to look at a boat to replace my jon boat. After finishing up there we headed north to Wausau, WI to visit John at King’s Campers. We did this under duress as we had heard that northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin had gotten some heavy snow. Bemidji, MN had gotten 23 inches. We drove under cloudy skies and the last 40 miles had drizzle. The temperature was 38 degrees when we pulled into King’s Campers for the night.

It's Tuesday, April the 8th, and “we’re not down south anymore”, at least that’s what the outside temperature is telling me. The low last night was 36.3 degrees. Oh well, we had better get used to it as they are predicting about 23 for a low on Thursday. This morning we went in to see John at Kings Campers but he was in a meeting, so we went out and sat it the 36 QSP Allegro Bus that they had in stock. We had come to order a new motorhome and had decided on a 40 QSP. We had also considered the 36 foot model as we wanted to have access to smaller campsites. But after we had seen it at the factory we decided we did not like the bedroom layout. Sandy says she can't live without a washer and dryer in the rig and by the time you put a washer dryer in the 36 footer, there isn't much of a closet left. But as long as Kings Campers had one we thought we would revisit it to see if our minds had changed. After sitting inside the 36 footer for 2 hours we came to the same conclusion that we had before and went back in to see John and ordered a 2009 40 QSP Allegro Bus. Too bad we didn’t order that the first time. I guess I was pretty hung up on being able to tow 15,000 lbs behind the motorhome. We found that the extra length and placement of the tag axle kept us from getting into a lot of sites. With this MH we can fit into a 34 foot site if the back is clear so we can overhang the pad. After finishing up in Wausau we headed over to Minneapolis. We are staying in Prior Lake, MN at the Dakota Meadows Campground at the Mystic Lake Casino. We lucked out as they turned on the water yesterday so all is good. We will probably spend a month here and then move to another place as more campgrounds will open up by then. The next few days are going to be very busy here, but that is OK as we will need something to do to keep us warm. The high today was 41 degrees.

Today, April 9th, is our first full day back at our home base in the Lakeville area. This morning it was 33.2 degrees. They are predicting 6 inches of snow on Friday, but next week it is supposed to warm up to 60. We went over to the garage, our home base, and picked up Sandy's car.


We will have to get back there and start organizing and start the process of excahanging items in the MH that we have not used for different items that we will still probably will not use.

Today, April 11th, we are wondering why we came back to Minnesota so early. The weather is cold, we are getting snow mixed with rain and we could be in Arizona where it's 80 and sunny. I know, all you Minnesotans and saying "stop whining--this is nothing compared to the long cold winter". If it hadn't been for some business to tend to we would have stayed south longer. However, it's good to be back home to spend time with family and friends we haven't seem for awhile.

This will be our last Blog post for awhile. So, until then, keep safe and we will see you all later.
Dave and Sandy

Getting work done in Red Bay, a road trip, a good bye supper with friends and on to Nashville.

This morning, Tuesday March 25, Sandy and I went into the lobby of the Service Center to see if our friends were in getting work done. It turns out Chuck, Lorraine, Steve and Sandy were in there. We visited with them for awhile before we had to leave for Sandy’s hair cut appointment. Then just as we were leaving Richard and Patsy came in, so we got to see everyone again. When Sandy got her hair cut, the hairdresser said her husband works in the service department here at Tiffin. She was saying how blessed they are to have so many manufacturing jobs in a small town, the biggest being Tiffin, which employees about 1,000 people, Sunshine Construction which makes prefab homes and a dog food plant.

We were not scheduled for work today, Wednesday, but while I was in the shower we got a knock on the door at 7:15 AM and a guy asked if we had been told to go to bay 49 this morning. Sandy told him no, so he said we should go over there. Sandy asked him when we should go and he said right now. They normally come the night before to let you know if you need to be at a bay for service in the morning. So it was a rush to get stowed away and get over there. We made it at 7:45. When we got there it turned out to be the welding shop and they were doing a preventative reinforcement for a crack that was showing up in a few 42 ft RV’s. It was good Tiffin was being pro-active but. we were kind of disappointed because we thought the call was to get the items on our punch list corrected. While we were waiting for the work to be done we went to Swamp John’s for breakfast with Chuck and Lorraine. The food was kind of mediocre, but there was alot of food and the price was cheap. One of their specialities is a chocolate gravy. And yes, it's as bad as it sounds. When we got back to the Service Center our friends showed me a fun new card game called "Pass the Love". They said it is a lot like a card game called Golf.

While we were playing cards, a lady came over to watch and ended up joining us. As we were playing Sandy said to her that she looked familiar. Sandy finally figured out that we had met in Amarillo, TX last November. Their names are Susan and David and they have this little sweet Corgi dog. This is just another case of running into people that you have met along the way. Late in the afternoon Chuck and I walked done to the office and it turned out that the meat man was down there. Chuck said that he had heard that the sausage was real good, so I bought a couple of pounds. Chuck bought a couple of pounds also plus some pork chops. On the way back I invited him to come over and we would package them with the Food Saver. Now, that is a nice item to have along as it really helps keep items fresh. About 5:30 PM the camp host came by and told us we needed to be in bay 29 at 7:00 AM tomorrow. Hurrah, we are finally getting into service to get started on punch list.

On Thursday we got up at 5:45 so we could be ready for our 7:00 appointment. When we got in there we went over our list with Kevin and Steven, who are our service tech’s. The first thing Steven did was get the TV set up to get surround sound when watching TV. We were always able to have surround sound while watching DVD’s or listening to the I-Pod, but not the just regular TV. After Steven showed us what he changed, we went into the lobby and spent the rest of the day visiting with people. About 2:00 we went back to the service bay to go over any questions with Kevin and Steven. We pulled out at 2:45 with instructions to be back at 7:15 AM the next morning.

Today is Friday and it was another 5:45 morning to get up so we could get over to the service bay. We left the motorhome with Kevin and Steve and went back into the lobby. Around 10:30 Sandy and I went over to the factory to take another peak at the new RV's.
Kevin and Steven had finished all of the items on our check list with the exception of the paint. Monday we will go in and see if the paint department can get us in next week to do some touch-ups. If they can, we will stick around, and if not we will pack up and leave for home. We had new neighbours in the site next to us today. They have a Port-A-Boat on top of their car too, but, unlike ours, theirs has been well used. Our boat is still touring the US before it decides where to get into the water. Friday night we went out to supper with Chuck, Lorraine, Steve and Sandy A. We went to Reese’s Fish and Steak House. It reminded us a lot of Wahoo Valley back in Staples and the food was very good.

On Saturday morning 6 of us went on a field trip. Chuck and Lorraine picked up Richard, Patsy, Sandy and I and we drove up to the Shiloh National Battlefield. At this 2 day battle in April 1862, there were 23,746 casualties out of 94,706 combatants. Also the Confederate General Johnstone was killed here by a bullet wound to the leg and died from blood loss. He was the highest ranking officer to be killed in the Civil War. Just after we started the tour we started to get some pretty heavy rain, so Sandy and will have to go back when we get a chance to walk the area more. Here a few pictures in the cemetery.


This cemetery was created a few years after the war. The solders bodies were dug up from mass graves and reburied. The ones that could be identified were buried with grave markers like above and the ones they could not identify were marked with the numbered square marker shown below. #869.

After the tour we all met Steve and Sandy A. in Iuka, MS for supper at the Cafe Memories. The food was real good and we had alot of good laughs.

The inside had this eclectic mixture of old items used for decorations. It was very interesting.

Here is a group shot of Dave, Sandy, Sandy A. Steve, Richard, Patsy, Chuck and Lorraine.

The following picture is of Steve and his cream server for his coffee. He did get a little ribbing about that. It was a sitting cow and the cream came out of its mouth.

It was an enjoyable evening that went by way too fast. These are some friends that three weeks ago we did not know, but now hope that our paths will cross again sometime in the future.

Richard and Patsy left for home today, Sunday the 30th. It rained most of the day, but it did stop long enough for Chuck and I to help Steve install a Pressure Pro tire pressure monitor on his coach and toad. After we finished that project, the six of us went to O’Brian’s for supper.

Today, the 31st, Steve and Sandy A. left and headed back west. Sandy and I went into the paint shop to see how long it would be before we could some paint chips taken care of. When they said 2 weeks we decided that we should start heading back home. So tomorrow we will be leaving for a slow trip home. Chuck and Lorraine came over in the afternoon and we visited some and played cards. For supper Sandy made spaghetti and Lorraine made the salad and rolls. Then after supper we played a dice game and visited some more. We sure are going to miss the friends we made here in Red Bay.

This is April Fools day. Sandy and I went over to the Factory and got the price list and changes for the 2009 Allegro Bus. Then we went back to the campground, packed up and said our goodbyes to Chuck and Lorraine. It was about 10:45 when we pulled out and headed for Savanna, TN. We had not yet decided where we would end up for the night, but when we got to Savanna we decide to go to Nashville for a few days and let the weather improve before we head back home. It started raining about an hour into the trip and pretty much continued until we got to the campground. They are predicting rain for the next few days. We are at Seven Points Campground on J. Percy Priest Lake. This is a Corps of Engineers campground that we have been at before and enjoyed in the past. It’s a little tighter fit for us in here with the 42 footer then it was with the 26 foot Lazy Daze we had before. But there are still a lot of sites we can fit into.

On Wednesday morning the sun came out and it is supposed to be about 60 for the high. This was a surprise for us as they had predicted rain through the weekend. Say Chuck, Sandy made breakfast with the sausage that we bought at the campground and it is very good.

We have a site that is across the road from the lake but we look out over the lake from the front.