19 JUn 2025 - Arrived at Stop# 20 Griff's Valley View RV Park near our home

 

We bugged out of the campground in Cedar Falls IA this morning at 08:55 hrs and headed west on US 20 to I-35 then south towards Des Moines.  Weather was clear and warming. From the looks of my fuel mileage We rolled into Griff's Valley View RV Park at 11:25 hrs after traveling just 134 miles.  This will be our home likely until around 1 Aug or before when we hope to be headed towards Ft Jackson South Carolina.  

We quickly got set-up here in one of their shorter, back-in sites, because that is all that was available.  I then headed home, about 9 miles,  as I had a meeting with our HVAC contractor to survey and quote our replacement furnace and air conditioner.  It turns out that Andy Roberts from Roberts Heating, Cooling and Plumbing in Carlisle IA served in the Iowa Air National Guard with me for six years!  He was assigned to the 132d Civil Engineering Squadron power production section.  I did not know him there but we have a LOT of mutual friends and so we talked 20% about my furnace and air conditioner and 80% about our experiences and comrades in the Air Guard!  

Another connection involved with this project is my great friend and Norwalk Fire Department comrade Frank Curtis.  Frank retired in 2021 as the Manager of Corporate Services at Plumb Supply Company in Des Moines. So he knows his HVAC and has a huge network in the HVAC world.  It's great to have friends like Frank when you have problems like this while on the road.  

So that is it for today.  Since we are "home" indefinitely, this will be the last BLOG post for a while as our day to day escapades would likely be pretty boring to most.  We will be actively working on the next phase of our travels, taking in some grandson's baseball games and various repairs here as needed.  If anything noteworthy occurs we will update accordingly.  Take care everyone!

18 Jun 2025 - Last Day at Big Woods Lake Campground

 

Today is our last day here in Cedar Falls.  Tomorrow morning we will pack up and head to our launch/recovery site Griff's Valley View RV Park not far from our home.  This morning we worked on cancelling all of the 23 remaining reservations on this trip.  Most places gave us a full refund but there are always a few that have weird rules buried in their documents.  It is what it is.  All of them are now cancelled and we have a place to camp until 1 Aug.  By that time we expect to be back on the road heading towards Ft Jackson South Carolina.

After lunch we drove into town to get fuel and Doreen picked up some flowers to decorate her parents grave.  The cemetery is not far from the campground so we drove there and placed the flowers.  

Back at the campground I flushed and emptied tanks, stowed hoses, the ground mat and all that other fun stuff we do in preparation for departure.  Doreen took Liberty on a good walk while I finished up.  Inside we tuned into Game Changer as our grandson Daniel was supposed to pitch the second Varsity game tonight.  But the weather had other plans and after a lightning delay they finally called game 1 so D did not get to pitch.  

Tomorrow we will pull chocks about 0900 and head for Ankeny.  It's been a great trip.  We've seen and met a ton of people, seen a lot of cool sights, etc.  But we will take care of business at home and plan the next phase of our travels.  We will continue to live in our trailer while we are home.  I will compile and post stats once we get home.

Thanks for tagging along and checking in on us.

17 Jun 2025 - Grandson Enlistment, Drive Around Cedar Falls and Change in Plans!

 

Pride seems like a weak word to describe the feelings this morning when our grandson Lucas Buehner, daughter Jennifer's boy, enlisted in the United States Army.  Lucas had delay-enlisted earlier this year like I did, but today was the day he had to report to the Military Entrance Processing Station for his official enlistment.  So last night Lucas and family went out to eat and then this morning he reported to MEPS for the enlistment and then departure for basic training.  This is what the ceremony looked like:

From there he boarded a bus and they traveled to Grand Rapids to board the airplane for....  Well it was originally scheduled to be Ft Sill in Lawton Oklahoma.  The Army conducts basic training in four locations:  Ft Sill OK, Ft Leonard Wood MO, Ft Benning GA and Ft Jackson SC.  At the last minute they switched his to Ft Jackson in South Carolina.  So the trip we designed all the way out to Oregon to put us in Lawton OK the last week in August will now not work!  We cannot get from there to Columbia SC in time for his basic training graduation. This is what the trip was going to look like:

So we have officially cancelled the remainder of the trip and we will be headed home from here on Thursday.  Our trip now looks like this:

We coordinated a camping spot at Griff's, where we launch and recover from, and we can have that site from Thursday until 1 Aug.  That will give us time to facilitate the replacement of our furnace and air conditioner, and plan the remainder of our trip, which will take us to Ft Jackson SC and then back.  We have no idea what that will look like yet, but we will get it sorted out.  Buckle-up folks.  The ride will be fun!

I spent 42 years, 2 months and 16 days in the military, and one thing we learned was to be flexible.  Things change, and you usually have no control over the changes.  You may not always agree with the changes or understand the changes, but you must adapt.  In the Marine Corps their motto is "Semper Fidelis - Always Faithful".  In the Coast Guard it is "Semper Paratus - Always Ready".  Well, neither the Army nor the Air Force have an official Semper____ motto, but unofficially it is "Semper Gumby - Always Flexible"!  You have to be flexible and ready for change, and that is true when dealing with RV life as well.  Stuff happens, things change.  Be ready, be prepared, be flexible, and in the words of Clint Eastwood, "Improvise, adapt, overcome".  We will get safely home,  We will redesign the trip.  And most importantly, we will be in Ft Jackson South Carolina to see our wonderful grandson graduate from basic training!  No exceptions!  Hooah!

So this afternoon we headed out to the local HyVee food store and replenished the fridge and pantry.  On the way back we drove around a bit, past my old house to start with.  I lived here my sophomore-senior years of high school and then I headed off to basic training in June 1973.  It sure looks a lot smaller than I remember!  Looks like they are doing some landscaping.

Then we drove through "College Hill".  Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa and our High School was the Northern University High School.  College Hill was where we hung out at the pizza joint and checked out the college chicks LOL.  

Then we drove by Doreen's house, which was just a block from our high school and a few blocks from College Hill.  She lived there throughout her childhood until we married in 1974:

Finally we drove by what remains of our high school building.  They tore down most of it but saved the field house.  

When we got back to the campground I commenced cancelling campground reservations and notifying friends we would not be able to meet up with them.  This continued on throughout the afternoon into the early evening as I was able to contact some of the Mountain Time zone campgrounds later on.  We have 23 campgrounds to cancel.  Some have a small cancellation fee, most have no fee,  One so far does not offer a refund on a full deposit.  No worries.  Tomorrow I will continue to cancel reservations and then make preparations to bug-out on Thursday and head home.  

That's it for today.  That is enough!

16 Jun 2025 - Arrived at Stop# 20 Big Woods Lake Campground in Cedar Falls IA

 

We motored out of Cliffside Campground in Racine WI this morning just before 0900 hrs after a short stop at the dump station to empty our sewer tanks. Cliffside was not full hookup but the good news is the majority of those leaving the campground did so yesterday, so we had no waiting this morning.  

There was little traffic driving through Milwaukee as we timed our departure appropriately.  We then headed west towards Madison WI and continued west through Dubuque IA. As we crossed the Mississippi River bridge we were greeted by the "Welcome to Iowa sign".  Home!

As we traveled we were notified we had visitors in our driveway then in our house.  Our son Dan had recruited a co-worker to come over and have a look at our furnace.  If you did not catch that before, I had a water alarm going off early in the morning a couple days ago.  Dan figured out it was coming from my furnace which is surely not normal!  They diagnosed the issue and determined the pan that the air conditioner A-coil sits in had a hole in it. So the condensate was leaking into the furnace and then onto the floor, rather than through the PVC pipe into the drain.  Bottom line is the furnace and air conditioner were installed in 2007 so they are very old and need replaced.  We will be attempting the coordination on this while on we are the road...  Not the best but it is what it is.  Thankful to have Dan in town but we hate to bother him as he has many irons in the fire.

We hit rain a couple times on the way over here, really severe in Iowa.  The skies were ominous as we entered Waterloo, but we were close to our destination at that point. I think we skirted the worst of it but we still got dumped upon!  Luckily we did not see any of the 50 mph winds they are forecasting

The rain was just letting up as we rolled into Big Woods Lake Campground in Cedar Falls IA, stop# 20 for us on this trip.  We logged 294 miles and 5 hrs 16 minutes travel time today.  Cedar Falls is where Doreen was born (actually in Waterloo) and raised.  I moved here right after my Freshman year of high school when my dad was promoted to Captain in the Iowa State Patrol.  Lefty was in-charge of this quarter of the state.  

I delay-enlisted in the United States Air Force on 18 December 1972 during my senior year of high school, and left for Air Force basic training days after graduation on 8 June 1973. I came back here after my technical training school, married my high school sweetheart and we took off for Maine.  The rest is history LOL. Our grandson Lucas who's high school graduation we attended a couple weeks ago enlists in the United States Army tomorrow and immediately departs for the airport in Grand Rapids MI where he will fly to Ft Sill OK for his basic training,  His enlistment is being live-streamed on Facebook here so we will tune into that tomorrow morning, 1100 hrs EDT, 1000 hrs CDT    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092254287830   If the link does not work, search Lansing MEPS, 6th Battalion U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station.   We wish him the best as he departs on this adventure!

We planned our stop here in Cedar Falls on our way to Arnold's Park Iowa where a classmate has hired a band to play an event there.  He has an area reserved for us to watch the band play so it should be fun.  A couple of our classmates, girlfriends of Doreen's, will join us there and will sleep in our RV.  We will have a great time.  We are hoping to reconnect with some classmates here during our short stay.  We will also drive around and look at the houses we used to live in and the areas we used to hang out. 

Our campsite here is the same one we stayed in during our 50th class reunion a couple years ago.  This is a nice park with level, full hook-up sites well spaced.  As of now we have no neighbors.  

Tomorrow we need to visit the local HyVee food store to replenish the fridge and pantry and then we will do some sightseeing here in town.  

15 Jun 2025 - Father's Day, Bavarian Bierhaus, Last Day at Racine WI

 

We had a fantastic last day and Father's Day here at Cliffside Campground near Racine WI!  But things started out a bit shaky at 00:53 this morning when we received a water alarm from our home in Ankeny IA.  I have extensive alarm, telemetry and camera systems throughout our house including 16 water sensors, and the water sensor near our furnace and floor drain indicated it was wet.  I have a camera on the drain and it verified we indeed had water coming from somewhere. 

If any of the sensors detect water they signal our home automation hub and it does several things including notifying me, but it also shuts off the water to our home incase there is a leaking pipe.  After viewing the camera it did not look critical, so I waited until the morning and called our son Dan.  He went over to the house and confirmed my suspicions that the water we were seeing was coming from the condensate of our central air conditioner.  Apparently the condensate drain was plugged and so the A-coil pan overflowed.  Dan contacted a co-worker who will come over tomorrow and correct the issue.  In the mean time I shut off the air conditioner and Dan set up a fan to dry up the floor.

With that under control, Doreen, Liberty and I walked over to our daughter's RV for breakfast.  She prepared biscuits and gravy with bacon from the Blackstone grill.  It was delicious!  After breakfast she created a couple Bloody Mary's and we toasted Father's Day for Keith and I.  

Spicy pickled egg, asparagus spears, dill pickle, pickled mushroom 

and of course a spicy Bloody Mary mix and some Tito's!

We broke out the lawn chairs and had some great conversation.  Later, we loaded up and headed down to the Bavarian Bierhaus in Milwaukee which is a Bavarian-style restaurant and brewery with craft beer, German comfort cuisine, live music, events, and it is the home of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's original Oktoberfest.  Obviously it is not October but today they had an outside celebration complete with German-style food, music, beer and other amenities.  

As we arrived we were greeted and both Keith and I were given a ticket for a complimentary bier of our choice for Father's Day!  I chose Unkel Dunkel which is an awesome Munich style dark lager. Smooth, nutty maltiness with moderate hop bitterness.  They make all of their own biers here.  

Michelle and Keith have been here before during Oktoberfest and have the bier steins to prove it!  

My dunkel

Keith and Michelle with their steins.

Soon grandson's Joe and Jon arrived and joined us.  Jon works at the Yogi Bear campground and he just got off work for today.

As we enjoyed our biers we were entertained by the Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band which is rooted in the “Pommern” culture that emigrated to Southeastern Wisconsin and maintained a musical heritage that is literally hundreds of years old.  Brass choirs, folk music, celebrations, and dancing were part of their ancestor’s legacy carried, successfully to Wisconsin in 1839.  

Supplementing the Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band was the Spielmannszug Milwaukee Drum and Bugle Corps which was founded in 1957 by a group people who wanted to maintain the German Culture and its Music in the U.S.A.

In addition to bier, there was various German food and beverage for purchase so the six of us shared a huge German-style pretzel.  It was served with cheese and sweet mustard, and we could not finish it!  It was delicious!

  They were also serving roast pork and chicken along with German-style potato salad and other specialties.  We were still full from a late breakfast, so the pretzel was enough!

Chickens cooking

Roasting pork, head and all!

Another unique beverage we tried was a Kleiner Feigling which is a natural fig liqueur!  It was served cold and was very tasty!  I had never heard of this before.

Before we left, Michelle took us up to the actual Bavarian Bierhaus which was closed today because of the outside celebration.  This is an authentic German bier hall.  I can only imagine this place when it is cranking!  Normally you can make a reservation and enjoy a bier and a meal in here, but not today.

This place is massive!

We had an outstanding time at the Bavarian Bierhaus but it was time to head back to the campground.  Traffic was not too bad and the commute was quick.  At the campground we started a game called Tetris Tumble XL.  This involves a dish-shaped base and Tetris-shaped pieces.  Participants roll a die and have to stack one of two Tetris shaped pieces on the base.  This becomes more difficult as the stack grows in height, and eventually someone will place their piece and the whole thing falls over.

Doreen rolling the die

Michelle stacking pieces

Joe carefully balancing another piece

Jon adding his piece

We played several games and then started a nice campfire as the temperature started to drop.  A truck drove by and stopped, commenting on Michelle and Keith's Alliance RV.  They own one also, located in a different part of the campground.  It was the Dennis and Marchele Horton, who we had corresponded with previously in the Alliance Owner's Facebook group!  We talked to them for quite a while.  Marchele was originally from Racine WI!  What a small world!  They are also headed west from here as we are also, so we might reconnect out west somewhere.  It was great to see them!

Soon we called it a day.  Tomorrow morning Michelle has to go to work at the Naval Base.  Keith will take their RV to another property for storage and we head west to Cedar Falls Iowa, our next stop. 

What a great several days and Father's Day with the Ervins!  It is so nice that we were able to get together with Michelle and her family and we are very appreciative of their hospitality and their time!  We really enjoyed spending time with our grandkids and getting caught up on what they are up to. They are growing up way too fast!  Doreen and I are so proud of them all!  There is nothing better than FamAlly and family, especially when it is your own!!!

Next report, Cedar Falls IA!

14 Jun 2025 - Job Site Tours & Camping with Michelle

 

What a fantastic day here in the Milwaukee area!  Today we were taken on a tour of properties our grandson Joe has worked on,  He is a carpenter  and showed us some of the craftsmanship he and his team exhibit.  These properties are on a completely different planet than we are from the standpoint of cost. The pictures here will not adequately show the enormity or complexity of the work. 

The original farmhouse

The added barndominium and connecting structure

Massive structures!

Just a small one he has worked on!

A barndominium in construction

I've got about a hundred more picture s but the bottom line is the projects Joe is working on are absolutely amazing.  These are multi-million dollar houses and our grandson is involved with construction and remodeling them.  The detail and complexity is beyond description.  

After our tour we headed back to the campground and Keith & Michelle joined us bringing their Alliance RV out to the campground also.  Once they were settled we joined them and enjoyed some bourbon tasting followed by grilling some steaks, mushrooms and onions!  The steaks melted in your mouth!  The grandsons fired up the campfire and we had a great time playing bags and telling stories.  

We are so thankful for these times!  Tomorrow we will gather for a breakfast and then head to a festival in Milwaukee.