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Published: April 22nd 2016
First things first: Happy Birthday to our wonderful grandson, Ryan Knapp. We love you!
Oh my....gather around dear family and friends. Our journey together is coming to an end. What a ride we've had. We traveled here and there and yonder over these past four months. Seen things familiar and not. Done things that hadn't been planned. And the whole time, we've have had you to share it with. It was a great time for us and we only hope you had some fun along the way, also. Granted, you probably got bored at times with my seemingly unending drone of detail ..... Yes, I heard the moaning, groaning and yawning....but that's okay. Too bad there isn't a fast forward button on this blog. Suck it up and go with the flow. We've repeated that a couple times throughout this escapade of events.
Lulu has kept track of each of you in her little black book. She calls it her autograph/address book but I have yet to find a written signature in it. Just blank pages. It's challenging for her to write (no hands). She hopes to keep in correspondence with all of you throughout the year. Such a
devoted pen pal she is. Don't you just love her?
In my ailing stupor, I forgot to share a couple highlights of the trip home with you. With all the documentation I've done over these many months, I know you wonder "how could there be anything else?" Well, there is. Good and bad. First the good. We saw our first robin at Les & DeAnne's house in NC. That simple feathered sight just sends positive charges through you. You know Spring is almost here and summer will not be far behind. Wonderful. We missed winter! Yippee!
Now for the bad. Remember when we left our house in Shongo 4 months ago? Sometimes that seems so long ago and then again, it seems like yesterday. Where did the time go? Anyway, it was when Cory had turned left from a stopped intersection just before Jasper, NY. Suddenly and violently our entire motor home started rocking from side to side ......remember that? We do! Needless to say, it shook all of us up. He stopped in the road and slowly proceeded ahead and all was fine. Never happened again. We sought your welcome input and comments. Well....guess what? Never say
Amazon Fullfilment Complex-Huge!
Carlisle, PA - next to our campground.never. When we were slowly making our way to the Kingstown, Georgia campground-Cory was turning left across the roadway when all of a sudden, there we were: heaving and rocking wildly inside the RV again. Hold on for dear life! We are inside a monster blender. It was just like being a sailor on "Pequod" in "Moby Dick" during the worst of the raging storm and whale attack. Hold on, mate'y! We're going down! If this keeps up, I'm going to have to start wearing Depends. Again, he just stops the RV, proceeds ahead and we're fine....best we can be with vomitus tossed all around the place (kidding). Lulu looked a little green though. What the he_l is going on? We both agree it might be with our brand new tires in the back. Are they rubbing or catching as we round a corner? Could be. Anyway, from this point on, every turn (left or right), Cory has slowly entered into it and eased the RV around. He has always turned at the hip as instructed.....we'll surely be checking things out once home. No further incidences on the rest of the trip. Knock on wood. I guess that's it. I'm
sure I haven't missed a thing now. All points covered.
As we return through the hills of Pennsylvania leading us to our range in New York State, we feels a sense of relief and gladness. Relief that we made it home safely and gladness because we are so glad to be home! Of course, our home is where we make it in this vagabond lifestyle that we have chosen. But, the "Main House" is the anchor where we return each year. Here we raised our family and made our memories. Here Cory has poured out his sweat and labor to make it a wonderful home. Here we walk the paths around the Genesee River and the surrounding hillsides. Here we follow our trail up to our outdoor camera and critter feed station. Here we go about our routine business and living. Here we relax on our front porch and watch the world go by. Here we celebrate our holidays and special events with family and friends. Here is where our family returns to visit. Here we putter and ponder what to do with ALL our stuff. Here I have my morning coffee with my friend, Mary Kay. Here we
watch the birds gorge all the seed in our bird feeders (maybe not now since the bear visited and broke them all). Here is where we live: Shongo, NY. It is our home and open to whomever wants to visit for awhile. We'll leave the light on for you! See you! Signing off for now: Sandy & Cory Guenter and their dedicated companion, Lulu.
Oh, For God's Sake! Back 'er up! Mop up your slobber and tears. This rodeo is not over yet! We aren't that lucky even though Cory is usually known as Mr. Lucky in other settings! Here we are....45 miles from home (Addison, NY) and the stupid panel buzzer has gone off in the RV! Bong, bong, bong, buzz, buzz, buzz. Shut up buzzer! The message panels reads: engine overheating...check level! Noooooo. This is Deja vu of last year's trauma. Give us a break! Yikes!
Now we are in a parking lot waiting for the fluid to cool down so Cory can add coolant. He said the level is down some....not a lot. Rats! Nothing leaking. Fan belt looks okay....whew! Going to unhook the car and I'll drive it behind the RV to lessen the
strain on the engine so it doesn't overheat anymore. We have a full tank of gas and full water compartment. Maybe the Pennsylvania hills heated up things. There really shouldn't be a serious problem because we had it in a Cummins shop for weeks last year getting this fixed. Just can't believe it has even happened! This is what life on the road is like. Nothing is always as you might really want it to be. You always hope for the best, though. You take the good with the bad. It can be a real pain at times when you hit those bumps in the road .... as we have now. Such is life. Suck it up! Lulu moans.
Cory poured a couple glasses of coolant into the tank and we take off. I follow behind in our mud hut car. I feel like a bat driving a mobile cave. Forget feeling sick....more important things to think about now. Lulu stayed in the RV to maintain strength and serenity within this hair pulling, wheeled hot box. Cory welcomes her company. Each time the RV brake light comes on I figured he's pulling over cause the problem as reoccurred. I
have to remember to see the glass half full (hard to see anything through the dirt and mud)....but it was poured into our coolant tank! I can't see any glass! So far so good.....he keeps going and going and going AND then, by a miracle, we are home!....(1:35 PM)
Here we are: Home in Shongo! Hallelujah! Hooray! God Save the Queen! (It's her 90th birthday today, you know). I knew it would feel so good to get home but with this latest harrowing experience, the feeling was ecstatic. Like the Pope, Lulu (best she can)and I drop to our knees and kiss the ground. Good Old Mother Earth. Oh yes, it's Earth Day today, too. Terra Firma. Home....Home Sweet Home. We were so glad we had no further incidents getting here. Cory did mention he didn't check the fluid level before we left Florida....hmmmm. He's a retired businessman, not a mechanic. I have to remember that. Between the two of us, through trial and error, we do manage to make it all work eventually. Sometimes, though, we hit a few bumps. That's life. We'll have all this checked when we take the RV in for a follow up. We
always do this once we are back home, before we head out again......some one of these days in the future.
There are still many places to go and things to do. Hope you are all up for it. It wouldn't be the same if you weren't right there with us. I'll keep you posted so you have plenty of time to pack. Relax for awhile. For now, it's time to rejoice inside our house in Shongo. We are back....safe and sound. You did a great job, Cory. We're so glad to be home. Lulu is singing praises. "Take me Home Country Roads" -- mission accomplished.
P.S....Remember to keep scrolling WAAAY down the entire page to see all 13 photos. Toot-a-loo!
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MI,e and MJ
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So glad you're safely home!
Hey guys, so glad you're home and made it without too much trouble. I feel terrible that you were sick the last week you were here and even more terrible that we didn't get to see you a coupe of more times before you left. Time went so fast and we had unexpected house guests again, good ones this time, then our daughter decided to take on this huge project that has taken all of our time and most of our energy for the past 3 weeks, with 2 new friends, they're making POKER TABLE TOPS! Yep you heard me right. She straps on the tool belt, gets out the drill, the sander and her and Steve do the cutting and measuring, till they got the 1st template. Now it's much easier and faster. Then her and I cut out the material for the table cover center and vinyl edging and padding. Then we lay everything on the kitchen floor, measure, cut, stretch, staple it to the wood while Nikki and Mike Varnish the inside rail twice then polyurethane it when it's all dry. Then when our pieces are done and their pieces are done, Stacy finishes screwing everything together and connecting everything, putting in the cup holders and poker chip tray and wala, one very nice Poker Table Top. Two days and were popping them out like a fine oiled assembly line now. We're beat and my house is a total disaster, it hasn't seen a vacuum in days, there're boxes and foam and pieces of measured vinyl in almost every room and even my garage didn't get spared, but they're doing a beautiful job. They've got 4 restaurants that are using 3 of their tables already in just a week, 4 more lined up and 5 in the wings. I don't know if I can keep up, no REALLY! Mike and I are TOO old for this . Then I got 3 blockages the same week you got sick, that's a new one for me, no idea why that happened. But anyway, we loved seeing you two again, next year we'll definitely try to see you more, as the weather warms. It's 89 today and going to be in the mid to high 90's the rest of the week! A scorcher for April....bet you're glad to be home w family and backyard critters, they prob missed you too. I read all your blogs, please know that, even tho I don't respond that often, I still chuckle every day and spend every cheerful minute w you both and enjoy them all immensely.. Love You Guys