A Little Break and Big RED Goes To The Big City

Rantoul, IL.

deg.
Forecast =

Yeah, I know, I haven't posted for awhile, but there hasn't been much to post about. Besides that, my little paws get tired, trying to find the right keys to press, so I needed a little break! ;-)

We've had a lot of wind here lately, so Jim didn't go out much. Linda wasn't feeling real well Sunday and Monday, so she didn't feel like doing too much. Monday Jim took Big RED to the gas station and bought him a drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel and then headed down to the Farm & Fleet store on this side of Urbana.

Jim didn't have anything special that he wanted to buy, but it's a neat store and he just wanted to go. Well, he did end up buy a few things. One of the main things he found was a Coleman Deck Chair, that was in the seasonal close-out section at quite a reduced price! :-) He has one of these chairs and really likes it, but it's getting pretty old, so he's been looking for a new one.

Big RED said that Jim spent close to an hour, just wandering around in the store.

Later Monday evening, Jim cooked a ham steak out on the grill and Linda cooked some of the last of the sweetcorn-on-the-cob inside.

Yesterday, Big RED took Jim and Linda up to Naperville, IL to see Linda's sister, Nancy. Big RED said that it was a long drive up there, (about 135 miles), with lots of traffic the closer he got to the Chicago metro area,

 but Nancy and Linda and had a great time visiting and catching up on the past year's happenings. :-)

About noon, Nancy took Linda and Jim out to lunch at a family restaurant and then they returned to Nancy's apartment and talked some more. About 3:00, Big RED started the trip back down here and was surprised at how much more traffic there was on the way back. (Probably people getting off work by that time.)  They also had 2 construction areas, so that added to the traffic problem.

But, by 6:00 Big RED was pulling into his parking spot here at Prairie Pines where he rested after his trip to the big city.

Linda said that it was really good to see Nancy again. A lot has happened in the last year, and it was good to finally catch up. ;-)

Jim and Linda still haven't done the laundry. They'll have to go pretty soon, or they won't have anything to wear!!!! :-O

Did you know that The population of the Chicago CSA (Combined Statistical Area) is over 9.9 million people?

Woof!!!

Linda's First Outing, A Photo and Christmas Decorations?

DeBary, FL.

6o deg. clear, N. wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 81F. Winds from the NNE at 5 to 10 mph

Things have slowed down around here. Friday evening, Linda decided that she wanted to go out to eat someplace, so CLT (Cute Little Truck), took her and Jim over to Gram's Kitchen in Orange City. That was the first time that Linda had been out of the house since she came home from her surgery. Jim says that she did really well, and they both enjoyed a nice meal. :-)

Linda was quite tired by the time they returned though, so she sat in her chair and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Oh, speaking of Linda's chair,  ,  ,  ,  , Jim took a photo of the new living room arrangement, so I thought I'd post it today. As you can see, the couch has been moved over to the wall on the right and Jim and Lind's chairs have been moved in front of the windows. The love seat that matches the couch has now been moved into the craft room and the blue chair that was in there has been placed where Linda's chair used to be.

By doing this, they lost one seating space, but now their chairs are right across the room from the TV and they both can more comfortably watch it.

The mailman brought a sales flier from ACE Hardware the other day and they had some Christmas decorations and lights at a good price, so Jim took CLT and headed over there and bought a bunch of stuff. You see, for the last 13 years or so, Jim and Linda have been using a little 2 foot tall tree in whatever Motorhome we had at the time. Well,  ,  ,  ,  ,  can you imagine how that 2' tree would look here in the house? They also have only enough lights and decorations decorate the small tree, so Jim bought more lights and a few decorations for the house.

They'll still need to get a larger tree and more decorations for the tree, but more of that kind of thing should be going on sale in the next couple weeks or so.

No big plans for today, except the "Da Bears" game is supposed to be on TV this afternoon and I'm sure Jim and Linda will watch it. They still root for "Da Bears" even though it's been a long time since we've lived in Illinois. ;-)

A Point to Ponder : Since a running back runs forward, why is he called a running back?

Woof!!!

Oh, can you find me in the above photo? Boy was I scared!!! :-O

I Was Wondering, A Trip To Camping World and Just Hanging Around

Myrtle Beach, SC.

55 deg. clear, NW wind @ 9 mph.
Forecast = Today: Mostly sunny. Highs around 73°F. North northeast wind 2 to 9 MPH, gusting to 14 MPH.
Tonight: Clear. Lows around 52°F. Light wind.

I was wondering how long it would last.

What are you talking about, you ask??  Well, since Jim and Linda purchased Bobbie T, Jim has been sitting at the dinette. In the previous RVs that they've had, there's always been a sofa for him to sit on, but Bobbie T only has the dinette, and now since they've changed the original chair, Linda's recliner chair.

Now, for the record, Jim has never complained about sitting at the dinette, but Linda has been concerned for some time now, as it seems that Jim has been having more problems with his back.

If it wasn't for the much needed storage space under the seats of the dinette, I think Jim would have already ripped the dinette out and installed at least one and maybe 2 comfortable chairs in it's space. So, what to do??

Well Thursday, they headed over to one of the two Camping World stores here in Myrtle beach and looked for some kind of a folding chair that could be used inside and would be more comfortable for Jim. What they found was a folding recliner chair that has a slide-out footrest. It's called a "Pepper Leaf Recliner".

It was kind of hard for Jim to take these photos because of the limited room inside of Bobbie T. but I think you'll be able to see how it's possible to use this chair inside. In these first photos the chair is set up along side of the dinette. This is how it will be when Jim is watching TV or just relaxing. (Of course the chair can be used outside too).

In this photo you can see how the chair is folded up and can be positioned against the wall when Jim is not using it or the dinette is needed for eating or working on the computer.

This is not an ideal situation and Jim doesn't much like the upholstery on the chair, but for now it'll work. In the future, that dinette just may come out of there and replaced with a nice comfy chair, but Jim and Linda don't have to make that decision today. ; )

While they were at CW, they also bought some other things that they needed. One of them was what they call a "knife Safe". It mounts on the inside of  a cabinet door and you can store your cutlery in it, thus getting those sharp knives out of a drawer. They also bought a new water pressure regulator for the city water hook-up, and a padded topper cover to go on their mattress. And, Jim picked up 3 of those small American Flags, that he likes because the ones he has now are starting to show their age.

Yesterday morning, we had some real heavy rain here in Myrtle Beach. In fact, on the TV they were saying that we got more than an inch and a half!! The rest of the day, went from cloudy with sprinkles to sun to back to cloudy again, with yet another fairly heavy shower in the evening.

During one of the breaks in the weather, Jim and Linda went to a nearby Kroger's store and picked up a few groceries, but other than that, just hung around inside.

Today, the weather is supposed to be much better. In fact, I was just looking outside and it looks like we may have a neat sunrise. There are some clouds out over the ocean and that usually makes the sunrise even better.

I'd better go and see if I can get Jim to go out there with his camera and get a few pictures. ; )

Did you know that an estimated 14 million people visit the Myrtle Beach area every year during the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons?