Eldo and Sparky at School

Elkhart, IN    High:  49     Low:  36       Br-r-r-r-r-r!

Yesterday we went to the grandsons' elementary schools for Grandparents' Day. It's with always mixed emotions when Sparky and Eldo head back to school. We look at it from two different viewpoints. Eldy thinks back about his school experiences as a student, Sparky thinks about her experiences as a teacher when walking into a school. Sparky gets excited to be back in a school, Eldo, not so much so.  :-)  But the grandkids are always glad to see us.

Connor and Papa

Because there's always a student who has no grandparents there and feels badly,  and Connor and Trevor have two of us there when we show up, Sparky always goes to the underdog to help out...the one kid that looks really sad or is even crying because they don't have anybody there on this special day. And there were at least two or three in both the boys' classes today, so Sparky became a "foster" grandma for a little while today. Trevor and Connor didn't mind...Eldy hadn't seen some of the new technology in the classrooms, like this electronic, interactive whiteboard which now takes the place of chalkboards in the classroom. Sparky really enjoyed this piece of technology in the last couple of years that whiteboards came into use towards the end of her teaching career.

The classrooms were packed! Sparky was shocked at that, because parent/grandparent attendance at school functions where she used to work over the years was often poor. LOTS of grandparents in both classrooms today!

We went to Trevor's Grandparents' Day first...Trevor had a hard time putting his Pokemon book down during a lull in the craft activity. Papa is a little peeved....Trevor's teacher reminded him that he doesn't get to see his Papa every day!

Trevor became a little more involved with Papa at that point.....

Trevor's class did a little song about vowels and there was a little disagreement over who was going to start it off....But they got the job done!

Everybody did a little craft activity and had to write a little something about their grandparents. The boys did a great job. And of course, we had to go visit the school Book Fair, which involves a struggle between buying a book that the kids can read versus one they are going to look at the pages and pictures for about five minutes, and then get bored with it. Buy Pokemon Strategies Game book or an age/skill appropriate reader? Sometimes we end up getting one of each! Last year Sparky endured scathing looks from a VERY disappointed Trevor after picking what SHE thought a young boy ought to be reading! After we completed our "homework" for the day, Sparky and Eldo headed over to Elkhart to meet Eldy's friend of 49 years, Mike.

Mike and his wife Barb, shocked the heck out of Eldy with a surprise visitor to their house, another old school chum of almost as many years, Paul and his wife, Sheila. Somehow Sparky missed getting a shot of the couple together, but we all had a wonderful time and amused ourselves in different ways...How many guys does it take to find out the Jimtown's high school football game score?

While the gals played a good old fashioned game of floor checkers....

We had a great time at school today and we had a wonderful time with old friends this evening....As we get older, we appreciate our friends so much more as we are all mindful of how lucky we are to still be here and to be able to share the wonderful connections, memories, and presence of good friends. We treasure these times very much......

It's Coming....

Elkhart, IN     High:  79 (!)  Low:   49

It's coming, it's coming...The "S" word, and it's not Sparky.....SHHHHHHHHH.....(Don't say it, Sparky...SN** for those who want to know.) REALLY? We're gonna get SNOW? Naw...Sparky is just having a little fun with Eldo. He's ready to leave Elkhart, with temperatures heading to a low of 33 degrees at night on Sunday...Hey, with  little precipitation, Sparky MIGHT get to see her SNOW before she leaves...HAH! Says E. And he also says, BAH, HUMBUG! 

Aw-w-w-w, c'mon, sweetie...let's stay a little longer so I can see SNOW.....(NOPE! Not happenin'....We have to go to Red Bay, Alabama to get our slide floor fixed. Sparky knows that.)  She was just having a little fun teasing....But first, we are still catching up with friends and doing the routine doctor/dentist appointment thing...And-- Grandparents' Day is happening tomorrow at both grandsons' schools so that's where we'll be all day tomorrow...

We went back to Shipshewanna today, to the auction once again...There was a hay auction going out in back of the auction barn...The Amish were out in full force today selling their hay or buying, we're not sure which...If you've never seen a hay auction, they are interesting. The buyers smell the hay and sometimes take a bite of it before they bid on it!

Back into the auction barn we went. So much fun to see what new stuff came in THIS week.....Cool trunks.....

Cool tools...Sparky loves old tools as well as new ones....

A really cool Junior Typwriter....Sparky's brothers used to have one! What's interesting now that Sparky looks back on this, is the technology of turning the wheel to line up the letter, then pushing the lever, is very similar to those Dymo label makers of today that you turn the wheel to stamp the white "embossed" letters onto plastic labels that come in different colors. This vintage kids' typewriter went for 25.00.

You see everything at the auction...Somebody brought in a bunch of ROCKS--probably not the correct terminology here...minerals? gemstones? Whaddya gonna do with these?

There was a cool lot of old typwriters, some Underwood, some Royal...

Everybody knows about Red Flyer wagons, but have you ever heard of a Dan Patch wooden wagon?

Sparky LOVES blue mason jars...But she didn't bid...These are common and easy to find currently....

Then, we saw THE ITEM that caused us to go and sign up for a bidder's number for 5.00 so we could get in the action.....Eldy's granddaughter, Cate, is a Beatles NUT and we thought this would make the perfect Christmas present! We got ready....We waited.....

And waited.......for the auctioneer to come to the records...We'd walk away and come back to see if it was still there...People moved it around...They put the Beatles record at the bottom of the stack of old 45's so nobody would see it. We came back to check on it.... We went away.....We came back....Somebody had moved it into the old children's books pile...HAH! Can't fool us..... We waited....FINALLY.....

The auction started....Eldy said he wasn't going to go any higher than 20.00 and knew he'd have to buy all the other records in the pile along with it, but that was ok. It looked like the original sleeve. The record itself was scratched some. We had no idea what it might be worth...We should have checked Ebay on our phones but the signal was very very poor inside the auction building.

Eldy got outbid. He bid again. It went past 20.00. Eldy walked away....We looked later on ebay and the Beatles 45 was going for around five bucks with the sleeve. There are some ridiculous prices on this record on Ebay, but nobody is paying them. The final stack of records went for 25.00. Oh, well, you win some, you lose some!

This little guy didn't lose, he scored some popcorn...

Tomorrow, Sparky and Eldo go to school!

Deja Vu? The Pumpkinvine Revisited

Elkhart, IN    High:  67   Low:  49

Oh, boy, these fall days are great! Beautiful, sunshiny, cool day today...We actually didn't do the Pumpkinvine Trail two days in a row, there was a day in between..This time Eldy's daughter, Kristi and her son, Connor, seven years old, came with his mom to ride with us once again on the Pumpkinvine Trail. We started at the same spot at the DQ on State Road 13 in Middlebury and rode the same 12 mile loop we did two days ago. Yep, Connor and his grandpa, Sparky and Kristi. Sparky is bringing up the rear and holding the camera in one hand, snapping the photo, and trying to keep it in focus!

We had some reservations about whether Connor could maintain a pace and keep going without wearing himself out. Not a problem! Connor was bent on staying up with his Papa on the trail. Here he is giving it renewed effort to catch up with Papa.

No gears on that little bike of his, but he went on and on like the Energizer Bunny without any complaints..He had done this trail before with his mom, all TWELVE MILES of it, we were pretty sure he would not have any trouble completing it today....Until on the way back..."Are we there yet?  Are we getting close?" Lots of rest breaks and water on the way back, bless his little heart.

What did we see today that we didn't see the day before yesterday?  Llamas, anyone? At least we think they were llamas....or alpacas....

This chicken was beside the road, waiting to cross, hehehehe...no chicken jokes, please!

Beautiful farms once again...today the draft horses were out......

Beautiful flower gardens....The Amish and Mennonites have large, gorgeous flower gardens......

And on Connor rode.....

Stop, look, and listen, Connor.....

Stopped to check out the buggies....Must have been a Sunday gathering.....

And, we made it! Twelve miles....Connor felt very good about that...As well he should...Kristi is setting a wonderful example for him by losing weight, getting in shape, and exercising...We are proud of Krisit and we are proud of Connor, too!

We love this trail...it's so level, nice and shady, and wonderful things to see along the way...Sparky would be on it every day if it didn't take 30 minutes to get there from the Elkhart Campground, but it's worth a little drive for such a wonderful trail!

Chores? We Have Chores?

Elkhart, IN    High:  67    Low:  51

Yep! We have chores to do when we sit for a bit...like we gotta mow the lawn...And our readers are saying, "Hunh? Thought you were full timing!?"  We are, but every so often, there are things that need to be done, like the grass needs mowing!

We didn't see any signs that the campground was going to mow any time soon since we moved right into our site after the last guy left. They apparently didn't have enough time between renters to mow. So, Sparky saw a guy with a lawn mower, checked with the campground to see if she could borrow it, and told them she wouldn't mind mowing our site. So she did!

Sparky LOVES to mow grass...She doesn't care if it's pushing a traditional lawn mower, or a riding mower but draws the line at the old fashioned push mower. She misses that. It only took about 10 minutes to mow the site, and now, it looks great! Eldy would have been glad to do it, but really, Sparky insisted-- she really likes to mow! And she likes to rake leaves, too...If she could get hired for a weekend of raking leaves, she'd do that, too! Although the old body might complain a bit.  Guess that comes from a dad who made his kids do yard work every single fall weekend. There were LOTS of oak and maple trees and the leaves just covered the backyard, it seemed constantly. That was back when you could burn them in a pile in the driveway. Sparky's dad would work the kids so hard, pushing one of those old lawn sweepers with rollers, we were tuckered out at the end of each Saturday and Sunday. We were barely tall enough to be above the handle on the old roller sweeper. Then you'd take the cover off after about two rows of pushing through the leaves, and go dump them in the driveway and back at it again. Sparky's brothers would take turns with Sparky, manning the burning driveway pile so they could get a rest from pushing the sweeper. That was REALLY hard work for kids back then! We'd get blisters on our hands from raking so much.

Eldy changed the bulbs in the outdoor porch lights by the front door, both were burned out. In case anybody in a Phaeton wants to know how to get the covers off, there are a trio of "lips" on the plastic cover that you can pop out with a screwdriver, but you have to be careful "digging" the cover out, the potential for scratching the paint is there or snapping off the lip.

There were no screws holding in the plastic cover. Speaking of changing light bulbs in a Phaeton, ever try to change one of the INTERIOR lights? Untwist the white glass receptacle to remove the cover, then pull the halogen bulb straight out. Try to put the NEW halogen bulb in without touching it directly with your fingers (supposedly that shortens the life of the bulb) HA! That's a real trick. The angle of the two little pins on the halogen bulb is just about impossible to see in some of the angles of placement in the receiving holes in the bedroom lights and the living room lights. NOT a good system!   Gr-r-r-r-r....

OK, that's about all the chores for today...Sparky met her friend, Carol, for lunch today....Girls' Day Out....Carol and Sparky had a great time catching up, we only see each other about once a year now, or less...

Lots of laughs...comparing age related complaints, that sort of thing...Checking on our memory status..."Do you think this might be a sign of dementia?" and off we'd launch into the latest goofy thing we couldn't remember and were worried was a sign. We both decided, naw, we're ok for now....but we might want to check in with our doctor just to be sure! Sparky always checks with her sister, who's eight years older, and if sis isn't worried about Sparky's mental condition, then Sparky is not going to worry. Eldy always says Sparky is ok, so he's not the best person to ask. :-)    Just teasing....Sparky always asks him first, then sis second, then her friends, just to confirm!

And the day passed by quickly...tomorrow...doctor's appointments for Sparky. Sparky will ask about dementia....We'll let you know what the doctor says... Bye for now......

Pedaling the Pumpkinvine

Elkhart IN      High:  65   Low:  43

Oh, boy, is this a great trail or what? Where else can you get on a trail that's paved, LEVEL, and beautiful scenery? LOTS of places, that's where...but here in Elkhart County, this is one of the prettiest trails we've ever been on.

Eldy's daughter, Kristi told us about this section of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail that starts in Middlebury and goes to Shipshewanna, a distance of six miles one way... we've been on other sections of the Pumpkinvine Trail when we've come back to Indiana, but we hadn't been on the Amish country portion of it.

Eldy got himself a new bike after seeing how wonderful the hybrid bikes are. He tried out Sparky's bike several times, and after hearing that the Elkhart Bicycle shop was having a sale on Trek's, we headed over there to take a look. Eldy usually waits quite awhile before making up his mind, but a big bike ride with Kristi was coming up, a 12 mile ride on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, so he took the plunge today! He loves his new bike! He was ready to ride!

Off we went to ride. we parked at the Dairy Queen on County Road 13 in Middlebury, where the trail picks up on a gravel path behind the store. They let you park in the parking lot.....beautiful day...in the high sixties yesterday, sunny, late in the day, around 5:00 PM. The scenery was gorgeous...

Picture many Amish and Mennonite farms of different sizes and colors.....

Horses in the pasture....Amish men plowing the field with horses and walking behind their plows...

The women hanging out their clothes on the line...We passed many Amish riding their bikes that use this section of the trail to ride from Middlebury to Shipshewanna to get to jobs, shopping areas, other farms and maybe visit friends.

We passed a camel farm! Not sure what they are doing with them, but there were several and some young baby camels, too.

It was a regular menagerie of animals today...Sparky almost forgot the sheep!

It was fun to see Kristi and her dad riding...This is not the first time, but it's the first year that Kristi and her dad have EVER gone bike riding together...

We rode six miles from Middlebury to Shipshewanna. As the trail ended in Shipshewanna, Eldy had gotten so far ahead, he headed up the street and around the corner to check out where you can park if you start on the trail in Shipshewanna. He was on his way back to meet us at the trail end when he heard, "CLIP-CLOP, CLIP-CLOP" behind him. He knew there was a buggy coming up behind him. No big deal...There are lots of Amish and Mennonites that ride bikes every day and share the road with the buggies and cars. "CLIPPETY-CLOP, CLIPPETY-CLOP, CLIPPETY-CLOP!" The horse was gaining on him. You had to have been there. He said it got louder and louder, and it was sort of like that movie, "The Headless Horseman" where Ichabod Crane is on an old nag, crossing the bridge and he hears the horseman coming up behind him. Eldy started pedaling faster.  The horses's hooves got louder and louder. He came up to the stop sign at the intersection, stopped to catch his breath, looked up and right there, was the horse's head! He wasn't sure what that horse was gonna do! Eldy came up to us, back at the trailhead, he was still breathing hard, and said, "Sparky, you missed the photo of a lifetime!" I'll bet I did, with the look on his face as the horse was gaining on him and then as he looked up next to him at the stop. I'll bet his eyes were about ready to pop out of his head! Those horses can be TALL! And they can get a little nervous, I'm sure! Back we went along the trail, retracing our route for a total of 12 miles today....It was wonderful!

We had a great time biking on the Pumpkinvine Trail today...so nice that we are going to do it again in a couple of days with Kristi and Eldy's grandson, Connor.  See you later!

Owens on the Road w/Sparky/Eldo

Elkhart IN      High:  66    Low:  57

Downtown Elkhart park view

Doctor appointments were the routine for Sparky today...No news is good news to report BUT we had a special ending to our day today....

Laurie and George Owens were in town! Laurie and George, of Owens on the Road, were in town to swap out their tires on their fifth wheel and to take a tour of Keystone RV.  Laurie and Sparky got in touch with each other to meet up for dinner at the local Olive Garden. Sparky got a little mixed up initially about WHICH Tuesday we were meeting, but all full timers know that after you've been on the road awhile, you forget about what day it is, maybe what week it is, or what time it is! Uh, right, Eldo?

Laurie and George are on their first week of full timing! They left Pennsylvania Monday and are going to be working their way towards South Dakota for their drivers' licenses.

It was really fun talking to them and remembering how it was to leave work for the final time, going out the door, heading for a new direction in your life. They had some questions, we had a few answers, we offered some advice, we asked questions, we learned about our new friends. We have a lot in common!....Great warm, friendly people as so many RVers are.

We really hope to meet up again with them some time.....Lovely people.....Until later......

Bike Rack Review-Fourth Time's the Charm?

Elkhart, IN      High:  70   Low:   45

We've had THREE bike racks in four years....Why, you ask? Because at first, we didn't know anything about them! And because at first, we didn't have a hitch on the back of the CR-V. So-o-o-o-o...here's what we know about bike racks and really, it's pitifully little.  But we wanted to share our experiences in hopes that it helps someone else from making similar mistakes....Our first rack was before we were traveling in a motorhome, so we bought one for the car. Sparky was just starting to get into bike riding at this time.....

Bike rack #1...Saris Bones Two bike rack....

This is not the Honda, but at the time, Sparky had a Ford Escape Hybrid with no hitch, and she only had one bike....We had a lot of problems with the straps moving around a lot, we were forever adjusting and tightening the straps....There were times where the bikes had moved so much they were in danger of falling off! Probably user error, and a fit problem, but, these were the problems we encountered. The rack gets excellent reviews and is relatively inexpensive, probably the main reason Sparky bought it in the first place! Current price ranges from 120.00-259.00 depending on the model. Here are some highlights from a review for a three bike Saris rack from Amazon....Sparky's notes in brackets.

 a 4.5 out of 5 star rating from Bicycling Magazine....ratchet straps keep your bikes secured to the rack arms, exclusive anti-sways, and articulated rubber feet to protect the finish on your vehicle. A breeze to install, [getting the straps ratcheted with the right angles and placement was NOT easy] with vinyl-coated hooks that strap securely to the car with spring buckles. Arched design fits practically any vehicle, from sedans to minivans, and even most cars with spoilers.

Constructed from heavy-duty, 100-percent recyclable plastic.. The injection-molded arms and legs will never rust, and are capable of supporting up to three bikes with ease. The arms separate the bikes on different levels to ensure that they won't rub or touch during transport. And because it's a trunk-mounted rack, your bikes are always accessible and easy to put in place. [You have to take the whole rack off to get to your trunk.] All Saris bike racks carry a lifetime warranty.

After having the bike rack shift and move and the straps not remain in position consistently, Sparky sold the bike rack and on to rack #2---another Saris, different design....

Bike Rack #2--Saris Thelma Bike Rack...This one had plastic wheel well trays, it was lower, and we thought easier to load the bikes. By this time, we had purchased our first bikes together, heavy Navigator Trek bikes. Here's what one person has to say about the Thelma bike rack.

Strengths:    Easy to install and remove, wheel tray folds down for compact storage, pretty stable rack, easy to load and unload bikes, light weight (down side is can't hold up weight)

Weaknesses:    No access to tailgate with bikes on (but which one does except Thule Revolver)
Ratchet strap for the wheels are poorly design and cheap
Wheel size specify bike carrier (I manage to fit a 24" kids bike on to a 26" carrier tho) - no 29er
Material will not last long for everyday usage
No security system
Will not work with bikes with front fender
Weight limit means no sub $200 bikes

What happened with this rack was, a person who shall remained un-named, backed the car up with the bike rack in the down position, and cracked the plastic wheel holder frame so we had to get a new rack. We felt this rack was cheaply made and the plastic not very durable. So-o-o-o-o...we bought a Thule bike rack.

Bike Rack #3--Thule Helium Three Bike Rack--why a three bike rack? Because it was on sale (around 260.00)....and we thought maybe a grandkid's bike might be on it in the future. We installed a hitch on the car, now we're getting smarter. (or not!) We paid more money for this one, thinking it was going to be more durable. It has a built in bike lock but could be easily cut. It's one of the lightest bike racks out there, but seemed to be made really well. Thule is a great company, it stands behind its products so here we go again....

The Thule 971xt Helium Lightweight Aluminum 3 Bike Hitch Mounted Bicycle Rack is almost half the weight of traditional hitch racks. The newly designed Helium XT Stinger provides better ground clearance and accommodates both a 1.25" and 2" receivers out of box. Bikes are fastened down on Thule's T3 frame friendly cradles, while the 955 No Sway Cage prevents bike to bike contact. The Hitch Switch, quick release lever allows easy access to the rear of the vehicle and conveniently fold down bike arms when not in use. Bikes must be removed before lowering the rack to access rear of vehicle. The Helium hitch rack provides narrower bike arms for easier loading, ideal for women's and kid's bikes due to the smaller size frames. Installation - No tools required, simply insert bike rack into your receiver hitch and tighten adjustment knob located at the bottom of the bike rack mast. The Helium provides maximum bike security with integrated locking cable that locks your bikes to rack and a locking knob that locks rack to receiver.

And the problems started...Two of the rubber straps that wrap around the posts of the bike broke, probably from over stretching them and trying to make the bikes secure, but the holes on the rubber straps do stretch out over time. Thule sent us new ones. A plastic post where you latch the straps to, broke. Thule sent us a new assembly, the wrong part. We rigged the fasteners to work but it was a bad solution. The main problem of this rack? You have to lift the bikes to about shoulder level to get them on the rack. Eldy has shoulder problems, Sparky just found our bikes very heavy to lift. The cable wires would get caught on the bars trying to lift them across to the first position on the rack closest to the car. Although this was a three bike rack, we took the middle rack assembly out to have more room for our two bikes and they still came in contact with each other. The bikes bounced a LOT on the frame.

After some time went by, the individual rack assemblies where the bikes are strapped down started sliding forward, causing the bikes to come in contact with each other and the bikes got scratched. The cradles that hold the bike posts became more and more difficult to swing into place. After more than one piece on the rack broke, we were getting frustrated with the quality of the bike rack and loading the bikes was a chore and getting more and more difficult. Once Sparky got her new, lighter Trek bike, it became easier but we still weren't happy with the rack...The guy who had installed it at a sporting goods store where we purchased it had not place the mounting bar in the hitch correctly and the weight of the bikes caused it to bend downward. The bike rack extended too far out behind the car. We thought it was just a matter of time till the hitch bar came out or someone hit our bikes.

Eldy recently committed to replacing HIS bike and he now has a new Trek Verve 3.0! Elkhart Bicycle Shop and Steve Peterson, the owner, did a GREAT job of fitting him for his bike, and gave him a nice trade in for the old Navigator bike. Not wanting to get our new bikes scratched, we decided to get rid of the Thule rack and since Steve did such a great job for Eldy, we purchased a different bike rack from him. Hopefully, it's the last one for a LONG time!

Bike rack #4--Swagman XTC-2 bike rack, hitch mount--$207.00...

The jury remains out on this one but you can read reviews online. Sparky was afraid to look, we just knew we wanted something LOW this time and easier to load...we love it so far....really really easy to load, no lifting up high, the bikes don't bounce as much as they did on the Thule, they don't stick out from the back of the car as far....One concern we are wondering about is the metal ratcheting mechanism, the "j hook" part that ratchets up and down to hook the bike post, rust going to be an issue over time? We ordered a two bike cover from Swagman to protect our new investments all the way around, that should help. 

Swagman bike rack

Everyone has their own preference and their own way of carrying their bikes. Some people carry them on their ladders on the backs of their rigs, but our ladder is up too high to comfortably do that, so that's why we ended up with hitch bike racks. Hope this little review of the ones we've had helps you see what's available out there. We're sure that some people have some of these racks and are VERY happy with them and have never had a problem. That's what's great about having choices in this country, you get to pick what you like best!   Thanks for reading!