Sat. Oct.29,2011

Well we woke to a chilly morning, but it was nice & toasty in Paupers Pride. By noon it warmed up so we decided to dress warm & go on the bike trail. It was a nice paved trail through prairie land, only one draw-back ---- it was hilly! As soon as we coasted down one hill, we had to start peddling up another one. It was like this for about the first 1 1/2 miles, what a work-out, had to stop a few times to rest. We went about 3 miles, then turned around, so we did a total of 6 miles. On the way back I was in the front & I hollered back to Richard to look at the train going through the prairie.He said "I didn't hear what you said", so I repeated to look in the distance at the train going through the prairie. He said he still didn't hear what I said, so I yelled back to just forget it. Not 10 seconds later he yelled "hey Aud look at that train riding through the prairie"---got to get that man a hearing aid! We got back to our campsite & sat out by the water played a game of Scrabble, which Richard of course won.We found a church & went to a 5:30 mass. When we got back it was starting to get dark so Richard built a campfire & we grilled hamburgers & sat by the fire. The wind started to pick up so we went inside & played a game of spades, which Richard again won! There are some people down from us camping in tents. They have 5 tents (must be several families because there are 3 cars) they also have kids with them. I can't imagine being in tent in any weather let alone when it is chilly out, but they seem to be having a good time. They must have tent heaters. Well we will be leaving tomorrow for home. We are about 160 miles from home. Then we will put Paupers Pride in storage & cover it for the winter. So until March when we leave for FL.Paupers Pride is signing off. Thanks for "being with us"

Friday, Oct.28,2011

Well today was a little to cold to go biking, so we decided to back into the town of Galena where we were yesterday when most of the shops were closing. Went to a neat little wine & cheese shop. Got a few different cheeses, but the wines were too expensive.Did a lot of walking, then we went on a tour of Ulysses S.Grant 's historical home, which surprisingly was really interesting. We came back to the campsite & checked out & got on the road. We found a really nice park camp site in Thomson.IL It is right alongside the water, there are several other RV's here also, & best of all it's free! We got our RV all set up & went to do some exploring. We went on a hike on a nature trail. Then we came back to our camp site & made a campfire & had hot dogs. We sat by the fire & watched the sun set till it got chilly & dark.Tomorrow if it is warmer, we are going to go on a bike trail here at the park. Well I actually got a few of the pictures to post!

Wed. Oct. 26, 2011

Paupers Pride is on the road again! After several emotional, stressful weeks following the passing of my Mom, Sept.26, we decided to get away for a few relaxing days,before we close up the motor home for the winter. We decided to go to Galena. We stayed at a campground in a state park in Bellvue, Iowa last night, but we had no internet access, or no TV reception, we did have a few dvd's with us, so we watched them. In fact, we were the only campers in the whole park! We had a cook-out & then sat by a campfire. Then it started to get dark, & I mean DARK! There were no lights at all, because they shut off the water & night lights for the end of the season Oct. 24 (two days earlier) We were able to plug into the electric & we had water in our tanks. There was a notice to "after season campers" to leave the fee in the envelopes provided & place in the lock-box,& the electricity could still be used. (it's like the honor system for campers) It was a little scary knowing that we were the only ones there! I didn't sleep very well, I was up several times just checking out the dark outside. Of course Richard slept like a rock, as usual.

Thurs. Oct 27, 2011

Well this morning started out with a rain shower, then it cleared up. While I was fixing breakfast, Richard decided to do a little exploring of the park & went on a walk trail, but --- he had diarrhea in the morning & nature decided to call while he was out on the trail. He had no choice but to answer the call right where he was. But the leaves on the ground were wet from the rain & he slipped down a hill & fell and while he was rolling down the hill, the call from nature was taking place!! He at first thought he broke his leg, but he was able to crawl back up the hill & make it back to the motor-home. I had breakfast all ready & he came in covered with poop!! his jeans, socks, shoes. I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time!!! Poor Richard didn't think it was so funny. He had to strip & take a shower. We had to put all his "soiled" clothes in a garbage bag. Lucky for him that I had brought an extra pair of shoes for him! We finally had our breakfast (around 11:00 a.m.) The rest of the day turned out to be great. We left the park & headed for Galena. We found a nice campground (with a lot of other campers) & unhooked the car & set out to explore. We stopped at the information center & found out about a nice bike trail (we had our bikes on the rack on my car) it was a 6mile trail, which was really nice, but we were tired when we got back to the car. We went into the main town of Galena, where all the shops are & walked several blocks, but it was already almost 5:00 & most of the shops were closing, so we came back to our campground, had a nice supper & relaxed with a dvd. (this campsite has internet, but again no tv reception. Richard was a little sore from his tumble down the hill! I tried to add pictures to this post, but I'm not having any luck, I'll try tomorrow.