05/31/17 - On 5/26, I did go to Verizon to get a new phone and I could not make up my mind for a while and then of course they started in with all the promotions and I about went nuts.  I finally decided on a phone, then was informed that my jet pack was quite old (only 4 years old)  but of course a promotion, it is $50 with a $50 rebate and all I have to do is pay the taxes.  I think about $40.  I did need to up grade since I was so frustrated with my 6 gigs that were always running out at the end of the month.  I learned part of the problem is that the last of the month, Windows 10 is always doing some form of update which involves my gigs.  Also, when the phone was updated as well, it did the same.  So  of course my monthly payments are higher now because I did unlimited Internet so I don't have to worry again.  They also talked me into a small tablet because it was a promotion with mother's day.  The tablet was free but I had to pay taxes and then their was a monthly charge of $20.  For the first three months,  I also have to pay insurance on the jet pack, the phone and the tablet.  Now we are up to $131 per month.

5/27, Went back to Verizon because not everything was working like I had anticipated and she fixed me up.  Then off to buy some groceries since I was cooking Monday night.

5/28, Got up, went to church, out for lunch with Esther, Lloyd and Aunt Inez.  Back to their house and we played some games and then I picked up my Kauffman first cousin (Ida Fay and Albert) and brought them back to the RV so they could see it.  Took them back and went to Esther's house to pick up my range free absolutely fresh brown eggs.

5/29, I made sauerkraut and spare ribs for dinner and Esther, Lloyd, and Aunt Inez were here.  I got eaten up by mosquitoes while telling them good bye.  The back of my legs are horrible and it  has not gotten better yet.

5/30, Started to put things away, get things ready for the drive north, did the laundry including the bed sheets and towels.

Today, I took the tire covers off, put more things away, took the tablet back to Verizon because I just don't need the extra expense and got a few more groceries.  Now this evening will do the black water and getting more things stable for the move tomorrow.

05/27/17 - The week has been rather quiet.  On 5/23, I went to meet up with Esther at Sam's Club for lunch, we ran errands to AAA for maps and I got my spearmint tea.  We then stopped and picked up Aunt Inez, had a chicken stir fry and lemon pie for dinner.  I took Aunt Inez home.

5/26, I got up and left at 10 00am for Port St. Lucie to the dentist.  It was 148 miles one way.  On the way, there were black bugs so bad, that I could hardly see out the window to drive.  When I got off the main road, I stopped off at a gas station to see if I could clean it up a little.  My license plate in the front was totally black from the bugs.  Of course, I left my little stool at home so could hard reach it but did get it cleaned up a little.  My dentist appointment only last 40 minutes but on the way back it was much better bug wise.  I got back at 5 45pm.  It was a long day but good.  I got my implants cleaned and things look good.

Today has been busy since I put the car in the shade to try and get the bugs off and got all done but the window shield because the shade is gone on my side and I don't have enough shade on the other side yet. My data usage is almost gone so not sure how much I can blog until 6/3.  Also, last night I noticed the window of my phone is cracked and the bottom is broken.  I am not sure when or how that happened since I did not drop it.  So am going to go find me a store today to see what they can do and will investigate while my usage is so high.

05/22/17 - On 5/18, I spent the afternoon with Aunt Inez.  We had a nice conversation, I took left over tuna noodle casserole for both of us for dinner.  I planned to leave before the rain started but I ended up driving in a down pour but was good because Florida really does need the rain.

5/21 - I went to church and then out for some lunch and spent the afternoon with first cousin Connie Miller (Uncle Allen's daughter).  It was so good to catch up and get to know her daughters a little more.  I then took their daughter Angie to church service in the evening before I left Sarasota.  Just as I was trying to get to sleep, it started to really rain and then a thunderstorm rolled in and so that took a while to get over before I could get to sleep.

Today is quiet.  I have been working on my route to Goshen, Indiana.  I plan out rest stops for lunch, truck stop for gas and Walmart for the night.  As of today, I am have everything together until Chattanooga.

05/16/17 - On 5/14, went to church and then had a light lunch with Esther, Lloyd, Aunt Inez and Gail since they had family plans in the evening for Mother's Day.  I left their house when they left to meet the rest of the family.

5/15 - paid some bills, ran errands in the afternoon.  Nothing else exciting.

Today, I have no plans but to do a little cleaning, check out if I need any maps when I start traveling.

5/13/17 - I forgot but on 5/11, I went to Sarasota to visit with one of my Kauffman first cousin's Ida and her husband Albert.  We went to the Olive Garden for dinner. It was really nice visiting with her in the afternoon and I caught her up on all the things we did while in Missouri.

05/13/17 - On 5/6, Daniel, Mary Ann, Rachel and Ivan were scheduled on the 6am shuttle for the airport.  Ruby was scheduled at 6 30am and I was not scheduled until 12 30pm so needless to say, I said my good byes the night before.  I did not hear much from Ruby in the morning except I think I might have heard the door close.  I slept in, wasted some time, showered and finally needed to go downstairs for the shuttle.  Some of my siblings that already gotten to the east coast and Ruby was already home.  If I remember right, I do believe that everyone had a good flight home.  I got to Sarasota and was picked up around 8pm.  When we got back to Esther and Lloyd's house, some of the family was there and they were playing games.  I was talked in to a piece of pumpkin pie and then got home around 9 30pm.  I did very little unpacking.  Off to bed.

5/7, I determined that I was not going to plan anything today and that is exactly what happened.  I did unpack and check messages on the computer.  Otherwise, did nothing.

5/8, I ran errands including buying some food since I had very little since I was gone for the week. 5 Otherwise, not much else happened.

5/10, I was getting ready to make tuna noodle casserole, when I learned I didn't have any water!!  They have been tearing down alot of vacant double wide mobile homes since they are converting the park to strictly RV parking and not permanent residences.  I learned they planned to have the water back on within two hours.  That did happen and I did get my casserole made.

5/12, I had been telling myself everyday that I needed to do laundry and finally got it done.  I also started the engine and checked to make sure my levelers are working since I had a problem with one of them when moving from Fort Pierce to Bradenton.  Praise the Lord, they all worked.  I also started the generator and it is working as well.

5/13, Drove to Sarasota and went with Esther, Lloyd, Aunt Inez and Gail to their granddaughter's last basketball game for the season.  We went back to the house after the game, played a game, then Esther and Lloyd had an engagement at 5pm, Aunt Inez and I went to Mc Donald's for a sandwich and hot fudge sundae and then I took her home and came home since rain was in the forecast.  It has not rained much, but is RAINING alittle.  Sure cooled down so will be a nice evening.

05/12/2017 - On 5/4, we had breakfast with first cousin Neal and his family.  Uncle Lewis was to tired to attend.  We then went to a country store that is managed by Ella.  She is usually closed on Thursdays but did open the store for us.  We returned to Uncle Lewis's house and finished our visit and said our "goodbyes".  During that time, Ruby went back to Neal's house to watch Ella and Ruby make laundry soap to sell at the store.  We left before noon to head for Auburn, Nebraska where we had dinner plans with our niece, Katie (Ruthie's daughter).  It was about a 3 hour drive.  The GPS mislead us and so we made a call, got some general directions and then great nephew Seth met us at a gravel intersection and we followed him to the house.  We had a very nice dinner, cleaned up, did some visiting and some played games.  The two older boys went to a friend's house for the night and the three younger ones decided to sleep in a tent since their great aunts and uncles took all the bedrooms!! It was a good day and evening.

5/5, We had a great breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, packed up the car, said our goodbyes and headed for Kansas City for the motel for the night.  It was about a two hour trip.  We checked into the motel, and later decided to have dinner at the Golden Coral.  Off to dinner and we took our time.  It was nice to just visit and wrap up the week.  We then went back to the motel and Daniel and I took the van back to the rental car. The shuttle from the motel came and picked us up and back to the motel.  We then got together in Daniel and Mary Ann's room to settle up the expenses for the week.  Off to our own rooms since some had a very early shuttle reservation to the airport.

05/10/17 - On 5/3, we got up in the morning and had to say our goodbyes to Aunt Lucy and Uncle Menno since they had to attend a wedding.  We did stop off at the store that is owned by first cousin Lena and Martha, made some purchases and then off to first cousin Nettie's house for brunch.  We were very late since the GPS took us around everywhere but were we needed to be.  We finally asked someone on the road they gave us somewhat of a direction and we finally found it.  We had a nice brunch and then Nettie took us out to a building  where she and her family weave rugs.  They had some beautiful rugs.  Mary Ann, Rachel and Ruby all decided to get some rugs.  Nettie was making some for Mary Ann and Ruby and then she will ship it to them.  We had a nice visit.  We then departed for La Plata, Missouri to Uncle Lewis's house.  We had a great afternoon visit with him and his wife Ella.  In the evening, we bundled up since it was cold and windy and walked next door for dinner at first cousin Neal's house.  Neal came over and took Uncle Lewis over in a wheelchair so we could all be together.  We had a great dinner and a nice visit.  One of the girls that is living at home is manager of a country store and although it was closed the next day, she told us that she would open for us to shop since we were leaving the area.  Back to Uncle Lewis's house but he was very tired so we had a little visit with Neal but then called it an evening.  Off to bed.

05/09/17 - On 5/1, we got up, cleaned up the cabin, some had some coffee and took dirty towels over to Bethany's house and also wanted to say "thank  you and good bye".  We then left for Jamesport, Missouri and it was about two hours or so.  We did stop off for a bite to eat because we had planned to be at Uncle Neal's house early in the afternoon.  It was very nice to visit with them because quite a few of the first cousins came over to visit.  We then had dinner (cafeteria style) since some of the first cousins also joined us for dinner.  After some discussion, Cousin Betty informs me that they have a battery and inverter so I could use the c-pap machine.  We hooked it up and it worked for almost 4 hours so it gave my roommate Ruby, a few hours of sleep before I started to snore!!

5/2,  We had breakfast in the morning and then left for Bloomfield, Iowa since we had lunch plans with Aunt Arie and her family.  We made a quick stop at a general store that is owned by a first cousin, Martha.  We had a great lunch and lots of first cousins came over to join us.  In the afternoon, we then went to Aunt Lucy's house since we had dinner planned there.  Aunt Lucy had a big family and since alot of the first cousins and their families were to attend, we had the dinner in a window shop.  It was so good to catch up with every one again.  We then went back to Aunt Lucy's house for the night.  I decided to sleep on the couch so Ruby could get more sleep since I would not be able to use my c-pap machine.  Off to bed.

05/08/17 -  On 4/30, Daniel, Mary Ann, and Ruby came over to Aunt Lena's house and they had breakfast that was prepared by first cousin Ada Mae.  Rachel and Ivan came over as well and we had breakfast with Uncle Amos and Aunt Lena.  We then finished up our visit with them, drove over to first cousin Lizzie's house to say our "thank yous" and good bye.  We then headed out for Bethany's house (our niece).  We had about an hour drive.  We found their house but they were not home from church so we decided to try and find the cabin that we have planned to spend the night.  On our way, we met up with Bethany's family so we turned around and back to her house.  We had a great lunch, cleaned up and then went over to where they are building their new house.  Antony (her husband) bought some acreage and it needed to be cleared and cleaned up before any building could happen. They first built a barn type building that also has his office in there.  Next they started on the house.  It is up,  needed the roof to be finished and windows put in and then most of the outside part is done.  It will be a huge house when done and will be beautiful.  It sure was well planned.  We then went to the cabin to unload our luggage and get acquainted with the area.  Bethany went home and got some food together for dinner because they had invited a family that actually have to little people and they wanted to meet me and have a conversation.  It was very nice to meet the two children but their type of dwarfism gives them more height than what I even have. It was a little chilly, so I begged or a wood fire in the furnace.  Of course toward evening it was very nice and toasty but the rest of my siblings thought they just might died from the HEAT.  Well, at bedtime, they all slept with windows open but did survive.  I was a happy camper.  Off to bed.

05/07/17 - I will blog a little each day regarding our trip to Missouri.  On 4/28, I packed, told the office I would be gone for a week, and then left for Sarasota since I was meeting up with Esther, Lloyd and two of their friends for dinner.  We ate at Tropical Pollo. It was very good.  We then went back to Esther's house and played a marble game and a card game "Panic".  I then stayed for the night since my flight was out at 7 14 am.

4/29, I got a call at 4 41 am from my sister Rachel and there was a problem with their flight which was either delayed by several hours or maybe even cancelled.  I had her call and check a re-schedule since they were meeting all of us in Kansas City, Missouri.  She called back and stated that it is even worse and they could not get to Kansas City until 4 30 pm. Now what does one do.  The rest of us will be in by 1 00 pm and our destination was two hours away.  I told her to call back and tell them their information was unacceptable.  She then got another person and I told Rachel to tell her to look for a schedule either with United or American since they could not accommodate her and all of sudden she mentioned that they had an earlier flight out and could Rachel make it.  Oh, my, it was too close for comfort but Rachel and Ivan left immediately and were the last ones on the plane.  There was six of us traveling and after we all arrived at the airport, we needed to rent the van and head for our Aunt Lena and Uncle Amos's house.  It took forever to get the van and it was so cold, windy and rainy but we finally got on our way.  It was then determined that we would have dinner at our first cousin's house across the yard. It was at Lizzie and Nathan's house.  We had a great dinner and visit.  We then cut that visit short to go visit another first cousin (Ada Mae and Norman) since we would not see them at all.  My brother Daniel, his wife Mary Ann and sister-in-law Ruby stayed with Ada Mae, I stayed with Aunt Lena and Ivan and Rachel stayed with Lizzie.  Aunt Lena is suffering from Alzeimer's so during the night she was wandering around the house with a flash light since they don't have any electricity.  It was quite interesting but Aunt Lena did appear to know us which made me very happy.  They are both in their early "90,s".