Chily Expeditions: 2015-01-18

Monday, January 19, 2015

Busy July 2014

I completed my assignment at the Dells on July 11th. The worst part was having to say goodbye to our friends at Chapparal Campground. Dennis and Dianne and all our other "family" at Chapparal have been a big part of our traveling adventure. It's amazing how many of our new friends have become part of our family. This adventure has been much more than we ever anticipated. My next assignment is in Pepin, WI, which would start July 14th. As I had never heard of this place, many of our friends had. I was told over and over how beautiful that part of WI is. Pepin is on the Mississippi River. The road that goes through Pepin (Hwy 35), the Great River Road is a very popular road, especially with bikers. There are also many little popular, quaint touristy towns along this road. Did I mention the many wineries....ooftah!!! My job was at Pepin Manor. Kirk and I were fortunate enough to find a site at Lake Pepin Campgound right across the street from my work. I either walked or rode my bicycle to work everyday. Saved tons on gas this assignment :) The people that owned the campground also owned the motel next door so that was convenient when Kirk took the motorhome to MN to have the motorcycle lift attached.
Our first hour in Pepin, Ben and Nicki arrived with the Bella and Isaac. I had promised to take the kids to the cities (Minneapolis) that weekend to see Ady in her play, Alice in Wonderland. Ady played Creeping Charlie. She was fantastic! Being in Pepin now allowed us to be only about 1.5 hours from the girls in MN and about 2 hours from Ben and Nicki in WI. Ady returned to Pepin with me to stay with us for the week. Robyn arrived midweek and stayed till the weekend.
During this week, Kirk rode the motorcycle to Gladbrook, IA to help his mom move out of her house and into her new apartment. He was also able to attend the Jester Jam at Jester Park in Granger, IA where his son, Nate was playing. Nate also organizes the event which has several bands play throughout the day while raising money for a good cause.
At the end of the week, Robyn, Ady, and me drove to WI so that we could see Ben play at the Thomas House in Marshafield, WI. This venue is a slightly high end restaurant with in and outside seating. Ben and his brother in law, Matt (The Stand Still) played outside. This is one of their regular gigs. I enjoyed his show so much. i can't even explain the feeling this mother has when watching her son play. Sooooo proud. I spent the weekend with them, and the girls while watching the kids. Ben and Nicki attended a wedding in LaCrosse, WI and returned on Sunday.
Okay, now lets talk about this mouse in our RV....ugh! I believe we found her while in Wonewoc. We knew she was around as she was leaving little "trails' in the kitchen drawers. After several days of trying different things, the good old mouse trap finally caught her. That's how we knew it was a she. She was pretty fat (pregnant). It wasn't until a few weeks later that we found her nesting area, which happened to be in the bottom of my old golf bag. I now only have a new golf bag. At least we caught her before she had those little ones. Haven't had a mouse since then.
I realize this seems like a long post, but so many things happened the first month in July. At the end of the month, Kirk and I drove to the cities to help Kristy move into her new place.