Kitty close call!

Half-Pint on Robby's bed

Mortal combat at 9pm!

Half-Pint

Charlotte

Half-Pint on the dashboard

Charlotte on mommy's lap

Humm, what smells so good in here?

Lots of folks have asked how the kittens are getting along "on the road"? They are doing great! They have taken to sleeping on Robby's bed (his is the top bunk) and playing every night, starting at 8:30pm (the kid's bedtime!). They sleep most of the day and I think they play all night. Baylee is still agitated by them and can't help but try to nuzzle them to get them to "do something". This is because the kittens have decided THEY run the house and "the dog" is just an annoyance to be ignored. They move quickly and Baylee gets excited about the activity. The kittens are very tolerant of her intrusions and when they've had enough, they give her a few good swipes with the claws and a hiss thrown in for good measure.

The kittens have brought much energy, silliness and laughter to our Gypsy home. Joss and I can't believe we've gone so long without cats. We both love cats and the boys have wanted cats for years. At our old home, the coyotes kept eating the neighborhood cats. After we lost our last three in 2000, we said we wouldn't get any more until we moved. Well we've been moving!

The kittens are up each morning BRIGHT and EARLY! The other day, Joss said "they're getting us all ready for when we settle down and have to be up for school." I guess she's right, Robby has certainly been getting up earlier (Sawyer has ALWAYS got up early).

Well that's how they've been doing in the family for the past few weeks. Now on to the close call the other night...

It was 9:30pm when Charlotte was on our bed playing and chewing on one of our foam ear plugs (ear plugs are an RVing necessity if you're going to be in an urban RV park, in case you didn't know). I was watching her happily chewing on the bright orange earplug when, GULP, down it went. At least most of it went down, she had chewed part of it off. She wasn't phased in the least about it and went on playing. Joss was very concerned and said "get on the Internet and look that up. What do we need to do?"

I googled "kitten swallowed foam ear plug" and found a few stories but nothing helpful. Then I noticed one of those Google Ads on the right side of the screen. It said something like "Experts online are waiting to answer your questions" so I clicked on it. The website is JustAnswer.com and you can post your question in the appropriate category. They have experts all over the world online to answer the question. You can deposit funds (refundable) into your account with them and then choose how much to pay the experts for the answer (if you are satisfied with it).

We got a hold of a Registered Veterinary Technician in Walnut Grove, CA at 10pm and she answered all of our questions about what to do. She said we had to make her throw up or it could get stuck in her intestines later on and force emergency surgery ($$). I'd read online that other's had noticed their cats feeling ill and had X-rays taken, then surgery. Athena (the RVT) told us to give her a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide and wait 10-15 minutes. If she didn't throw up, do it again. We did it twice and it didn't work, but we could tell Charlotte was NOT feeling well NOW. We emailed Athena again and she said to try it one more time. This time it worked thank God! Charlotte threw up TWO pieces of earplugs and we hadn't seen her eat the first one!

The next day, Charlotte was not feeling her usual, perky self but she's completely back to normal now. That website, at 10 pm, saved us a trip to the kitty emergency room in a strange city! It was worth every penny we paid. They have a lot of different experts online, check it out, you never know when you might need some help.

Other folks have asked "where do you keep the litter box in the trailer?" The boys made a deal with us. If we got kittens, they would keep the litter box in their room and clean it at least twice a day. The food and water is also in their room, up high where Baylee can't reach it. So far, it's working out great.

After the boys go to bed, the kittens come alive and race around the trailer trying to kick each other's butts! After they have that out of their systems, they curl up on our bed and WE get some cuddle time with them!

We love our little kitties!!!

Missoula Monkey business

Celebrating Baylee's 12th b-day and second on the road.

After our tire blowouts we stayed in Butte, MT for a night then headed to the big city of Missoula. Baylee's 12th birthday was earlier in the month but we haven't been able to find a party store to buy the appropriate fete materials. Missoula had a Party America store (along with just about every other big chain store you could imagine) so we were ready to celebrate the old girl's birthday. Baylee is the only family member to celebrate two birthday's on the road. Her 11th b-day was in Chowchilla, CA, just a few weeks after our journey started.

Mr. Mysterio and his assistant pull a rabbit out of his hat!

Robby has been interested in magic for some time now and he earned a cool magic trick set that Joss bought some time ago. He's been practicing on us but didn't have the complete magician ensemble. Well the trip to the party store fixed that! Now Mr. Mysterio (as I call him) is decked out with top hat and cape. He wanted his little brother to be his "lovely assistant" but Sawyer wanted too much of the limelight! Words were said, blows were thrown (just kidding) and Sawyer is now on this side of the stage with the rest of us!

At the trailhead (Robby missed the memo on the Aqua attire)

Along the trip, one of the really cool things that happens from time to time is we meet up with fellow travelers. Sometimes, as with the Wiley's in Baton Rouge, we meet in one place, then we stalk them...I mean go to visit them, in their hometown. It's fun for all of us to reconnect and we've made some great friendships that way.

Well, while we were planning our trip in early 2007 and doing online research about families on the road, we came across the Vogel family that was biking around North America. They had twin boys, Davy and Daryl who were 8 at the time. They wrapped up their first trip and headed home to Boise, Idaho as we were getting close to leaving on our trip. They only stayed put for a year before embarking on a HUGE bicycling trip from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the southern tip of S. America in Argentina. When they're done the boys will become Guinness World Record holders as the youngest people to cycle the Pan-American Highway! They left in June on this 2 1/2 year trip so we've been following their blog (http://www.familyonbikes.org). As we were closing in on Missoula, MT we read that they were planning on staying there for a few days. We emailed and made arrangements to meet.

After meeting up, we all decided to go hiking up Rattlesnake Trail. The weather was beautiful in Missoula and made for great hiking. The Vogel's were staying with hosts Laurie and Ed they met online through www.warmshowers.org. Laurie took her nephew and his friend along so we had SIX boys under 11 years old. Good thing we were outside!

Robby and Daryl are picking berries in preparation of their "berry wars" below.

Some river shots along the trail. If you're reading this blog in a big city and have never sat along side a natural river/creek...put it on your list of things to do before you die (and do it often!)

All the boys as they double dog dared each other to jump in fully clothed (or not).

Below, Laurie didn't need no double dog daring, she was the first one in!

After hiking we went back to Laurie's house near the University (of Montana) and ordered pizza. The boys had a great time playing in the basement with Lincoln logs and other toys. It was nice to see that even if you're a 10 year old that is bicycling across two continents, you are still a kid at heart.

The next day, I picked up the boys and we did some Geocaching on the UofM campus. Here the group is investigating a micro cache (35mm film canister hidden behind a plaque).

That evening, Sawyer was tuckered out so he and I stayed home (the Missoula KOA campground) while Joss and Robby took them back. Here is the Vogel family with Joss and Robby at Laurie's house. The next day (Friday) they were taking to the road again after getting both wheels replaced on their tandem bike. We were taking off also after getting some of our tire issues taken care of.

John, Nancy, Josslyn, Daryl, Davy and Robby. The FamilyOnBikes and the RVGypsies.

Thar she blows!

Well, we were GOING to write some quick blogs about our stops at Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and Devils Tower but something more exciting happened today.

We blew TWO trailer tires at the same time on I-90 about 50 miles East of Butte, Montana. Joss was driving with me reading Hardy Boys mysteries to the boys and herding kittens when ALL OF THE SUDDEN... BAM (or was it BOOM?) I think it was more of a KA-BOOM with lots of flying rubber parts and smoke and who knows what else. Joss did a fantastic job of pulling the rig over carefully while I got the fire extinguisher and jumped out (I did mention smoke right?) Well the smoke was just the burning rubber from the disintegrated tire so we were okay in that respect.

When the steel-belts started whipping around in the wheel-well of the trailer, they started tearing things up. It's well known in the RVing world that tire blowouts can make for some COSTLY repairs. In our case it tore up the underside of the trailer all the way through the insulation and the subfloor bad enough to cause the carpet (inside) and the door molding to bulge. The steel belts also grabbed the 3/16" steel box around the steps and folded it neatly up, thereby ripping out one side of the steps and leaving them to drag on the highway (did I mention debris?).

After setting out the reflective triangles on the highway, I walked back to the scene of the blowout to collect some of the bigger pieces of metal and tire from the road. We don't want to litter now do we?! A Montana highway patrol officer was going the other direction when he saw us pull over so he quickly turned around and waited while we called the Good Sam Roadside Service.

Because our trailer is so big (and heavy) we have heavier duty tires than most trailers. It took Good Sam an hour to locate a tire service that had our size tire. But they did and Rayne from Whalen Tire came to our rescue. He mounted a new tire on one rim and put the spare in place of the other. He attached a chain to his truck and we pulled the bent steel plate back out of the way so we could get the new tire on. All in all it took about 3 1/2 hours which is exactly how much time we spent LAST September on the side of the road with our blown radiator. Humm, what is it about September???

All's well as they say and it was a beautiful day to get stranded on the side of the road. Here's a shot of our rig with the tire service truck next to us. Thanks Rayne!

Robert's New Job

Written by Mama Gypsy
We came to DeSmet for me because I'm a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan and I've always wanted to see some of her homes and museums to learn more about her and for the kids to learn. So, because Robert is such a good husband and tries very hard to make me happy he agreed to go
not only to DeSmet, SD but also all the way (backtracking a bit) to Walnut Grove, MN as well. However, sometimes you go one place for one person and it really turns out to be for another person. Well, that's what happened in this case. We were really meant to be here for Robert.

We arrived Monday evening excited to partake in all that the Ingalls Homestead had to offer. We had no idea what we were in for. We found out we could camp right there on the Homestead land, about a mile from town. We jumped at this opportunity to "live" on the same land that the Ingalls Family lived on 128 years ago. That first night we found out what a treat this was going to be. Diane in the gift shop told us we could have the run of the place and to make ourselves feel at home. We did. We were the only campers there for most of the week so we were literally the only people on the land at night. That first night we climbed their lookout tower to watch the sunset with not another soul around for miles. The sunset was beautiful and the peace and quiet even more wonderful. A great start to an amazing week.

As usual we had planned to stay only three to four days, but we almost always end up staying longer. This time was no exception. The first day we roamed around the Homestead. It is 160 acres, the exact 160 acres that Pa Ingalls Homesteaded. They have a dugout home built into a hill like the Ingalls lived in on Plum Creek; a claim shanty like most people lived in once they got here; a house like the one Pa built on the site; a hay roof barn like Pa built; a barn and an old garage with all sorts of crafts to do in it. They let us walk around and do as much as we wanted to and we could do everything as many times as we wanted to.

They have a covered wagon ride that takes you out to an old one room school house that is an exact model of the one Laura taught in. They have a school teacher there waiting to give you a lesson, a fun lesson. The kids dress up in old fashioned bonnets and dresses or cowboy hats for the boys. We did that about four times! Back in the garage you can learn how to make a corn cob doll just like Laura had in "Little House in the Big Woods." Sawyer kept making them and making them until he'd made seven or eight. They told him to make as many as he wanted and he did. He kept asking to go back to make more each day. They teach you how to make your own rope and boys like rope! All three of them made about 10 ropes. We learned how they ground wheat in a coffee mill during "The Long Winter" and the kids got to actually do it. In the little house that Pa built they let the kids wash laundry with real lye soap that they make here on the Homestead. The owners' daughter, Ann, taught the kids how to spin wool on a spinning wheel as well as let the boys help her pull up vegetables in the garden and even take them home for dinner. Sawyer actually ate tomatoes from the garden that night and he hates tomatoes. As you can see there is a lot to do here and we did it all, over and over and over again.

Throughout the first couple of days Robert got to talking to the people who work at the homestead and found out it is family owned and run and had been for 12 years since they'd bought the land. Robert made friends with the owner's father, Grandpa Bob, who was helping out for the summer since they were a bit short handed. Robert started helping him with chores: shoveling out the stalls, watering the horses and cows, etc. Then he started learning some of the other activities like the rope, the corn cob dolls and even the little pony cart that Grandpa Bob took the kids for rides in. By the fourth day Robert was helping so much, pretty much all day, that I went to the gift shop and bought him a shirt so he'd look like the other workers. He started going out at 9am to help them bring in the cows and the horses from their farm next door and he'd help them take them back at the end of the day. He was able to help out pretty much where ever they asked him to and he was happy to do it. I think after a year and a half of not working a job it probably felt good to be working hard again. Robert loves to help out where ever is needed and I think he felt needed too. He also loves learning anything new and he learned a lot about hitching up the horses, feeding and watering them and much more. So after almost a week being here and working on the farm we joke that Robert has a new job. Also after a week of working on a farm from 9am to 7pm he was dog tired and ready for a rest.

We left DeSmet traveling for the first time as a Gypsy Family of SEVEN! We have added to our clan. The mama cat at the Homestead had kittens just the right age to be going out on their own and the family offered to let us take some of the kittens. Since we had promised the kids cats when we got settled somewhere we couldn't pass up the early opportunity to have some authentic Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead cats, now could we? We didn't. We now have two new additions to our family, Charlotte, named after Laura's first rag doll and Half-Pint, Laura's nick name by Pa.

Once we decided that we'd take the cats we started bringing them to the trailer a little each day to get them used to it and to get Baylee used to their smell. Our last night the kittens stayed the night in Robby's bed. It will be a whole new adventure to see how these kittens adapt from a farm life to a gypsy life and how we all adapt to having cats again. It is exciting to us since we love cats and have not had any for more than eight years. Already we can tell they are a happy addition to our growing family. They make us laugh with their antics and that is a very nice thing. We are grateful for all of Gods gifts and we feel these little souls are two of them.

We'd like to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the Sullivan family and all employees of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. You truly made us feel like family and we had one of the most amazing times while on this adventure of ours around the country. You are truly a gift to all the families who come through your farm. Keep up the great work!!

A "Friend"ly town!

My (Robert) mom was born on a farm in Southeast Nebraska. The name of the town is Friend and I always thought it was because the people were so nice there! Turns out it was named for it's founder in 1870, Charles Friend, but that doesn't take away from how nice folks still are. My mom's Great Grandfather, Charles Warner, homesteaded after he was released from a Southern prison camp (Andersonville) after the Civil War. As a kid, I heard many stories about life on the farm and when I was 8 years old, I got to see it. A farm is a GREAT place to spend some time if you're a kid. Nothing like playing in the hay loft, digging for popping corn out of the crib, helping slop the pigs, collect the eggs and drink lemonade on the front lawn under the century old trees. I remember that visit like it was last week, though it was over 30 years ago. Yup, nothing like a genuine farm to leave an impression on young "city" boy!

Our journey to Friend started after the RVGypsies decided to turn West and head for our family reunion in Colorado. Coming from St. Joe, Missouri, the town of Friend was right on the way. I wanted to go back and visit the old farm (it's no longer in the family unfortunately) and take pictures of the town. Many of the folks at the reunion have their roots in Friend also. I had read that there was short term RV parking in the town park, complete with electricity and water so that's where we headed after picking up the mail we had sent there ahead of us. Burley park is the only park in Friend (pop. 1,172 thereabouts) and when I asked directions of the postal clerk, she just said "You mean it has a name? I've always just called it the park!" We settled in on a Friday evening and it was a beautiful park, complete with community swimming pool (circular in shape with the deep "end" in the middle!)

First thing Saturday morning we headed in to the main part of town, which was all of 9 blocks away. We found the main intersection closed off to traffic because they were holding a auction right on the main drag. Turns out it was an estate sale auction...of a distant relative of mine! There were no next of kin, so EVERYTHING in the house was up for sale...including boxes of Reynolds wrap, tupperware, wrapping paper...you name it. They also auctioned off a 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville that was mostly restored. Wow, I would have loved to have that but there's just no room in the trailer to park it!

After watching the auction for a while, we headed to Yokel's Hardware, a Friend institution since 1920. Will Yokel is the current proprietor and grandson of the founder. We were instantly greeted with the small town friendliness that I thought Friend was named for. After introductions, Will told us that his Grandmother was best friends with my Great Aunt Francis. Aunt Francis passed away in 1990 but she's still fondly remembered in town. Will was very happy to fill me in on the town and became our official ambassador to the great town of Friend.

Above the hardware store is the old Warren Opera House or Friend Opera House as it's also known. It was built in 1896 at a cost of $40,000 and is the only establishment of its kind for a 50 mile radius from Friend. It was in great use for approximately 34 years and has been sitting dark ever since. That is until the Friend Historical Society was formed and plans for the restoration of the Grand ole Dame were hatched. This opera house was the scene for many of the local high school plays, sporting events, political debates as well as professional productions. It even hosted a circus once, complete with an elephant that had to climb the stairs to get in! Will gave us a private tour of the opera house and showed us where the actors used to sign their names in the dressing room. The power was off so we searched the walls by flashlight. To our surprise we found the signatures of my Grandfather Glenn Warner and my Great Uncle Harold Warner (one of Glenn's brothers)! Their signatures have been on those walls, waiting to be discovered since the 1920's. One of the scenery paintings, still hanging on stage, is from a 1897 production, wow! This is truly a time capsule just waiting to be revealed. And the time is now...

The Historical Society is raising money to restore the Opera House and they've already made some great progress. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, please send an email to FriendOperaHouse@gmail.com and we'll get you in touch with the right people.

The rest of our time in Friend was spent taking pictures of the historic homes, many of them restored already and going to visit my family's farm. The land around the farmhouse appears to be worked by someone else and the house and buildings are in disrepair but it still brought back vivid and exciting memories I created as an 8 year old boy from "the city". For the family reunion we were headed to, I put together a slide show of our stay in Friend. I think it went over well and the RVGypsies were happy we could show everyone the "old hometown".

Will and I have kept in touch since we left and if you're reading this, we want you to know how much we appreciated how welcome you made us feel!

Ahhh Nashville Tennessee!

Joss and I learned early in our courtship that we both shared a love of country music. We had in common such favorites as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash and others. She introduced me to Randy Travis, the Judds, Dixie Chicks and others and I introduced her to the Kingston Trio, the Statler Bros. and more. We were looking forward to seeing Nashville the closer we got. The week before we were to hit town, Joss asked me to get tickets to the Grand Ole Opry, which I did online, and we were all set for the Tuesday night radio show performance.

As a young girl, Joss watched "A coal miner's daughter" and fell in love with Loretta Lynn's story and her songs. She would listen to a cassette tape over and over to learn the words. When were we dating, she made me watch it with her as a test of our compatiblity. I loved it too. I grew up listening to Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Johnny Paycheck, Dolly Parton and dozens more from my Dad's 8-track tape player in the car and country radio. Every weekend, Hee-Haw would be a staple in the Streett household and I would watch right along with my Dad and Mom (I don't remember my sisters being there, humm...) The very first thing I ever won on my own doing, was a 45 single of Johnny Cash's "One piece at a time". I won it from a Los Angeles country radio station, KLAC 570AM when I was about 12. Johnny Cash is still and always will be my favorite singer.

Anyway, back to the Gypsy travels. We found an Army Corp of Engineers campground about 8 miles East of Nashville and set up camp. I really wanted to see the Country Music Hall of Fame and the other's weren't as excited about it so I went alone one day. I liked the museum a lot but it didn't have enough of what I was looking for (very little on Johnny Cash or the Carter family!). But it was awesome in its design, lighting, movies and audio features. The Grand Ole Opry museum however, did have more of what I was looking for. More about that later.

Tuesday rolled around and we all got dressed up for the Grand Ole Opry. It struck us as quite funny that it was located adjacent to the parking lot of the Opry Mills shopping mall. (If you're from So Cal, think Ontario Mills and you'll have the picture of the Opry Mills). Well it turns out, the Opry moved to it's present location 30 some years ago and everything else built up around it. We were amazed at the size of the crowd as we parked Clyde (our truck) and headed to the performance. Wouldn't you know it, after 3 pictures outside, our camera battery went dead...and we had forgotten to bring the spare! Joss had to buy a disposable camera so the shots from that evening are still trapped on film, encased in plastic, sitting in a box, in the trailer.

We had mezzanine seats, or should I say bench seats (nicely padded however) and had a good view of the stage. In the center spotlight, there is a 6' circle of stage from the original Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. The performers of today can stand on the same wood as the legends of yesteryear...pretty cool! During the performances (there were 8 acts of 15 minutes each) the audience was encouraged to come down front to take pictures. Joss took turns taking the boys down at different times and they loved it! The one left behind with me was thrilled to see his brother and mom "down there"!

We all came back to the city another day to eat lunch at the Hard Rock and take a trolley tour of the town. It is amazing how many song writers are working in Nashville today trying to pen that next big hit! I believe our guide said something like 30,000. Our trolley took us to Music Row and the Capital Building and the Parthenon. After that we went back to the Grand Ole Opry to visit the museum they have next door. The museum is free and very, very interesting. It goes in depth with all the main stars of the Opry; Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, Marty Robbins, Porter Wagoner and dozens of others. It's a Nashville must see!

Just before leaving, we drove down to Murfeesboro to meet up with a new friend, "Mike the bike" (as the kids call him). The day we were leaving Savannah GA, Mike pulled in on a shiny new motorcycle and proceeded to pitch his tent. The boys were attracted to him like iron dust to a magnet and we talked with him for what must have been an hour. Later we gave him our website and said our goodbyes. Down the road in our travels, Mike emailed and said when we get to Nashville to look him up...so we did! Never give a gypsy an open invitation if you don't want them to take it! We thought it a good opportunity to see another town around Nashville so we offered to meet him close to home instead of back in the big city. He and his friend Miche (pron. Mickie) went to an Italian dinner with us and we loved getting to know them better. After dinner, the boys loved hanging all over Mike's bike!

Joss and I both felt we could spend more time in Nashville and look forward to coming back.

Decompress in the Great Smokies

The RV park in Asheville, NC did not have space for us for the 4th of July holiday so Robert had made reservations just over the mountains in Tennessee near Gatlinburg. We were ready to leave by then anyway. We felt bad that while our friends were visiting we happened to be
staying at one of the worst RV Parks we'd stayed at. They were not kid or dog friendly and watched us like hawks. We felt like we had the Gestapo breathing down our necks at every turn. We were ready to leave and the Smokey Bear campground in Gatlinburg was exactly what we needed. It was kid friendly, dog friendly and adult friendly too. They had a great pool, great playground with a basketball court and all sorts of activities planned for the 4th of
July weekend.

From the earliest hours of arriving we knew this place was exactly what we needed. It had lots of big trees in between the campsites for a woodsy feel and privacy and it just felt good to be there. The first night they had a wonderful female duo, The Cinnamon Girls, giving us a private campground concert. We all pulled our chairs up in front of the main office and we listened and swayed to the music. I could feel the stress of the last few weeks just drip off of me with each song they sang. It was great. The Cinnamon Girls had two very distinct voices and had wonderful harmony together. We bought their CD and have been listening to it a lot. Their website is www.cinnamongirls.net check them out. The concert started the whole weekend out right.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous too. We spent a day driving through the Smokey Mountains National Park seeing the beautiful Smokey Mountains in their full smokey glory from a recent rain fall. We did a lot of hiking in beautiful natural settings, our favorite thing to
do. To celebrate the 4th of July, Robert found a firework show at a local fairgrounds and we went there with our chairs and tried to blend in with the locals to watch the fire works. They may not have even known we were from a whole other country, I mean state! This was the first place where we did feel like we were in a whole other country. The difference from Southern California to Eastern Tennessee is much bigger than we've felt yet.

The kids had all sorts of questions about where the fire works would be, why they needed the fire truck, where the bathrooms were, you know, they kept us busy answering their constant barrage of questions. You'd think we'd be used to it by now but it still always seems to surprise us with how much these kids can talk, NON-STOP!! But, it is also amazing how once the fire works start, the kids shut up and just watch. We always enjoy a good fire works show and this was no different.

After one pass up the main drag in Gatlinburg, we decided it was too much like Myrtle Beach or Las Vegas, lots of tourist trap! So we avoided it like the plague, taking the bypass road whenever possible.

We had to leave the Smokey Bear Campground early, just when we were making some new friends, to drive to Cookeville, TN to have some work done on our trailer. We had an appointment Monday morning after the 4th weekend. We had to keep the appointment and they are not always easy to get. Oh well, these things are important too. They have to be done I guess. We can't have fun all the time, Can we?

We drove to the Cookeville Wal-Mart and spent the night there. While the trailer was getting some attention there wasn't much to do in Cookeville. I wouldn't recommend going there unless you absolutely have to. Robby and I did a double feature at the movies while Robert and Baylee drove around keeping cool in the truck's A/C. We also found the one and only city park and read some Hardy Boys. Other than that once the trailer was finished we quickly made tracks for NASHVILLE, TN! Whoo Hoo! Now there is one great place. I'll write about that later. Joss