I Don’t Like To Read Books Anymore . . .
I have a number of favorite books, mostly sci-fi paperbacks, that every few years I pull out and reread. Now many of these I’ve bought again in Kindle versions to just to have them available, but some of them were from back in the mid-90’s and were never converted to Kindle.
One of these is called Anti-Ice written by award-winning, best-selling author Stephen Baxter. So when I saw my old copy in my bedroom cabinet, I thought I’d give it a try.
And that’s when I discovered I don’t really like books anymore, at least the real, touchy-feely, wood-pulpy kind.
You know, the ones that you can’t read in the dark, the ones that you can’t make the print larger when your eyes are tired, or the ones that you can only carry a couple around with you at any one time.
No, I now prefer the ones that light up in the dark, the ones that I can resize the print with a squeeze of my fingers, or easily carry around the 1527 books presently in our Kindle account.
Those kind of books.
Today in 2011 we were leaving Vandalia, IL and Jan’s sister Debbie’s family, and heading over to the Horseshoe Lakes Thousand Trails Resort near Blanford, IN.
August 17, 2011
Uh Oh! 30 amps!
We had one last breakfast at Robbi’s Restaurant this morning with Debbie, Jim, Tana, Gwen, and Jan and I. We really had a great time visiting with Debbie and her family, and, of course, seeing Brandi, Lowell, and Landon too.
After saying our goodbyes, and getting last minute hugs, Jan and I headed back out to the RV Park to get ready to leave.
I’d gotten up at 6:30 and pretty much had everything done before we left for breakfast, so all we really had to do was hitch up the toad, unplug the power, and head out.
We pulled our of our site right at 11, and a few minutes later we were on I-70 heading east toward Terre Haute. It warmed up pretty fast so about 40 miles down the road I started up the generator so we could run the house AC’s.
Then about 15 miles west of Terre Haute we turned north on SR 1, heading thru Paris, IL to the small (very small) town of Blanford, IN. Right outside of Blanford, we entered Indiana and the Eastern Time Zone. This means that during our travels this year we’ve been in all four US time zones. Jan was happy to see a Super Wal-Mart as we passed through Paris which is only about 15 miles from our park.
A couple of miles north of Blanford we arrived at the Horseshoe Lakes Thousand Trails Resort.
This Thousand Trails is kind of unusual in that you don’t check in at the guardhouse, but at an office down a side road. Then once you’re checked in, you come back out the side road and enter the park itself using the gate code you now have.
As we’ve done with a couple of the other large, heavily-forested TT parks, we left the rig at the office, and after unhitching the toad, we drove it around to find a spot. I took my compass with me so I would be able to check for satellite availability. Finding a good spot, we left a bag chair to hold it while we went back for the rig.
We found a really nice site, across from the lake, with some trees for shade, but open enough for good satellite reception, and 3 bars of 3G on my phone.
All that, along with the really good water pressure means a happy camper.
So far this looks like a really nice park, and hopefully we still feel the same way at the end of our two week stay.
I’ve got a lot of projects lined up, and maybe I can make a dent in the list.
The only problem we’ve had so far is when Jan was fixing supper, and everything suddenly got very quiet and very dark.
Then I hear Jan say “Uh Oh! 30 Amps!
So, no, she can’t run the microwave and toaster oven at the same time that the AC and the dryer are running.
Thought for the Day:
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment
We’re back in Houston for Landon’s 3rd Birthday
August 17, 2013
The Birthday Boy . . .
While Jan and I were having our coffee this morning, Richard King and Mark Didelot came by to say ‘Hi’. They’re blog readers of mine and they’re here with a group of Tiffin owners, and noticed we were here too and came over to meet us. It’s always nice to meet blog readers along our travels.
This Tuesday, August 20th is Landon’s birthday, but today was his birthday party, and a party it was. Jan and I headed out about 10:30 to get his presents and also pick up a few supplies at Wal-Mart, and then it was back here to do the wrapping.
We got over to Brandi’s about 1pm, and found our son Chris and his family, wife Linda, and daughter Piper already there. They were all blowing up balloons and Piper was putting the streamers up.
Landon’s birthday cake was really neat.
The theme for the party was Pirates, and the cake was an ocean with an island, and it was all made of individual cupcakes covered over with icing.
Landon in the meantime, was taking a nap with his other Nana so he would be fresh for the party that started around 2pm.
The highlight of the party was a Water Slide that they had rented for the occasion, and it was a big hit.
There was over 50 adults and children at the party, so Brandi and Lowell’s big house came in handy. There was room enough for everyone.
Finally it was time for Landon to open his presents, and he had a ball. Got some great gifts too. Jan spent a good while picking out just the right wrapping paper for his presents at Wal-Mart this morning, and I kept telling her it wasn’t necessary.
Kids, especially boys, just don’t care what a present is wrapped in. It could be wrapped in old garbage bags or newspaper, and as long as the kid thinks there’s a toy in there, it’s history. Again, he just doesn’t care.
And the same thing goes for Christmas presents, too.
After all that, Landon settled down long enough to have some of his birthday cake.
Then he finished things up with a Happy Birthday kiss from his cousin Piper.
Everyone was pretty much gone by 5pm, so we were able to spend some time together as a family, just catching up. Jan and I finally headed out about 8:30, and I’m sure Brandi was glad to see us all go. If only for the peace and quiet.
Tomorrow afternoon we’re going over to Chris and Linda’s and Chris and I are going to put new brake pads on my truck. Then we’ll eat supper at Barcena’s, one of our favorite local Mexican places.
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Thought for the Day:
You can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. – Robert Heinlein
