Columbus, day 3

Columbus, day 3
Our first stop was to the Topiary Garden. The garden was created from a painting.

Can you see the comparisons?

Then it was out to see the Basket! The Longaberger Headquarters.
You have to see this in person. It really looks like a giant picnic basket plopped along the highway!

Then back downtown to eat at the Confluence Park Restaurant. I should have found the website first. They are only open for dinner. Sooo.......back out towards our campground, we ended up at a place called BJ's. Kind of a sports bar where we split a couple of appetizers. Chicken dumplings, and Avocado Egg Rolls.
And you can tell from Craig's face, the egg rolls were a big hit!

Then back to the campground to start packing up for the trip home.

Columbus, day 2

Columbus, day 2.
For anyone who likes Zoos, you really need to visit the one in Columbus.
It is easily in the top 5. It was an interesting visit.
First, the zoo is no where near downtown, and isn't even in the city itself. As you can see in the pic, it's out in the middle of nowhere!
It was actually not far from our campground. It appeared to be nearly new! We decided they must have abandoned their old one and built a whole new ZOO! But we soon found out, the zoo has been here for nearly 100 years.
The entrance is a newer addition, and they have systematically rebuilt and expanded the whole zoo! There seems to be great community support for their zoo. And they have a beautiful one to be proud of. And the pics are here.
Then it was lunch at a nearby Chilli's. We had a gift card from Christmas, and the one in Lansing was clear on the other side of town we never seem to get to, so we decide, if we saw one here, we'd use it. And on the way from the zoo to our next stop, there one was!
So after some ribs and beer for me, and a steak wrap for Craig, we headed to the Franklin Park Conservatory.
A beautiful collection of buildings housing an enormous collection of plants. AND Franklin Park sits in a beautiful older neighborhood, just east of downtown. And more pics here.
Then on the way back to the campground, we stopped veggies to go with dinner, and for a few things we forgot to pack. Dinner was grilled Pork Cutlets, with grilled potatoes and marinated grilled Zucchini. Yummy! Followed with drinks and a roaring campfire.

Columbus, day 1

Columbus, day 1.
With just the best weather for an April trip, (Instead of the normal mid 60's it was mid 80's all weekend!) we made the most of it. Columbus is a much larger city than I expected. Our campground, Alum Creek State Park, was nearly 30 min from downtown, but just outside the park was urban sprawl. We spent the first day, downtown. We started with German Village, just south of downtown.
It's quite a large neighborhood of rehabbed 1880's small brick homes with cobble stone streets, and brick sidewalks. The are no front yards, the homes come right to the sidewalks, and very few driveways. But there were lot's of younger people everywhere, and the area is very close to downtown.
I personally would tear out all the brick sidewalks. They don't look that good, and could be dangerous to walk on. But I guess that's part of the uniqueness of the area.
Then we moved on to the Brewery District. There is no 'brewing' going on here, rather one of their big sports stadiums with rehabbed old warehouses and such with many bars and restaurants. And then downtown with it's large convention center, and a very odd looking Capitol, which they call a State House.
And just north of that is an area called 'short north'.
An 8-10 block area with many shops, restaurants, and bars. This is were we had lunch at a place called the Union Cafe. It had a very nice street side patio and the sandwiches were very good. After wandering around a bit, it was time to head back to the campground where we wandered around, checking out the lake and such. And being such a beautiful weekend, quite a few campers showed up.

Columbus

First off, Hi!
Yes, we've returned from our first trip. Safe. We did have a few issues, but they were fairly easily resolved.

Our trip to Columbus was exhausting. Very windy. With gust up to 40mph. At one point, our patio awning got lifted up on it's supports from the buffeting winds, and the rear section came loose and tried to open up. We had to make a quick emergency stop on the side of the highway. Not able to re latch, got out the handy duct tape for a quick fix and we were on our way. Wind is the worst thing to drive through when your in a big box! Then upon arrival to our campsite, the drivers side rear jack would not come down. We've had issues with this one since we bought the mo-ho. Finally, after lowering and raising it a few times, it finally came down. I think we need to do some serious re greasing. And once again, it appears our tv antenna booster isn't working. We could get all of 6 stations. And back in Lansing when I checked a few weeks ago, I could get nearly 20. Good thing we brought a bunch of DVDs. We've come to learn there's always some issue with our travels. These are all fairly minor, and fixable.Our campsite was spacious, with full hookup. And as we've learned, Ohio State Parks have the most spacious campsites. Although our 'level' pad wasn't. Needed to put wood under the front wheels and jacks. I guess it might have been 'level' for a 20 footer, but not a 35 footer. And as I've found out with most state parks. If they say they have wi-fi, don't plan on it. I either couldn't get a signal, or couldn't connect. And the office people never have a clue.
I'll do another post tomorrow morning when I have more time, and also a link to all the pics for those who might be interested.

funny friday and such

The mo-ho's gassed up, and the fridge is stocked with food and drink. The highway construction web sites have been checked. Weather, it's going to be a beautiful weekend! Highs in the low 80's! Almost 20 degrees above normal! Not anything like our first trip last year. And since most State Parks don't have wi-fi, I'll update on our return!
And now on with this weeks ff........

An old Farmer went to town to see a movie.
The ticket agent asked, "Sir, what's that on your shoulder?"
The old farmer said, "That's my pet rooster Chuck. Wherever I go, Chuck goes."
"I'm sorry sir," said the ticket agent. "We can't allow animals in the theater."
The old farmer went around the corner and stuffed Chuck down his overalls. then he returned to the booth, bought a ticket, and entered the theater.
He sat down next to two old widows named Mildred and Marge.
The movie started and the rooster began to squirm. The old farmer unbuttoned his fly so Chuck could stick his head out and watch the movie.
"Marge," whispered Mildred. "What?" said Marge.
"I think the guy next to me is a pervert."
"What makes you think so?" asked Marge.
"He undid his pants and he has his thing out", whispered Mildred.
"Well, don't worry about it", said Marge.. "At our age we've seen 'em all"

"I thought so too", said Mildred, "But this one's eatin' my popcorn!"

Have a great weekend!

Allison in the bottom 3?

Okay, I was wrong. Surprisingly, it was Allison, not Matt in the bottom 3. How could that be?
But as I suspected, Lil, and Anoop left.
And now it get interesting. I hardly watch Idol in the opening weeks. Just way tooo much korney stuff. But when they get down to the last 6 or less, you've got some really good singers.
But I'm still rooting for Kris, although I think Adam is the clear favorite.
And now I need to get ready for work!

watching Idol

Okay, watched Idol, and I think the bottom 3 will be Anoop, Lil, and Matt.
And the judges gave high praise to my favorite, Kris. I think, it'll probably come down to Adam, Allison, and Kris. And as with previous Idols, the winner could be any of them, depending on the public voting.
And is it just me, or is Paula just rambling on with her critiques?
And now I'm off for 2 long days at work.

my update

Day 3 of rain. So no yard work done this weekend. But it sure is greening up the grass!
And in other news......
I'd been having problems with surfing the Internet. I'd grind down to a snails pace at times. Did all the proper things, like recycling the modem, unplugging the router, waiting, and plugging it back in, or even restarting the puter. I finally decided either the modem or router was going bad. so the next time my Internet connection went bad, I disconnected the modem from the router, and plugged it directly to the puter. Things were great! So I needed a new router. And here's the baby I got. Nothing fancy. Just $39, but it works like a dream! and can connect up to 4 wired puters, and countless wireless ones.

But now I seem to have an issue with explorer I think. After surfing for a while, I grind to a halt. The only thing that gets me going again is if I restart the puter. But the first time I try that, I get some error message. I close that and all my desktop icons disappear for a few moments. When they come back, I can then restart the puter, and I'm good to go again. It's always something right? I'm gonna keep working on it, but I may have to break down and ask my puter expert brother for help.

And here's some more Hyacinths for your viewing pleasure.

And if my southern readers find this odd seeing hyacinths in bloom, think what I'm feeling seeing all your 'summer' flowers in bloom this early for me! I'm soooo jealous!

we're ready!

Our spring is coming along ever so slowly. Normally I would be cutting grass this weekend, but not this year. Maybe in another week or so. And tomorrows high is forecast to be just 48. To damn cold for this time of year! But here's some of what's blooming right now....

And it's been a rainy day here. Mostly light rain to just sprinkles. And it's suppose to rain all day tomorrow, and Tuesday. But I did get the mo-ho un-winterized, and the water system sanitized. And all the essentials back inside. Put new batteries in the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Checked the tire pressure on the mo-ho and kar kaddy, and I think we're ready for our mo-ho season.

Spring is Sprung

The last few days have been glorious! Temps around 70! Of course, I've been at work, so not able to enjoy it completely. And my weekend, (Sun. Mon. and Tues.) looks to be cold (maybe a high of 50?) and wet. So I squeezed out every minute out side after work I could. I weeded some beds, cleaned out the fountain and got it running, potted up a few more pots of divisions, (you can see them here) I now have 53 plants potted up, and re-caulked the mo-ho windshield, and the seam on the rubber roof. Hopefully that well put an end to the leaks on the dash, we'll see.
And work has been busy, that's good. And I have a long day today of course, because it's going to be 70 again. But I'll be able to enjoy a couple of hours after work.
And this weekend, we'll un-winterize the mo-ho and stock it up for our upcoming first trip of the season!
And now, off to work!

funny friday

It's been a beautiful spring week. To bad I've been inside working! And can you believe they saved Matt on American Idol? And now they will eliminate 2 next week. Matt's a good singer, but not worth wasting a save for.
And this weeks ff is for my Craig. He has a Masters in Engineering, and would probably say these same things! tee hee! So now, on with our ff.........


Understanding Engineers - Take One
Two engineering students were walking across a university campus when one said,
"Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied,
"Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, take what you want." The second engineer nodded approvingly and said,
"Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

Understanding Engineers - Take Two
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.
One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections. "
The last one said, "No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"

Understanding Engineers - Take Three
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said,
"If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a Princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do ANYTHING you want."
Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

Have a great weekend!

Yes I watch American Idol

Well, yesterday was a total wash out. It rained a-l-l day. No thunderstorms, just a steady light rain a-l-l day. Soooo after hitting Sam's Club for Salon supplies, we cleaned house, boiled the left over ham bone for broth, checked out more possible campgrounds for future trips, and played on our puters. For dinner, we had baked Chicken with Hawaiian sauce, mashed potatoes, and Marinated Broiled Zucchini. Yummy!
And of course, I watched American Idol. Adam has one of the best voices, but I think he picks songs where he screams too much. I'm still rooting for Kris, but he needs to pick better songs.
Who do you think will go home tonight?

If it's broke, fix it

Despite the cloudy c-o-l-d day yesterday, with a high of only 49 and a cold breeze from the north east, we bundled up and did an out door project. One of the split rail posts had broken last fall, and we kinda jimmied it to make it through the winter. Well we decided to replace it along with the post on the other side of the driveway before it also rotted through. This fence has been there around 20 years, so it's done very well. But we get a lot of water from the road down the sides of the driveway, so these end posts get the brunt of it. The second pic shows them both replaced. It went easier than expected, and we were back inside our warm house fairly quick.

So, despite our cool than normal Spring, we've got a good deal of out door stuff done.

We spent the rest of the day putting our shopping list together for Sams Club. We get most of the Salon's basics there. We also surfed the net looking and daydreaming about motor homes we'll never be able to afford, like this little beauty here! But just like new homes, it's fun to look! We also put together are itenerary for our trip to Columbus, Ohio. And Craig made Turkey Burgers for dinner with oven fries.

digging and dividing

Good morning!
Yesterday turned out Sunny and cool. Temps hit 50. I spent a good chunk of the day digging and dividing Daylillies. I managed to pot up 35 of them. 8 different varieties. To see what the flowers look like, I've created a Plant sale Album. I'll upload as I divide. And of course, they aren't in bloom yet. The pics are from my Daylily Album.
Craig sorted out my plant tags from last years sale and did book work and laundry.
I also cleaned out more stuff from the pond and got the pump going. It amazes me the pump can sit in the water year after year, even through being frozen with our pond only 18 inches deep, and still runs.
And for our Easter dinner, Craig cooked a ham and we had that with Scalloped Potatoes, and broccoli wit cheesy hollandaise sauce.

fake deck and tacos!

We got out of work early today, so with the weather being rather mild, (48 degrees if you want to call that mild!) we did some work out in the yard. I scooped out more crap from the pond, and Craig picked up fallen branches. We also put out our fake deck that covers our nasty concrete patio. For pics of the deck, click this link to last years pics. fake deck
I hope to divide a bunch of day lilies tomorrow. It's suppose to hit 50. Woo Hoo! I"m beginning to wonder if it'll ever get warm here. I don't know where the hell global warming is. We had a colder than normal fall, winter, and now spring.
But any who, while I'm typing this, Craig is busy dicing and slicing tomatoes, green onions, and lettuce for home made tacos we're having tonight! I love em!
And I've been downloading more things to do in Columbus, Ohio, where we're going in just a couple of weeks on our first mo-ho trip of the season! And right now, gas is around $1.98. Last year at this time it was $3.35. Hope it stays low for awhile!

Is it Spring yet?

Finally! Spring is coming to Mid Michigan! Ever so slow this year, but it's coming. The grass is greening, the Daffodils are starting to bloom, and here's a few more early flowers....

I have no idea on the names of these little guys. They are all of about 4 inches tall, and 3 different types of bulbs. The ones below are growing in a Hosta bed. You can see I have soaker hoses here. The Hostas are around a tree, and it tends to be drier there, so the soaker hose helps the Hostas stay nice and green.

And here is a beautiful Hellebore. One I've had for a number of years, and has gotten quite large. I especially like the leaves that will come out later after the flowers are done.

And the temps are to be in the mid 50 range this weekend, so I hope to get more clean-up done, and start dividing plants for my June Plant sale. The day lilies are up enough to work on them, so hopefully the weather will cooperate.

And now I'm off to get ready for work.

funny friday

It looks like we may be in for a decent Spring weekend. I have a lot I want to do outside.
And now on to our ff........

Bob walked into a sports bar around 9:58 pm.
He sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV.
The 10 pm news was coming on. The news crew was covering the story of a man on the ledge of a large building preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Bob and said, "Do you think he'll jump?"
Bob said, "You know, I bet he'll jump.
The blonde replied, "Well, I bet he won't."
Bob placed a $20 bill on the bar and said, "You're on!"
Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy on the ledge did a swan dive off the building, falling to his death.
The blonde was very upset, but willingly handed her $20 to Bob, saying,"Fair's fair. Here's your money."
Bob replied, "I can't take your money. I saw this earlier on the 5 pm news, and so I knew he would jump."
The blonde replied, "I did too, but didn't think he'd do it again."
Bob took the money...

Have a great weekend!

Still too damn cold

Today as I'm sure you know, is April 8th.
The reason I say this is because when we bought our house back in 1985 we signed the papers on April 15th. So we are one week away from that. After signing the papers, we drove by the house, and noticed all their daffodils were in bloom. So every year, I gauge Spring by that year.
And this year, we have no Daffodils blooming yet. And by the looks of them, we won't have many blooming next week.
Soooooooo, winter started early last year, and Spring is late this year. So believe me when I say it's been a l-o-n-g winter. WELL IT EVER GET WARM?
And in other news.....We didn't achieve our weight loss goals. We got real tired of walking the mall and big box stores. And most days it's too cold out. (yesterdays high was 40) So we're just going to wait until we can get outside on a regular basis. (if that ever happens!)
And yesterday, I got the inside of the mo-ho cleaned top to bottom, restocked paper towels, toilet paper, and garbage bags. Craig worked on estimated taxes, and other bookwork.
Oh, and we watched a funny movie called Coffee Date. And of course American Idol!
And now I'm off to work....

It was a good run

The picture says it all. Our Spartans were no match for the very talented Wildcats. But we had a good run. Beat a lot of teams the critics thought we'd lose to. And on the bright side, we are losing just 3 seniors, so we'll have a good core coming back, with some great recruits. I went to bed at half time, with the score 55- 36 but poor Craig stayed up and watched it all.
And in other news,
Since the yard was covered in snow yesterday, I spent a lot of time on the puter downloading things to see and do in Columbus, Ohio. Where we are going in just a few weeks on our first trip of the season. We also ordered a few 'camping' items. Some more klippy klips for hanging lights on our awning, a couple of Coil-n-Wrap Hose Straps, and some Coil-n-Wrap Plug Dogs. And we also ordered a Winegard Wingman. It attaches to the antenna. It's suppose to help increase our UHF signals, and has had some good reviews. We ordered them from our local RV center because they e-mailed me a 10% off coupon. So it ended up being cheaper than camping world! And no shipping!
And today, with the snow still hanging around, I going to clean the inside of the mo-ho. Even sitting all winter closed up, it still gets dusty.
And apparently the water I'm getting on the dash of the mo-ho, isn't from the windshield. When the mo-ho was sitting in the driveway, and it rained, there was a puddle near the passenger side. And now that it's parked over on the gravel, the puddle is now more on the drivers side. So I'm thinking it must be coming in from the roof, and running to the front. I've already caulked most of the roof line where the rubber roof meets the edge, so I'm gonna get back up there when it's warm enough and caulk some more. But I must be making some progress. We were getting a number of leaks along the front. I spent last year caulking all along the windshield, and roof line. And now it looks like just one. So wish me luck!

YUCK!

Now this just ain't right! This is April, and I don't want to see this!
Woke up to all this crap! And I know we can get the occasional snow in April, but we've had way too much this year. I'm sooo over it! But at least it'll melt in a couple of days. .....I hope!
So we didn't do much today. Craig did more laundry, and I surfed the net for our next motor home, (I wish!) And did some research for our first mo-ho trip to Columbus Ohio.
My exciting moment of the day was rejuvenating my tennis shoes. Now you know we're pretty boring when I post about shoes, but that's life! Cleaned them up and put new shoe strings on them. Should be good for another year. Here's the shoes with one done and one not. Can you tell the difference?
And to answer my blog comments from my last post.......
Mark....
You really should try college sports. Craig got me hooked on them after we got together. Amazing talent, and not bad to look at either!
Walt...
Buy me a ticket to France, And I'd be hapy to do your garage!
davidz...
no way.
Lemuel......
Sorry Lem, aint gonna happen!

what a mess

Today hasn't been one of the nicest spring days. It's cold and windy.
Spring is coming late this year. Soooooo I decided to clean up the garage. Here is the before and after pics. It took me nearly all day to organize this mess, but it look sooo good now.
Craig did laundry, bookkeeping, and vacuumed. And he is now fixing dinner. Breaded pork cutlets over stuffing and veggies. IT sounds yummy! They are predicting snow this evening. A total of 7 inches! YUK! But this is Michigan!
And with dinner, we'll watch last nights game of Michigan State and UCONN! It was sooo good!

up and down

Saturday was an up and down day. It started as I was going to work. My truck wouldn't start ARG!! So good thing Craig has 2 cars. I took his PT Cruiser. I have something draining my battery. If I don't drive it at least once a week, the battery is too weak to start the truck. So after work, I put the charger on it, and it started right up. I'm thinking the remote starter I had put on it is the culprit.
But the rest of the day went well. A busy day at the salon to cap a busy week. And later we watched our Michigan State Spartans beat UCONN!

It was AWESOME!

Non of the critics gave the Spartans a chance. No big name players. But the Spartans do what they do very well, and I can't wait to see the championship game Monday!

And now I've got to go clean the Salon......

Spaghetti Pizza Caserole

Friday, we were planning on having spaghetti, but Craig found this recipe for a spaghetti pizza casserole. We love pizza, so we thought we'd try it.

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

If you like pizza, and also spaghetti, you'll LOVE this!

So here it is.......

7 ounces spagheti 1/2 cup egg substitute

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound lean ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jar (26 ounces) meatless spaghetti sauce

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 pound sliced mushrooms

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain.

In a large bowl, toss spaghetti with egg substitute and Parmesan cheese. Spread evenly into a 15x10x1 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion, and peppers over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain.

Add garlic, cook one minute longer. Stir in spaghetti sauce and seasonings., and heat through.

Spoon over spaghetti. Top with mushrooms and cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I mean, it really tasted like pizza! And sooo easy!

funny friday

And here is this weeks ff............

I'm not your type.
I'm not inflatable.

A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.

Kinky is using a feather.
Perverted is using the whole chicken.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!
Except that one where you're naked in church.

I want to die while asleep like my grandfather,
not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

Don't sweat the petty things.
Don't pet the sweaty things.

Red meat is not bad for you.
Fuzzy green meat is bad for you.

Have a great weekend!

not spring yet.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but if there's not much going on, then not much to post about. But spring is coming ever so slowly. Though we haven't had all the snow some more southern places have got. But it's been cloudy, rainy, and windy. And I mean a cold wind, but I did bundle up yesterday and did some more clean up in the yard. I also trimmed back some shrubs. And this is our first blooming flowers, Two Dwarf Dutch iris.

They're all of about 4 inches tall, and growing in a rock garden full of grape Hyachinths, and Hens and Chicks. I had lot's of these in several colors, but there's only a few left. Some bulbs tend to wear out after a number of years. I should plant some more, but by time fall gets here, I forget.

And I'm still scooping debris out of the pond. Got a lot of leaves in it this year.

And we've been slowly stocking up on seasonings and condiments for the mo-ho. Like to have it stocked with it's own stuff so we don't need to pack as much stuff for each trip, with the first one coming the end of April. And that's not too far away!

Well, that's all I got for now, so I'm off to work!