August 2011
Illinois

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August
   31   We are working on more projects today.  I know, how many projects can we have?  Well, we try to work on them when we have time and then we don’t worry about them for a long time.  Later in the afternoon we headed back to our old stomping ground to meet up with some good friends.  We met Jim, Reba, Diane, Chris, Matt and Haley at Crossroads Grill for some cocktails, dinner and had time to catch up.  Even though we don’t have a lot of time here, it’s great to see friends when we can.
 

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Friends at Crossroads

   30   This morning there is a chill in the air.  I know it’s still really nice, but were wimps.  John started waxing and buffing out Red.  He spent a lot of time on it and Red really looks good.  I helped a little, but I mostly did miscellaneous stuff.  We had to go to the RV store to pick up the flange for our toilet repair and then stopped for a few groceries.

   29   This morning we relaxed and had coffee outside.  John has a few more projects he wants to finish before we head out on the road.  Today he worked on adjusting the trailer brakes and lubed slideouts.  I emptied a few cabinets and got rid of stuff we don’t use.  Then we took a time out and relaxed outside and did some reading.  Tonight I am trying to get caught up on my journal, pictures and website.

   28   We knew this would happen today.  This is the After Party Party.  Jim, Diane, Mark and Dennis stayed overnight.  We started out with coffee and bagels outside.  Then we moved on to Bloody Marys and music.  People were milling about and soon we had a whole group over by us.  Even Clarabelle came out.  Sam and Jackie had left their tent canopy so we all just moved it over to our campsite.  We ended up having music, cocktails, dancing and of course leftovers from yesterday.  Slowly people had to leave or were done for the day.  Rich was trying to corrupt us to go to the island, but we grounded ourselves.
 

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Day After End of Season Party Party



   27   Today is our End of Season Party at Grass Lake Campground.  We are going to have lots of food, fun, games and cocktails.  Jim, Diane, Mark and Dennis came over.  Jim and Reba also surprised us and showed up.  Kim organized Minute to win it games and John and I got some of the supplies and helped out with the games.  We had 4 teams and played quite a few games.  The winning team #2 got medals and a bottle.  Everyone brought a dish and we had so much great food.  Jim Lund got his speakers and amplifier out and we had lots of good music.  As the alcohol increased, so did the entertainment.  It was a perfect day and lots of fun.
 

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End of Season Party - Grass Lake Campground



   26   We lounged around the campsite this morning and I worked on my horse picks for this afternoon.  On our way to Arlington Park Race Track we stopped to pick up Mark.  We had a big group there today.  Laurie, John, Stacey, Evan, Ada, Yeraldine, Ady, Sergio, Adamarie, Katie, Mark, Cindy.  We ran into an old friend, Andy and talked to him for a while.  We had a big table near the finish line, but we found out that down in the park area, there was a band and 2.00 drafts instead of 6.00 drafts where we were, so we relocated down there.  We had a great time and I think everyone cashed at least one ticket.  Evan and Adamarie were helping John and me with our bets. 
       After the races we dropped Mark off and headed home.  Tomorrow is a big day our End of Season Party.  We got back and the party was going strong over at the Grass Lake Landings Bar.  We decided to head in and start early tomorrow.
 

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Arlington Park Racetrack



   25   We have a busy weekend coming up so we headed out for some major shopping.  Then John and I headed to Hickory Knoll for 9 holes of golf.  It was one of my better games.  Par is 30 and I had a 36, 3 pars and a birdie. 
       After golf we headed home and Sandy, Rich, Paul and Jim were at the campground.  They were heading to Blarneys Island with Jim for the Thursday night Boat Races.  So they corrupted us and we went too.  Mark and Cindy were there and of course Huddy and Susie.  We got to see a lot of the boats and Huddy’s safety boat had to tow one in.  Jim had to work early so he left early and we all headed back with Mark and Cindy.
 

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Blarneys Island Thurday Night Boat Races



   24   This morning we got some dusting and vacuuming done, then just relaxed outside and did some reading.

   23   We had coffee outside for a while then we were pushed inside because of some rain shower moving through.  The rain moved through and it turned out to be a nice day.  We did a lot of reading and just lounged around the cow.

   22   Today is our catch up and more spring cleaning day.  We took all the screens out of the cow, washed them and the windows.  Did a little grocery shopping and then some reading.

   21   After a laid back morning Jim and Diane came over and we headed out with Steve, Ida and Maddie on their houseboat to Freddie’s Roadhouse for lunch.  It’s a perfect summer day.  Sunny with a slight breeze and around 80 degrees.  After lunch we headed on over to Blarneys Island.  We met up with a bunch of people from the campground and met a lot of new friends.  Mr. Myers Band, Todd Donnelly is playing there today.  Mr. Myers is a Trop Rock Band and will be playing at the street fest for Meeting of the Minds down in Key West Florida in November.  We have seen Todd at lots of venues and always have a great time.  After the island party, we boarded Steve and Ida’s boat and headed back to our campground. 
       Tonight is the last night for Grass Lake Landings Bar and Grill.  Judy is retiring and leasing the bar out.  We tried to corrupt Jim and Diane to stay longer or overnight and head to the bar with us, but they were good.  So a bunch of us headed over to the Landings for a last time toast.  Now it was time to ground ourselves.
 

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Blarneys Island for Mr Myers



   20   This morning we had some strong storms move through.  But they got in and got out quickly and the day turned out great.  We headed over to Stacey and Ed’s house to celebrate our great nephew, Evan’s 2 year birthday.  There was quite a turnout, even Elmo showed up, and we had a great time.  When we got back to the campground, people were at the fire by Heidi and Marks, so we stopped for a little while and then headed in.
 

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Evans 2 year B'Day Party



   19   This morning we headed out to Granny’s for breakfast.  We were going to hit some balls at the Antioch Golf Course driving range, but when we got there found out they closed it down a couple years ago.  Oh well.  We got back to the campground and I cut Johns hair then we caught up on some computer stuff.  We headed over to Hickory Knoll Golf Course for 9 holes.  Afterwards we stopped at the PMO Club for a couple drinks.  Our buddy “Jack Miller the Thriller from Lake Villa” and his wife Dana was there.  After a few cocktails we headed back to the campground and it was a beautiful evening and lots of people were out and about. 
 

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PMO Club with "Jack Miller the Thriller from Lake Villa"



   18   John continued on his poly waxing of the cow, I did some miscellaneous stuff and then later in the day we headed over to the Port of Blarney with Corvette Mike.  Our old neighbor, Carol, now has her trailer at the port.  So we met her for some cocktails and to catch up.

   17   John is still poly waxing the cow.  So I headed to get the laundry done.  Later we were talking to our neighbor Sandy about Dairy Queen Blizzards.  So we ended up driving to DQ and enjoying a blizzard. 

   16   Today is run around day.  We took Red in for some regular maintenance and have the display module replaced.  Then we headed over to have John sized for his tuxedo for Katie’s wedding.  We stopped at Walmart for some groceries and truck supplies, then back to the cow.  John replaced all the fluids in Red and I caught up on some reading.

   15   Sharon came up to visit us today.  We had a great time.  After hanging around the cow, we borrowed Sandy and Rich’s golf cart and took a ride through the park and out to the pond.  Then we headed to the beach at our pond and took in some sunshine, listened to music and cooled off with a swim.  We came back to the cow and started making lunch.  Judy P and Sandy stopped by so we all chatted for a while.  Then we enjoyed a nice lunch before Sharon had to head home.  Were really glad she was able to come up.
 

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   14   We had a nice easy morning around the cow.  It’s a little overcast but perfect temperature day.  We ended up getting kidnapped of our own free will by Steve, Ida and Mattie on their houseboat.  Sandy, Rich, Carl and Heidi also got kidnapped.  We all headed out on the chain to Freddie’s Roadhouse for lunch and cocktails.  Paul and Chris met us their.  After lunch we headed back on the chain and Blarney’s Island called to us as we passed it.  So we stopped.  As we were docking, John was helping by reaching for the dock and over and into the lake he went.  He was ok, but wet and muddy and lost his glasses but did end up finding them.  Steve had an extra T-Shirt and a few people on the island saw the nosedive.  We all had a good time on the island and Paul and John did a dance together.  You can check in out on our youtube videos.  On our way back to the campground, the sun was setting and it was beautiful.  Another great day!!
 

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Blarneys Island



   13   This morning we had coffee over at Mark and Heidi’s.  We had some big storms move in so everyone scattered.  The rain let up a little and we headed out to Sharon and Gary’s for a cookout.  Family and their neighbors Cindy and John and Roman were over.  We had a few showers off and on but we had set up a tent so we were able to hang out outside.
 

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Sharon and Garys Party



   12   John continued to poly wax the cow and I wanted to finish my book.  We headed out to Hickory Knoll Golf Course to meet Mark and golf 9 holes around 2pm.  Afterwards we were ready for a couple cocktails so we headed to the PMO Club.  Jack Miller the thriller from Lake Villa was there again.  We started talking about sushi and got hungry, so we called Jim and Diane and then John and I met them up at the Mongolian Buffett and Sushi Restaurant.  We got the all you can eat specials and it was great.  We highly recommend this place.  When we got back to the campground we grounded ourselves.  Were glad we did, Rich and Paul went out with Steve and Ida on the houseboat until 3am.

   11  John got up early and got started poly waxing the cow.  I needed to go shopping to get an outfit for Katie and Kirks wedding coming up.  Rich and Paul wanted to go to Blarneys Island for the boat races tonight.  We have never been to the boat races at the island so off the four of us went.  We took the shuttle from the Port of Blarney.  Our neighbors, Terri and Bill Gates were also on the shuttle.  Huddy works safety for the races so we saw him and Suzie there after the races were over.  The DJ started and we had way too much fun.
 

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Blarney Island Boat Races



   10   Today was a lazy day around the cow.  Later in the afternoon we headed out to visit Katie and Kirk at their new home.  We had some chili and wine and had a nice evening.

   9   We took care of some domestic stuff, then relaxed outside and did some reading.

   8   Nice relaxing day.  We had coffee outside.  Had to get caught up on some domestic stuff.  Then we enjoyed some reading outside.

   7   John and I stayed over at Jim and Di’s.  Today is Diane’s 60th B’day so we got up and decorated to surprise her.  Jim set up a surprise party today and she is totally unaware.  We had some coffee and baileys, she opened a couple gifts and then we relaxed outside.  Soon, her sister Chris and husband Dave showed up, then Dennis, Mark, Terri and Bruce.  Some showers moved through so we moved inside.  We had pizzas later and of course cake and ice cream. 
 

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Diane B'day Party



   6   We hung out at the campground until around 3pm then left for Jim and Diane’s.  Our friend Bruce is having a 50’th B’Day party for himself and the four of us are heading over there.  We met lots of his family and friends, some we’ve met a long time ago.  Bruce has a little jam studio set up in his basement.  So after the sun set we all headed downstairs.  He has a great sound system, microphones, amps, guitars, electronic drums, cowbells and I came with my harmonica.  Most everyone got up at one time or another and sang played air guitar or something.  We had a great time and around midnight headed back to Jim and Diane’s.
 

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Bruces 50th B'Day Party



   5   Today we are both doing much better.  We headed out to take of some domestic stuff we’ve been putting off all week.  We got back and decided we needed some vitamin D, so we headed to the beach at our pond.  After some sun rejuvenation, we took a walk around the campground and stopped at the Landings Bar.  VO and Big Jim were in there and then Paul and Mike stopped in.  We chatted for a while, had a couple beers then headed out.  It’s Friday and the weekend warriors are headed up.  We ended up having a Margarita Party at our campsite. 

   4   Ok, this morning is better.  John seems better too.  Were both doing much better, still not 100% but getting there.  We went to pick up a few supplies and then we were both done again. 

   3   I’m still fighting the flu bug and I have now passed it on to John.  So both of us were grounded today.  Hopefully I’ll start feeling better soon and John won’t get it as bad as I did.

   2   I’m still fighting the flu bug and John worked on more projects today and did some reading. 

   1  This morning started off nice with coffee outside, and then I got hit hard with the flu bug.  John worked on the roof and other maintenance projects and I fought the bug.

 

 
       

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