Friday was a nice day. Evelyn went to some friends to help set up for a garage sale. All went well and it was successful. I worked in the coach and just enjoyed the day. Saturday it was supposed to rain but it was nice until late afternoon when storm clouds moved in with lots of rain, wind and hail. The wind and hail was south of is, however, we could see the dark clouds and lightning. There was reported over 300 lightning strikes in a 15 minute period. We listened to the National Weather service amateur radio frequency. This is where amateur radio operators report weather conditions to the weather service. They are trained weather spotters and there is a net for each county. One person in each county reports to the weather service the reports he gets from the spotters. The storms passed through and when I went to bed about 11pm the moon was out and the sky was clear.
Sunday, we went to church as usual, enjoyed a nice service as well as Sunday School session. I watched the nascar race and some golf in the afternoon between naps, so it was a very restful afternoon.

Not a lot going on Wednesday. It stormed during the night and we had quite a lot of rain. It was cloudy this morning, but no rain all day. There are supposed to be storms moving in this evening with rain and showers tomorrow. But things can change in Indiana every hour or so. We did sort through our clothes, putting the winter things away and getting out some of the lighter summer stuff. Hopefully we are through with the cold weather in this area. We will be staying close here until the 9th when we will head south to Nashville, TN.

We had some showers Sunday night but about enough to settle the dust. The guys were out early on Monday rolling up the electrical wiring that supplied all of the rv's on the grounds. They also took up the water hoses and were putting them back into the storage barn where they belonged. People were lining up at the dump stations getting ready to leave the area. We needed lp gas so we went to the Flying J the next exit north and there were several units there getting fuel and dumping their holding tanks.
We got away about 10:30 and got home a little before noon. We needed to stop and unhook the van before we got back to our parking spot as we had to back in and there was no place to park long enough to unhook. The roads were wet and it was raining lightly, just enough to really make a mess of the motor home and the van. It had quit raining by the time we got to Noblesville, but the mess had already been made. I did get to see the Coca-Cola 600 race that was rained out on Sunday and finally rained out again, but it was more than half way, so they called it a race.
Today we did a few things outside. I serviced the outside of the tires with a special tire treatment and then cleaned the wheel simulators. Put on the wheel covers to protect the tires from the sun, went to the bank. We found that gas had jumped .35 a gallon so we went to Sams Club where it was still $2.30.9 rather than $2.65.9. The van was quite low and so it was a worthwhile trip, a savings of over $7.00 on the fill up. We sorted through some of the outside storage and arranged a few things to make a bit more room. It seems as though there is never enough room, or maybe we just have too much stuff. There are several things we are taking to the rally that we will not have to carry after that. Then we will have to rearrange things again. Seems it never ends.

Sunday started as a very nice day with talk of showers, but we did not see any, just a few clouds and some sun. The Good Sam Rally is winding down with only some last minute things to do. They awarded the remainder of the door prizes, did some housecleaning chores and discussed the order of dump station usage and the exit of the fairgrounds.
The evening entertainment was "Classic Fun". Two guys that sang and played instruments and had some humor. They interacted with the audience quite well and all seemed to enjoy it.
We had a mishap during the show. As they were playing :]"On The Road Again" the theme song of the rally, some of the audience got up and were parading around the room when a lady tripped and hit her head on the concrete floor. She was conscious when the ambulance arrived and they took her to the hospital for x-rays. This put a damper on the show and they ask if they should continue with the show or not and the audience wanted them to continue. All in all, a nice show with a lot of interaction and patriotic songs but just a little subdued due to the accident.
We have enjoyed the rally, being our first Good Sam Rally, and may attend others as we have the opportunity.
It is off tomorrow morning for Fishers for a few days.

A little hard getting up this morning. Not getting to bed before 11pm a few days in a row makes one a bit short on sleep. Went to the pancake breakfast and then to our booth in the commercial building. Not a lot going on in there, too many seminars and other activities going on at the same time. We will only be open for 3 hours tomorrow. Then there will be a prize drawing for the remainder of the prizes and then another show tomorrow evening.
The entertainment tonight was Bob Plunkert and the his band. I did not catch the town they were from, but they are from the east coast. A little different band with a pedal steel guitar, base guitar, fiddle and a drummer. The fiddle player also played the mandolin, the base guitarist, Bob Plunkert, also played the banjo. Bob, the drummer and the fiddle player did the vocals. A very good show with lots of the older C&W tunes from several eras. Several of the audience got up and danced to some of the songs. There was a lot of interaction with the audience and the band which made for a very entertaining evening. They played for at least one and a half hours, maybe more. A very enjoyable group. It seems that every group is a little better than the last one. Tomorrow will be interesting as they will have a long way to go to top this evenings performance.
I talked with a lady at breakfast and she said after the show last evening, they had some pop corn in the hospitality room and got together with some friends and played euchre until 1am. She had to give a seminar today and she really did not look up to it. I hope it went well for her as she surely looked tired.
One more day and then we will be heading back to Fishers, IN for a few days of R&R.

Another nice day in Lebanon Indiana at the Good Sam Samboree. Up early so we could open up at 9am. Not a lot going on inside the commercial building. I was out and checking on things and I found the guys cooking ham and beans for the evening meal. They had soaked 150 pounds of beans overnight and put in 80 pounds of ham in 3 large cast iron kettles. Just like the ones we used to render lard back on the farm when we butchered hogs, generally over Thanksgiving. The beans were to be ready about 4:30 but they announced at 4pm that they were ready and we could go for ham and beans. We were relatively early in the serving line and they had all the fixins, onions, catsup, hot sauce and pickles along with crackers. They were cooked without any salt and they were certainly bland. Had to add a considerable amount of salt to make them tasty. Later, at 6:30 we gathered in the auditorium for the opening ceremonies followed by a singing group. They were called the Larkins from Nashville, TN. A father, mother and 3 daughters. Hard to tell their ages, the two younger girls looked to be in their twenties, but they said that they had been performing for 18 years and their first show was at Eagle Park in Indianapolis. Mother looked about 40ish, but may have been older, who can tell with all the makup they use. Dad played the rhythm guitar. mother played the keyboard and banjo, the oldest daughter played the base guitar, the middle daughter played a mean fiddle and the youngest played the mandolin quite well. The two younger girls and dad made up the vocal portion of the group. They did a very good show with mostly non stop music for over an hour. We had a drawing for door prizes and others were going to play bingo and have pop corn. We decided to call it a night and returned to the coach about 9pm. Need to get some rest for tomorrow, a $1.00 Pancake breakfast at 7-9am.

A beautiful week so far. We have been busy getting the motor home ready to hit the road. Today, Thursday, we are at the Good Sam Samboree in Lebanon, IN. There are 246 units here so far. Should be more tomorrow. A very nice friendly group. We had hot dogs for supper and then went to the auditorium for introductions as well as entertainment. The entertainment tonight was a local, central Indiana, group called the Minister Quartet. They are a gospel group and can really sing. They sang several old hymns as well as some newer compositions. A great evenings entertainment.
We are set up in the main building with several other vendors. There is another engraver(badgemaker) here so I am not engraving, but selling the Quik-Chek meters and a "Vial of Life" kit that includes everything to save all of your important information and secure it to a shelf in your refrigerator and a plate on the outside stating "Vial of Life Inside". We are mainly here just enjoy the rally and see what all is going on. They have a full lineup of things to do all day long, often more than one in a given time slot, so you have to decide what you want to do or where you want to go. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a Ham N Bean supper which should be quite good. I am not supposed to eat beans, but I am sure a couple of bowls will not hurt, just one time, maybe.

Not a lot going on Tuesday, I did get a hair cut and we distributed some fliers to some apartment complexes locally. Wednesday it rained most of the day. Thursday, we went to Daytimer's, a lunch group at Church. A very nice meal and a chance to see many we had not seen since last fall. It was nice to see them again and visit a bit with as many as possible. Friday we went to Greenwood to meet with Evelyn's sister in law for lunch at Johnathan Byrds Cafeteria. Some more very good food and fellowship. Today, we spent some time finalizing the HTC Rally in June. We need to do some things on Monday to make sure things are in order. We contacted our entertainment a day or so ago and we are on their schedule, so that is covered. Just tying up the loose ends. Hopefully all will go well. Tomorrow, we will be going to Church and enjoying a day of rest. Not supposed to rain so should be an enjoyable day.

Wednesday evening we attended the first Fish Fry of the season at the Fishers United Methodist Church. Good fish and good fellowship with out friends. Thursday and Friday, things had not been very busy until Saturday. We went to a local cafeteria and met with the Castleton Alumni association. This was a gathering of all of those that attended the Castleton school, which was at one time a 1-12 grades and later 1-8. There were about 10 that graduated from high school up until about 1941. After that it was only a grade school. At that time the gym, in the basement, was converted into a dining room. I do not know where they ate before that. There were probably 40 in attendance, many of them are quite old and not getting around very well. I did learn that one of out teachers was still living in a local assisted care facility and was 101 on her last birthday. I saw people I had not seen since 1948. It was a real treat to see and talk with them and what they had been doing over the past 60 years or so. Some are shirt tail cousins that I had not seen for many years as well. Their children and ours went to school together in the Fishers, IN area.
I attended Castleton from 1942 until l948 when I contracted Polio. I then went to Indianapolis to the James E. Roberts school, which was the only accessible school in the area. I graduated from Shortridge High School in 1955. Evelyn, my sister attended Castleton from 1942 until she went to the new Lawrence Central High School in l947 and graduated in 1951.
We had acquired an old photo of a class and we learned that one of those in attendance recognized them as the class of 1919. She had been in contact with one of the students in the photo and she had a record of all of the names in the photo. How remarkable for someone to have obtained all of the names and were able to get them together with the photo. We will see that it gets into the proper hands for safe keeping.
Sunday, the day of rest, found us in Church and Sunday school with another good sermon and class session. We relaxed and watch golf most of the afternoon.
Today, we really did not have anything planned, other than making a call to have the van front end checked out and see what it needed. When I called they said, bring it on in and we will look at it. Well by noon, it was finished and several $$$ poorer, I was on my way back to the coach. When I arrived, Dennis was here changing the oil on the motor home and servicing it. We later changed the idler pulley and tensioner on the van. Later we went to the post office, bank, grocery and the phone store to get a new charger for my cel phone. All in all, it was a very productive day. Not sure what is planned for tomorrow, but it seems that there is always something that will need to be done.

The last few days have been relatively uneventful. It rained several days however the last couple have been quite nice, sunny and warm. This afternoon late it clouded up and they are predicting rain by tomorrow afternoon and evening. You might know, I have another Dr. appointment and then to a Fish Fry at a local church tomorrow evening. Hopefully it will not get too bad before we get back home.
I have some work to get done on the van before we hit the road again. The front end needs to be aligned and I suspect it will need ball joints as it has almost 135k miles on it and they have never been replaced. There is a noise in the front of the engine that sounds like a bearing, possibly the idler pulley or the tensioner pulley, or the alternator. Will just have to get them checked out and replace what is needed. As the van is towed more than it is driven, the wear occurs in different areas, so you have to be aware of a lot of things, like the brakes, that are used for both towing and driving. However the van is doing quite well and I expect to get several more years and miles out of it. Hopefully repairs will only be minor, no problems with the engine or transmission as they are costly to repair.
We are looking forward to attending the Good Sam rally in Lebanon, IN over the Memorial Day weekend and then it will not be long before we leave for the HTC rally in Pigeon Forge, TN. We will work the hamfest in Knoxville, TN just before the rally.