The Lost Has Been Restored

We did some running around yesterday to find parts to finish the repairs on the Whale and then we went to Betty's to mow grass.  She has a ride on mower that was in a shed, battery dead and tires all flat.  Craig worked on it and got it running for her.  This is Betty on her restored mower.  We'll see if the tires still have air this morning.

New TV, Microwave (did I mention that we also blew the antennae?), are all installed and working.  Thank you, Lord!!!

Craig had to make some modifications to get this one into the old cabinet space.  It's a nice unit.  I didn't much like the old one, so this upgrade will make my life easier.

This is the new TV mounted and working.  We are trying one that is a bit smaller, but it's a Smart TV, so if we ever get to a good internet connection, we can see if that works.  We used to use a ROKU box for Hulu.  Not sure if that will still work with a Smart TV.  Does anyone know?

Now that the Air Conditioner is working, just look at these temps.  I had to put on my long pants this morning.  The humidity has still been a bit hard to get used to.  I haven't had to use much body lotion since we left Denver.

All this stuff is exactly that... stuff.  I have been reminded through all of this of how Jesus is able to take us when we have messed up and are broken and give us a new heart and a new Spirit and totally restore us into a new everlasting life.  What a mighty God!!  He didn't just buy us the things that we need, but he gave up His life that we might have a new one.  How can you ever thank Him enough?

Jesus is my Lord, my Master and Savior!

Let Him restore you in every way today......

Hickory Shores Resort

We spent a day shampooing carpets for Betty as she continues to prepare her home to sell.

Betty's Bath... it's huge.

Master Bedroom... huge, too.

Front Room, big!

We had an electrician come to put a 30 amp plug in so we could run our air conditioner.  We were only plugged into regular household 110 and it won't run our air without blowing the circuit.  The guy came, and put in the plug, Craig plugged in and there was a puff of smoke from our "brain center" (the power converter).  The problem was miss-communication.  The electrician installs heating and air conditioning for homes that use 220 and he didn't realize that RV's only need 110.  So, lots of power for a short time until the POOF.   That center makes the switch between 110/12 volts.  We had gone without air for the whole week. That power surge caused some issues that I won't go into detail on.  Let's just say that it looked like this and so we had to have a new one installed.

The wires on the top left were a bit scorched and the two tubes on the bottom left had tops to them at one time. This made us sad.

We drove to Mid Town RV Center in Bluff City, IL... just down the road from Vandalia (which during Abe Lincolns' days was the State Capital)




Just a little Historical sidebar for those who get bored with our otherwise dull life.............

The guys at the RV Repair Shop did a great job of putting in a new unit, checking out all of the electricity and not overcharging us.  Thank you, Lord!!!  It was probably time for a new center since this one was from 1998, so, we aren't complaining too much.

So, when we went to pick it up, they had it plugged into power and the air was running!!!!  We were concerned that the Air Conditioning Unit was fried, too.  We were happy that it wasn't.  Perfect timing since it cooled off yesterday and it was in the 50's last night.  We had to laugh, but are so glad that there wasn't any further damage. We did have to replace one TV, the microwave and my Bose radio is now dead, so we'll have to find someone who can look to see if it can be fixed.

It was an exciting few days.We have moved to a campground and got a great deal with our Passport America Membership.  We are still helping our friend Betty and we are just around the corner from her properties, but because of the electrical issues, we decided not to risk anything else.

Here's what our spot looks like.

This is our new view

So, the whale got a face lift and things are going in the right direction once again.  The internet connection at the Hickory Shores Resort isn't very good, so I'm sitting in Betty's kitchen and using her new WiFi.  Craig is mowing lawns and I'm making dinner in the Whale tonight since Betty cooked for us last night.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.  Love to you all!!

Betty's Place in Keyesport, IL

 We have been helping Betty out with her cabins, motel and home in Keyesport, IL on Carlyle Lake this week.  We have had some successes and some failures in the work we have done.  Here's what her home looks like. She wants to sell this property because it's too much for her to care for.  Anyone looking for a place?

Front of the house

Breeze porch

Fish Cleaning House with Air Conditioning

Back of the house view

Gazebo with Hot tub

We have worked at power washing the house and cleaning up the yard a bit and she has this HUGE hot tub that had a leaking pump.  So, Craig took it apart to see what's happening.

Craig working his tongue trying to get it loose.

So two pieces had to come apart to fix it.  It's still a work in progress.

We had a 30amp circuit put in for us where we are parked.  Craig plugged in and we had a bit of an issue.  That's still a work in progress, too.

Our internet has bit pretty slow, so today I'm at Betty's house after I installed a new modem with wireless that came to her house a yesterday for some reason.  Thank you, Lord.

I put some pork chops on in the crock pot today and we brought them to Betty's to eat tonight.  That's what we are going to do now.

I'll pray for you if you pray for me.  "Pray one for another that you may be healed".

Keyesport, IL

We drove 250 miles at the beginning of this week and we are now on Carlyle Lake and staying in a spot at Keyesport, IL.  We had reconnected with my High School friend, Betty.  I hadn't spoken with her in several years and many things had happened in that span of time.

We drove through Kankakee and River looked pretty high for August.

Kankakee River

We stopped to fill up the Whale and the Tail
I guess you could call this, "Double Pumping"

Double Pumping

We also filled up the propane tank during this stop

The Whale in it's new spot.
It's pretty hot and humid here and we need to find a way to get a 30amp service so we can run our air conditioning.

Betty lost her youngest of two sons two years ago and just this past May, her husband to cancer.  They had purchased businesses here near the lake.  They own a piece of land with 6 cabins.

Cabins one block from the lake.

Picnic area behind the cabins and our view from our RV

This is Betty in the pub part of the restaurant that she and her husband built.  She wants to turn this into a pizza and ice cream shop and make it more family friendly.  It's really a nice place, but it's currently closed because she just couldn't handle everything.

 

The outside of the restaurant

 

Inside of the Pizza Parlor

 

Kitchen

Marina that is just a couple blocks away

Motel is right next to the restaurant

Please pray that we can be a blessing to Betty and help with trying to move forward with her life and make good decisions as she decides what to do with the properties.

We spent our first day here finding a way to get our "S---" to run downhill into the septic tank because the pipe was nearly higher than outlet. Then we replaced a lock on another property they have as an investment and then mowed and did weed eating on another lot across the street from the home that she owns about a mile from the cabins.

Betty has a list of things that she has not been able to do, so we will tackle a few of those today.  Too bad that we have NO restaurant experience.  She does, but only wants to own and manage it and not spend all of her time there.

Thanks again to all of the Hoffman Clan for a great time at the reunion.  What a blessing to have so many of us together once again and thanks to Joey and Susan for all of the work in preparing and hosting us.

Spouting off.................

Effingham, Illinois is where we are for the night.  This is only our second time staying in a parking lot, but we needed to pick up a few things and we planned to sleep, sleep, sleep tonight and let our bodies recover from over a month in Indiana.

What a wonderful time of seeing people and we were even glad to help out in a few places.  Thanks everyone for the wonderful hospitality and I found myself saying, "These are my people".  No one made fun of my accent (at least not to my face) and it was great to see so many old friends and family members.

I've already posted on Facebook a new album I made about the Hoffman Family Reunion we attended yesterday.  I have lots of family and mom's side has a bunch.  Here's a picture with just about 1/2 of my first cousins.  I need to recount, but at one time there were about 48 of us.

It was hard on my mom and on the Utah, Don Hoffman Family who were not able to join us.  We all thought of them and dearly missed them.

Kathy, Craig, Todd (son) with his fiance, Marie.  Jeff (son) and his wife, Rachel and kids.... Kristen, Kara & Ty. We had all of our family together except for Todd's Haley and Tana's 6.  They just got back from a trip to Mexico and were all out of vacation time.

So, we are on our way to Keyesport, IL. to help my High School buddy with some things.  She owns a couple of businesses on Carlyle Lake and just needs some help since her husband passed away in May.  We really had no plan past Indiana, but the Lord opened this door pretty wide and we felt this is what we would do.... we aren't sure for how long.

Thank you, thank you... to everyone who fed us, fellowshipped with us, encouraged us, kept us and let us use their showers, pet their dogs and talk their legs off.

Love and blessings My People.

Valentine's Day in August

We had another great day getting together with good friends midday on Sat.  We hadn't seen ALL of the Valentine Clan together and never with all of the grandkids.  Jim cooked up some amazing burgers and there was so much good stuff to eat that Marie and the girls put together!!! It was a nearly perfect weather day on top of every thing else!

After this time with friends, we went to my cousin, Joey's who is hosting the weekend Hoffman Family Reunion.  It was such a nice evening and I would love to post all the pictures, but I can only get a few to transfer because I'm still not in too great of an internet area.

Family reunion coming soon.

Raining and Relatives

It's been tough with my internet connection that past couple of days.  I think it's been the cloudy, rainy weather, but who really knows.  For some reason, I was awake at 3am and I tried my best to get more sleep, but I just couldn't do it.  So, I thought I would try an early morning post.  I just could not get my phone to email my pictures yesterday, but they were here this morning.

This weekend is our big Hoffman reunion.  My mother comes from a huge family and they gather yearly.  It's been several years since we were here for one. The weather is supposed to be clear and cool, so I am holding the weatherman to that.

We have a big group of family coming in from Florida and they came out to visit the farm today.  It's always so wonderful to see these faces!!

Aunt Rosie with her daughter, Jan who is here from Arizona.  Jan has horses and just wanted to see the place where we have been staying.

Florida Folks.. mainly cousins... there are about 49 of us that are first cousins.  I'm not sure how many will be here for the reunion.

We will have a lot of fun and time together over the next couple of days.

After this visit, Craig and I drove to Lowell to meet up with my High School friend, Betty.  We will be wrapping up our stay in Indiana and heading down to southern Illinois to help Betty with her business for awhile.

John and Judy have let us stay here for 3 weeks and it has been wonderful.  They brought home their big horse, WD and John was letting us get a good look at him.

Judy fixed a wonderful shrimp boil for us last night and we ate GOOD!!!

So, today will be moving the Whale to our son's house, meeting the Valentine family who will all be gathering midday today and then pizza and bonfire time with family this evening.

It's a bit foggy out now, but I'm holding the weather guys to a gorgeous day here in Indiana.