MULBERRY GROVE, IL. to WHITESTOWN, IN. (FRIDAY, AUG. 21, 2009)

Finally had a day when we didn’t need to drive very far (only about 200 miles), so we took it slow and easy getting ready to leave Mulberry Grove… Really nice to be in such a situation for a change…
Got my water and electricity taken care of, then found, to my dismay, that the storm had done nasty things to my truck’s hard “Rolltop” bedcover, and had also
torn off the bug shield above my right fender…
Can’t tell you why I didn’t notice these things before, but that’s the way it goes, isn’t it?
Anyway, I always close the “lid” when we’re not towing, so, when I tried to open it up this morning, and it didn’t want to budge, I was not very pleased…
Found that, somehow, the wind had mangled the perpendicular “ribs” (that glides in the channels along the length of the bed) so that they had separated from the vinyl top cover and had been driven down under the spring loaded roll inside the box that stores the whole thing…
This clarifies the whole situation for you, I’m sure, so let’s just leave it at that… Except, maybe, I should say that I had a major problem, which ate up way too much of that precious time I mentioned earlier, but with the help of my battery powered screw driver, and a few “HECK-DARNS” I finally got it done…
Nothing I could do about the bug shield…. Just have to get another one, that’s all..
We were on our way about half an hour after anticipated “lift-off,” so that’s not too bad…
Illinois is as flat as any of the surrounding States (at least not along I-70), but it does change a bit the further East you go… And that’s as far as I’m gonna go with my comments on the landscapes around here…. Look for yourself on my pictures on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/Kjell.and.Luanne/MULBERRYGROVEILToWHITESTOWNINFRIDAYAUG212009#
We arrived in Indiana, but didn’t see a Welcome Sign, so we dove in to the first Rest Stop we came to (a mile or so West of Terre Haute), and took a picture, as well as grabbed a bite to eat here.
We soon arrived on the outskirts of Indianapolis, and had a fun time getting on to the 485 beltway, which took us to the Northern boundaries of the City, and then into Whitestown.
Whitestown is very rural with farms and fields of corn and soy beans, and in the middle of all that lies a new subdivision where Stein and Tina has settled into a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood.
Their particular neighborhood encircles a “catch and release” pond with lovely manicured lawns bordering homes and lake alike… Both Lu and I found the place very peaceful and serene, and definitely a great place to raise kids.
Talking about kids:
As we were driving North on the beltway, we called Stein to make sure we were on the right track…
As we’re talking, he says, “I can see you!” We didn’t see him, but he guided us on the right way…
Guess he was going to a meeting in South Indy…
Tina and the kids weren’t home when we arrived (She’d gone to pick them up from school), so we took it easy in the trailer until we heard the yelps from three excited kids…
Gosh! They are right down adorable!
Haven’t seen them in over a year, and it’s amazing how much they’ve spurt up in that time…
Haven’t had so many hugs and kisses in a long time, and Lu and I both ate it up! It’s bloody great to be grandparents!
Both Stein and Tina look happy and healthy, and isn’t that what it’s all about?
I know they know they’re blessed with a great family, and that makes us appreciate their good fortune even more.
And then we come to Santa….
Since these three grandkids weren’t in Washington, and didn’t have the “usual” Christmas stockings at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s last year, we though we’d surprise them with a little gift from Santa in August…
We’ve been picking up things here and there all year, and Lu’s wrapped all of them in 3 different Christmas wraps (so we could keep tab on what belongs to whom)…
Well, we unloaded this big box into three overflowing stockings… Then sat the kids down and told them that Santa had been too busy to make the extra trip to Indiana (last Christmas) so he’d asked Grandma and Grandpa to deliver the goods since we were coming here anyway.
I detected a couple of raised eyebrows at the mention of Santa, but you should’ve seen their little faces when we brought in the stockings…… Oh, man….
Talk about precious!
Talk about noise!
Obviously, it was great for these kids to get these tokens of love, but, let me tell you, it warmed our hearts to no end to see their faces light up as they unwrapped one present after another… What a delightful memory we will have to take with us…
We couldn’t have asked for a happier ending to our first day in Whitestown, Indiana.