Omaha Zoo Trip / Adventure!

Last weekend we made our way to the Zoo at Omaha, NE.  That was our first trip to Nebraska.  We have been slowly crossing off all of our states.  We made our way from Kansas- through Missouri, Iowa- and then to Nebraska.  Well...  We had a hard time on our way.  We got a flat tire in the camper. NOT GOOD!!

Lots of fun on the side of I29 at mile marker 97... not so fun next to the interstate.

I had to call the police to lend me a hand.  The lug wrench didn't bite enough on the lugs to pull the camper tire off.  The trooper lent a hand and we were able to put the spare on.

It was funny how the kids could care less about the flat tire until the state trooper showed up.  Traci took the opportunity for a photo op.  :)

It was easier to change the tire than I expected.  I didn't realize that with a double axle trailer, you can put a large block under the front tire- then pull the trailer up onto the block.  Doing that pulls the flat tire up off the ground- eliminating the need for a jack.
As a result of this- we decided it would be best to replace the tires on the camper with our upcoming trip.  Trailer tires are unpredictable.  Their year of manufacture is one indicator or wear- but you never know how much they have been sitting around- so regular replacement is a good idea.  That will save you a lot of money over the repairs from potential damage from a blowout- especially at high-speeds.  We were fortunate that the blowout didn't do too much.  The tire was shredded and the tire pieces tore up a small piece of aluminum directly behind the tires.

The damaged piece of aluminum..  

The plastic piece up in the wheel well was also cracked.  We are going to figure our repairs in the near future, but it wasn't too bad.
We had reservations at the Offutt AFB family campground through their MWR.  This campsite was great.  Despite our late arrival, the host met us to give us our site number and be sure we were taken care of.  We set up for the night and enjoyed our stay.  The site was $20 for the night and included electricity, water, and sewer hookup at the site.  The site also had free wifi service.  The kids enjoyed that.

Jacob on his iPad mini

 I did my homework that night and scheduled an appointment in the morning for new tires at the Exchange.  We dropped off the camper and then drove to the Omaha Zoo for the day with our friends- the Lamborns for the day.  We had a lot of fun at the zoo!  If you are ever in the area- check it out!

LeAnn and Traci on the Sky-Safari- getting to see the exhibits from above.

LeAnn and Jacob posing for a pic

After we were done at the zoo, we went back to the exchange to pick up the camper.  I'm going to briefly describe what happened.

• They determined that the lug nuts on the camper were bad and needed replaced.
• They replaced them with a larger size of lugs- making it harder to get a lug wrench on it than originally- my issue at the side of the highway.
• I tried to purchase a socket that would work at Sears in Omaha- but they didn't have one.
• I returned to the store the following day (Saturday) to have them put the original sized lugs back on- or find me a wrench that would allow me to change a flat.
• They found me a wrench socket that would work- a 21mm thin wall deep well socket- Sears doesn't carry them.

So- after our late evening after the zoo- and the camper pickup- we decided to meet our friends over at a large Bass Pro Shop to look around and grab some dinner.  It was a lot of fun.  We decided to just spend the night in our camper again a second night- in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot.  That wasn't our first choice, but all of the campgrounds were full for the Memorial day weekend.  We enjoyed out stay and got up in the morning to look around a large Camping World store in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  It was really nice!  Those stores have about everything you can possibly imagine for a camper!

After we resolved the lug issue at the exchange, we were ready to make our way home.  LeAnn had been battling with poinson ivy for the previous week, but her poison was pretty bad- and getting worse.  We stopped at an urgent care clinic to get her some medicine to help make the poison go away.  After that we headed home.

We had a nice time over the weekend.  The flat tire was a pain, but the damage could have been far worse.  If it were on the driver side, that flat would have destroyed the waste-water systems and the water inputs.  I'm glad we were in a location where we were able to get help with the tool I needed to get the tire changed too.  We are one step closer to going on the road full time!

Another great camping expedition... Weston Bend State Park- Missouri

We had another great weekend here in Kansas.  The mushrooms that grow here during the spring are popping up all over on our property.  We have had a lot of fun hunting for them and eating them.  They taste great!  These mushrooms grow in this area and are called Morels- (sp?).  Here are a few pictures of the kids hunting for them.

Huge!

 We had a great Mother's day yesterday.  We went to chapel in the morning.  We treated our kids with cinnamon rolls from Jeni's Breads- for the second to last Sunday School session of the year.  They had roses for all of the Moms on the way into the services.  I'm not sure if one of the kids did this with the flower, or if Stripes wrapped himself around it- but I thought it made a great picture.

Stripes... knocked out during daylight hours... ready for the hunt by night.. 

 After church- we got the camper ready and headed over to Weston Bend State park for the evening.  It is a really nice park!  We cooked steaks over the fire for dinner and had a really nice relaxing evening together.  This is the park we are going to stay in for the last two weeks we are here in the area until school is out.  The park wasn't too busy because we started our camping on Sunday evening.  We were able to get a site with 50Amp service- so all of the systems in the camper worked well.  We hooked up the 22" TV we bought on Saturday at Best Buy- Open Box Deal for $150- couldn't beat it!  The picture is great, and we were able to get in a bunch of HD channels due to the close proximity to Kansas City-- Not that we watched TV much though.

Perhaps the best Hammock Ever made... and some pretty great kids too :)

Here's our Site- #30 at the park.  It was such a beautiful day out... so nice to be out away from the house... and enjoying the great outdoors.  Rhoda was very well behaved as well.

A very happy Mom on Mother's Day... Steak and potatoes cooked on a fire... salad prepared by LeAnn... Life is good!  God is Great!

It is such a great time of year to be out camping.  Everything is starting to turn green!  The bugs aren't too bad yet.  The weather isn't so cool that we have to run the furnace too much in the camper... the fresh air from leaving the windows open for most of the day... It just can't be beat. We are really enjoying our camper a lot.  It has been a learning curve to figure out how all of the systems work on it, but it is going really well.  We haven't had too many issues with the camper at all.

With this trip- we have been camping for every weekend for the past 4 weeks.  We are going to keep the streak going!  These trips have been really helpful rehearsals for our long trip across country.  we have learned a little more each trip about what items we need to have and what items we don't really near for the trip.  It is a different kind of living when you have to consider the amount of space you have.  We still haven't really packed the camper with the clothing we would need for a longer trip.  We are getting pretty good at packing the essentials.  We are about 90% complete on the cooking tools and maintenance tools we would need.  We also have the space in the back of the truck to consider as well. We added a lot of cargo space with the Leer cap we added, but we haven't finalized what we are going to put back there.  For now, more space is good is about as far as we have gotten in the planning.

Well- I pray you are enjoying your Monday!

Independence, Missouri- The home of Harry S. Truman

We had another great camping expedition this weekend.  We left as soon as I was done with class on Friday afternoon for Independence, Missouri.  We had a great time.  We stayed at a small campground there but got to hook up the camper with a full setup of electricity, water, and sewer connection.  The camper worked great!  It was a little bit of a challenge driving through town, but we had a great time.

Independence is a neat town.  All of this time that we have been in Kansas, I was thinking that Independence was just an extension of Kansas City.  It wasn't like that at all.  Independence still maintains a small town feel, despite the close proximity to KC.  We set up the camper on Friday evening and went for a walk with Rhoda around town to check things out.

Cool cardboard animal mounts we saw in a shop called "All about Harry" in Independence.  

Entranced while watching a movie in the camper on the iPad....  Don't they look excited? :)

Probably the happiest camper of them all... look at that smile!  I love that girl!!

They had these funny shirts hanging on the wall at Clinton's Soda Fountain in Independence, MO-  This is the same place that President Harry S. Truman worked in as a kid.  He used to mop the floors and clean the bottles off for $3 a week.  There is a neat handwritten letter on the back wall of this place.  

We got up on Saturday morning and went to the ticket place and took the kids through the home of Harry and Bess Truman at 219 Delaware St.  It was a neat tour.  the park service limits the size of the groups to 8 people or fewer to limit the weight and wear and tear on the home.  It was neat to see how the President rose from modest beginnings and then later returned to those same humble beginnings after the presidency.  They led a modest life in a great small town.  The tour focussed on the greatness of Truman through challenging times post-WWII.  I attempted to explain some of the controversial decisions Truman made during his time in office to Traci and the kids.  When I got done with my story... Elijah said, "Wow, Dad, that was a really long story."  I said, "Yeah, I think I put your Mom to sleep" (Traci was a little sleepy following the tour and packing up the camper.).  Elijah then said, "Yeah, I almost fell asleep too.. are you done now?  I'm going to take a nap."  It was too funny.  I guess my history lesson should have been more exciting or shorter.  Ha.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and prepping for our move.  We went through a lot of our stuff and re-organized things for the packers.  We are packing up in just a few weeks... so time it of the essence...

Yard Sale Camping Adventure... 26-27 April

Well, over the past weekend was the legendary FT Leavenworth Yard Sale "Experience."  I call it an experience, because it is far more than just a sale.  We decided that we had too much stuff going on over the weekend to make numerous trips back and forth between the house and post, so we thought... "Hey... let's camp on post."-- so that's what we did.

We called MWR and the Provost Marshall to see that we were allowed to set up the camper.  We parked across from Infantry Barracks in a parking lot next to the swimming pool for Friday night.  We get all set up and then went to the Chapel to hear a guest speaker.  We had a really nice time.  We heard Richard Blackaby speak on the topic of his newest book, The Seasons of God.  It was really good.  He talked about how we have different cyclical cycles in our lives as believers.  During the Spring time, we experience new beginnings and new growth in our spiritual lives.  In the Summer, we work to cultivate these ministries and produce fruit.  In the fall we harvest the fruits of our spring and summer labor.  At times, we experience winters- when things come to an end.  We use those times to look forward to the opportunities of new springs in our lives- and to reflect on the past seasons.  It was a very good series.  We met for two sessions on Friday night- with a meal and then for two more sessions on Saturday evening with another meal as well. Richard Blackaby is the son of Henry Blackaby- another successful Christian pastor. leader, and author.

After the sessions on Friday night, we spent the night with our kids in the camper on post.  The post yard sale started bright and early the next morning.  We took the kids over to our friends' house to sell some of their treasures in the hopes of striking it rich.  It was a great experience.  People tend to haggle back and forth with kids less than they do with adults.  Our kids parted with all of the stuff we set out to get rid of-- and made a little money on the way.  We donated the stuff that didn't sell- so everyone was happy.  Less stuff to move!

After we got the kids set up selling, Traci and I went to a brunch with a few other friends at the Schmidts' home to spend some more time with Richard Blackaby.  It was a nice time together with friends and in some good conversation with the group.  Following the breakfast, we pulled the camper home and made our way back to the chapel for the last session of the conference.  

I had a little trouble with getting the camper situated at the house.  I pulled a little bit too far off the stone in our driveway backing up the camper.  As a result of the recent rains, I tore up the yard pretty good.. and had to do a large circle through the yard to get the camper parked.  I did a little bit of cleanup this week to the yard and the vehicles- all is fine now.

We continue to really enjoy the camper a lot.  I did not really anticipate the way it has changed our family dynamic.  It is great to look forward to spending time together on the road or just at the house in our camper.  This is one purchase that I spent a great deal of time contemplating.  We went back and forth for about 4 months weighing the pro's and con's of different campers we found for sale locally and on the internet.  I'm very happy with the decision that we have made.  This is one of the few purchases in our married life that I can confidently say everyone is excited about.  The kids have thanked me repeatedly over the past few weeks for buying the camper.  Traci is really excited about it too.  We have spent a lot of time organizing and re-organizing the stuff in the camper to be sure we have what we need in there together.  Everyone has been very excited about it.

More adventures to come--- from a satisfied camper... 

I've been weighing the idea of making some modifications to the camper:

1. I looked at adding a solar panel to the roof to help with recharging the batteries.  The ones available through the local dealer are a bit too much for my taste.  I looked at AMSolar- they have great systems, but no one in the area that installs them.  We might have to stop in Portland on our way to Washington to get one installed.  We will see.  The electrical system on the camper is both DC and AC.  The panel would allow us to use the DC power for lights without being connected to a power source- dry camping- or "Boondocking" out in the woods away from civilization.  We can still do that, but over extended time, we would need a power source.

2. Along the same line, I've been considering adding a power inverter to the camper.  This device converts power from DC to AC power to allow limited use of small AC devices.  It's not enough power to run big appliances- AC, TV, Microwave, but enough to charge a phone or computer if needed.  This part would cost about $600.  It would be convenient- but for now, I'm not convinced that we need it.  Together these devices would help improve our camper, but it would cost a lot... so for now, I think we are going to hold off until it would be more convenient to make the changes.

3. I've been considering adding a bluray player to the camper like the newer models have.  The trouble is the newer models have the HDMI cables routed through the interior of the camper to allow you to keep the player securely inside of a cabinet.  We could make some changes to the provided stereo to make this work, but- again, I'm not sure it is worth it.  Routing an HDMI cable through the camper is a major change- requiring removing a great deal of the equipment in the camper to make it work.  I'm not going to do it.  For now, we can just grab the bluray player from the house and connect it directly to the tv in the camper to make it work.  I'm going to be fine with it- I'm sure Traci and the kids don't care either.  I was just looking into it.

4. I was considering changing the TV from the 17" that is provided to a 22" Samsung that comes standard with the newer models.  This would provide a wide-screen picture that is different than the square display we currently have.  I may still do that, but I'm still thinking about it.  I need to check to see if the new TV sets are only AC or both DC and AC.  The sony TV currently in the camper has a plug in it that says DC on it, but the TV only works when the camper is connected to an AC source.  I'm not sure what the power requirements are for this set.  I'll get it figured out-- but for now we are holding.

Well, it is snowing out here.  We will see what the weather holds for the rest of the week and this weekend....  Good times are on the way.

We are moving out of our place on the 31st of May right now.  We should get some great family time in the camper until we get to Joint Base Lewis McChord.  We are excited about our summer adventures.

Take care!

Steve

Mount Rainier- in our near future!