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Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Palms Theatre in Muscatine, Iowa

Eric and I want to see the movie, Man of Steel.  

We were headed to Moscow, Iowa, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere in eastern Iowa.  An internet search showed there's a movie theater about 15 miles south of where we will be.

Eric and I are tired of :rebooting the Verizon USB Modem.  He decided that it's time to buy a Verizon Jetpack Mifi MHS291L.

There's a Verizon Store in Muscatine.  We'll leave early and stop at the Verizon Store.
After parking the motorhome, I unhitched the Jeep and we headed south to Muscatine.


The Palms Theatre is a newly built,
15 theater movie complex.

Man of Steel was awesome!  Director Zack Snyder found a new way to tell the Superman story that is very engaging.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Shopping for a Verizon Mifi at the Verizon Store in Muscatine, Iowa




Eric is at the Verizon Store 
in Muscatine, Iowa to buy

We are eligible to upgrade our
USB Modem & will receive
a discount on the full price
on this new device.









Paul, the Verizon Representative,
 went over the features of the




I saw a Fareway Store earlier and asked Paul about it.  He recommended we go to HY-Vee. Paul told me that the store has everything and it's where he and his wife shop.

Our next stop is The Palms Theater, to see Man of Steel.   We'll stop at a HY-Vee, if we see one on the way back to the motorhome.

Receiving the New Verizon USB Modem









Mail was waiting for us when
 we arrived in Moscow, Iowa.

We got our replacement
Verizon USB Modem.






Well, internet connection remains glitchy.  We spent the day rebooting the modem.  Eric's had enough of this.  He's looking at the Verizon MiFi.




Now we need to find a Verizon Store.  There is one 14 miles south of Moscow, in Muscatine, Iowa. We found a movie theater in that city and are planning to see The Man of Steel this afternoon.  Let's leave early and pick up the Mifi.  

Friday, June 28, 2013

The Old Joliet Prison in Joliet, Illinois





One of the great things about
plotting a drive is finding places
to visit... The Old Joliet Prison,
in Joliet, Illinois.



I became acquainted with 
this prison when I watched





"Joliet" Jake Blues was
released from this prison.








Then, mayhem and hilarity ensued.  A great film!

That's the Third Intersection Without Working Traffic Lights in Merrillville, Indiana: I'm Emailing the Indiana Department of Transportation







Traffic on Route 30 slowed WAY
down around 2 pm in Merrillville, Indiana.
We went through one, two, three
intersections with non working traffic lights.

There were no police directing traffic,
as is common in New York, so I thought
the traffic light outages had just occurred.




It's time to contact Indiana Department of Transportation to report this.  


Eric worked for the Department of Transportation in New York, so I know to contact DOT when I'm on a state road and there's a problem.



Here's the reply from Indiana Department of Transportation.

Found: A Safe Place to Park Overnight in Archbold, Ohio

Eric continued to search OvernightRVParking.com for a safe place for us to park for the night.  To the west of us, in Archbold, is a ShopKo Hometown store.  I called and and spoke with Stephanie, the Manager, and she us gave permission to spend the night in the store's parking lot.

We got to ShopKo Hometown at 8:52 pm,  just before it closed.
I thanked Stephanie for giving us permission to park for the night.  

I'm glad Eric and I are able to use this database to find safe places to park for the night.  We don't worry about being woken up late at night and being told to move or paying a ticket for parking illegally.  

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Looking For a Safe Place to Spend the Night in Western Ohio

Eric checked the OvernightRVParking.com website. Walmart in
Napoleon, Ohio has a green status - overnight parking is allowed.  
We'll stay here tonight.  

We pulled into Walmart at 8:30 pm.  Eric waited for me in the parking lot while I went to the Customer Service Desk and to ask permission to stay the night at the edge of their parking lot.  I was told that the store had changed it's policy and no longer allows overnight parking.

Eric pulled up the database and Lowe's, just down the street,
 has a green status... Overnight parking is allowed.  

I called Lowe's and was told that they no longer allow overnight parking.  It's 8:30 at night and we need a safe place to stay, where we will not be woken and told to leave, or worse, get a ticket for parking illegally.

Lesson learned:  I need to call possible overnight parking sites earlier in the day to ask permission to park overnight.  Searching for a place to park at dusk is not optimal.

Eric will  provide updates on these two specific locations using the Update This Location Button on the database at www.OvernightRVParking.com.  The updates can wait until tomorrow.

The ZIPPO/Case Museum in Bradford, Pennsylvania

Our son, Adam, was given a ZIPPO lighter by his grandmother.  The striker was frozen.  Eric read at the ZIPPO website that the company's policy is to fix broken lighters.  Adam gave us the lighter to take to ZIPPO and have it repaired.

We were expecting to visit ZIPPO on our way south in the fall.  While on our way to Ohio, Eric saw a sign for the ZIPPO/Case Museum.  Our plans had changed.  We detoured to Bradford, Pennsylvania to visit the museum and have Adam's lighter repaired.











Welcome to the world of
ZIPPO Lighters.








This flag is made
of ZIPPO lighters.














ZIPPO's salute
to Canada.
















ZIPPO's contribution
to World War II.












The Case brothers started
W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery
in 1899.















Watch your hand, Eric!

















Adam's lighter went 
in for repair.















Adam's lighter is fixed
& working well.















We bought a lighter to
commemorate our visit.






The ZIPPO/Case Museum is worth the trip.  I'm glad Adam had a lighter that needed repair.  

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

This Post Is For You, Adam, Or Making Connections While On A Walk

It's funny how a walk can remind you of characters in cartoon shows.








Towle Family Chiropractic
reminded me of Towelie
from South Park.






reminded me of Moe

One of the benefits of walking is that Eric and I had the time to make connections, no matter how warped.

A New Inductee to the Customer Service Hall of Fame: Verizon Tech Line Service





Eric was having problems
with our Verizon USB Modem.





Eric thoroughly went through our system, and the modem wasn't working.







He was also having issues with
 our Pepwave Router.  
We had just returned from Canada
 & this was a frustrating situation.






After several hours of troubleshooting, Eric called the Verizon Tech Line.  Valerie, Verizon Service Tech, and Eric spent the better part of an hour going over Eric's problems with the modem.  It was determined that the modem wasn't working and Eric is sending it back to Verizon for a replacement.

I didn't understand the results of the Pepwave Router, but Eric was satisfied.

Thank you, Valerie for spending the time with Eric to work on these two issues.

Spending Time with Family and Friends at Babbling Brook RV Park in Westville, New York










We made arrangements to
meet our cousins,Terry & Barb
at Babbling Brook RV Park
for the Annual Bluegrass Festival.










Terry & Barb's son,
Dustin, & wife, Kate, 
came to the Festival.










Isabella, Beth
& Mommy














Our friend, Bonnie,
& Barb








Bonnie's daughter, Peggy,
joined us on Saturday.















Isabella with Bonnie's granddaughters,
Emmy, Cady & Samantha.













Dustin & Eric

We had a beautiful summer day on Friday followed by soaking rain on Saturday.  That didn't matter.  We had a wonderful time together.  

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Annual Blue Grass Festival at Babbling Brook RV Park in Westville, New York

This is the Third Annual Bluegrass Festival at Babbling Brook RV Park.  The owners are watching the weather.  They are hoping for a fine weekend with lots of music lovers at the festival.






Dave Nichols & Spare Change
















Bear Tracks




It rained on Saturday.

The weather didn't keep
the crowds away.









Coyote Moon Vineyards
sold wine by the glass
& by the bottle.










The food vendors were 
busy feeding the crowd.











There were also vendors
selling jewelry, books.




Everyone had a great time.  The tents were a godsend, to shade the audience from the sun on Friday and to keep us dry on Saturday.

Babbling Brook RV Park in Westville, New York






Babbling Brook RV Park
is located in Westville, New York











The office has comfortable 
seating & a TV.















There are books to read
& supplies for campers.






Babbling Brook has washing machines and dryers and a large, roofed patio.









The playground is 
in the middle of  the
RV Park's 57 campsites.








Our site has full hook ups
with 30 amp electrical service.

Other sites have 50 amp service.



There's also room for dry camping. Babbling Brook is hosting the Third Annual Bluegrass Festival is here June 21-23.  The lineup of bands includes Spinney Brothers, Bear Tracks, Dave Nichols & Spare Change, Atkinson Family Band, Lake Effect Bluegrass, Bluegrass Revisited and Foggy River Band.   I hope the weather will be beautiful and for a sold out crowd.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Glazier Food Service and Beverage in Malone, New York










distributed from Malone, NY.











There is a Cash & Carry
store here too.








We came in to buy
Glazier's signature 





Everything sold here
is in large quantities.

Much of their sales
is to area restaurants.

Keri told us that Glazier's products are available in local stores.  We found out that we saved $5.00 to $6.00 buying the hot dogs here, rather than at a local grocery store.  They sell links of Glazier Bologna here.  We decided to go to the local store and have it sliced for us.