Month: October 2018

I know it has been a little while but we have been pretty busy.  The RV resort on the Mississippi has shut down. We had left there to go and stay in Chicago because my youngest daughter’s 2nd baby boy is due. Then went back to our spot on the Mississippi river in MN for a couple of days to close on our new house and get our stuff out of storage.  Then drove back to the Chicago area and are patiently awaiting a new grandson.  Any day now!

While we were back at our place on the Mississippi it was looking pretty sad and deserted. We didn’t see anyone out, but we weren’t around much. We were dealing with closing and other things at the new house.

Lots of sheds still there of course but most all of the RVs were gone.  From the lot we are in on down in the direction that the photo is capturing, is considered a flood plain in the spring.  It doesn’t flood often, they say, but no one is allowed to keep their RVs there over winter and spring…well not until mid-April when the park opens. In the other direction there are still RVs but the flowers and lawn items are gone, things are covered up and no folks stirring.

Getting into the house itself was a pretty easy thing. Closing went well.  The only thing is that the outside isn’t finished.  The landscaping… it has been too rainy and is too muddy to take care of it and now it is just getting plain old COLD. The cold is coming earlier than usual and the rain (prior to closing) just would not stop.

So I didn’t see any escrow coming from the builders for the sod and landscaping….I complained. And was promised the company WILL be doing it.  This particular builder is very good and has an excellent reputation.  So we went through with it….feeling they will do a good job like the other houses that are surrounding us, that are finished.

The afternoon of our closing the folks doing the sod showed up.  They had already done the back portion of the yard, so they did the front (mind you…the front – did not do the side…)

The sod they laid already looked like it was dying to me.  And as you can see the landscaping around the house was still not done.

AND they planted the trees…if that’s what you want to call it…

 

That is just one of the two trees in the front.  The other was ‘bumped’ up too, but not as badly. I am not an expert of course, but I am wondering if the tree that is pictured will even survive the winter. The had them just laying in the yard at first…which we drove up and then put them in a hole that was not large enough.  Especially the one in the picture, then just threw some extra sod on that didn’t even cover the roots. So it is a big bump in the yard with exposed roots.

The story from our builder is that the sod is fine and the guy thought they planted the trees ‘bumped up’ like that so it would settle.  I know it is supposed to be ‘slightly’ above the ground…but this one…more than slightly.  Hopefully, it will turn out okay. When we left they still had not finished the landscaping around the house.  So we are hoping when we return all will be well.

 

We are still waiting for grandson #3 to come along.  Here grandson #2 (and his ducky boots) are playing at the playground while his mom keeps a close eye!

Ticktock, 😉

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

 

So we did the walk-through for our house. A few things that needed to be attended to.  The bathroom counter tops were pretty scratched up, so they will fix that. I think they will just buff out the scratches. There was no sod yet… who knows when they will get the landscaping done, all it does is rain there these days.  We didn’t get to walk around the outside of the house for the walk through. I didn’t like that, but the Capstone person conducting the walk through said there is another at 30 days, and if there was anything we find during that time, they would take care of it.

After that – it was off to Chicago for my youngest daughter and family.  I have to say, though it was gloomy most all of the way, it was a good time to see the color changes in the leaves.

We were moving along and it was pretty tough getting a photo, there were much, much prettier displays.  But this gives you an idea.

So we got into the camping spot at about 11 pm or there after.

Then yesterday worked from the camper, went and got our car washed, at dinner at the Casino (we are camping in the RV area of a casino, the only place we could find a spot). They gave us coupons, so we tried it out. VERY EXPENSIVE to eat there, so that was a one time thing. We stopped a minute to see the casino and I was sucked into a slot machine for about 20 minutes…hey – I doubled my money and left….helping to pay for dinner.  My other half doubled his money and lost it (talking 10 bucks here). Went back home and pretty much conked out.

Yesterday we also put up our Satellite, we haven’t used it for over a year.  It is always SO tedious getting that thing going.

An it was actually really sunny here yesterday, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen that much sun and I took the opportunity to clean the camper top to bottom, I could actually see everything. Nice! Cleaned the wood, all the nooks and crannies.

Then early morning today – a pretty ferocious storm came rolling through..and it is still gray and raining. But we are here, waiting for our new little grandson to make his appearance.

We just bring the rain with us where ever we go.

Happy Friday!!

 

The final day on the Mississippi for us, a little bit sad about it.. But mostly just because it is ushering change.  Funny how when you get older change seems to have even more meaning that it used to.

Today we do the Orientation and walk-thru of our new house.  As soon as we are done, we are taking off for Chicago, as mentioned in earlier posts.  We will be back, hopefully, on the 11th to close on our house and then will be off again to Chicago.  We are excited for the coming of a new grandchild, despite the craziness of the current situation.  And also excited to get into our new house. But first things first! 😉

However, it also kind of represents to me the beginning of a new phase of our lives. A little uncharted. But that is all for another day.

Today on the Mississippi it’s like pea soup out there.  Can’t see the other side of the river, it is raining and foggy because, just for today, the temps are going from being highs in the 50s, to a high of nearly 80.  No doubt sparking some crazy weather.

Where is the other side of the river?

Happy Wednesday!

Been pretty busy here. We are getting ready to do the walk through on the house we are building tomorrow, and then we’ll be leaving right away for Chicago to be there to help welcome a new little baby boy when he arrives.  Will be hanging with my youngest daughter’s grandson while they are ‘busy’ bringing the new little guy into the world.

But we *did* have time last weekend to hang with my older daughter and family, that live near us here in Minnesota.

This was the last weekend for the Ren Fest!

It was cold, gray and borderline miserable.  But we dressed for it and drank hot beverages.  Caught some jousting while we were there.

 

 

Grandson is into archery so he tried his hand with a crossbow.

 

And then there was the compound bow, which he has more experience with.

There are always so many things to see and do out there….and eat.

But something I hadn’t seen before –

A Tyrannosaurs Rex with fairy wings… hummm

Then things took a dark turn:

Yep – he was threatening to take the life of a skeleton…. 😉

Scary stuff!

After that we had a bite at Drake O’Neils, we went on to the 101 Market to enjoy the Fall Family Harvest Festival I mentioned earlier. (So from Shakopee to Otsego, MN)

As I kind of expected… jumping into the corn pit was first on the list.

Going through the corn maze…, the corn cannon, the potato launcher, funnel cakes, rubber ducky races were all on tap and enjoyed.

As well as the grandson taking a spin with the other guys out there.  There were a few more things but it was getting late and was pretty cold, so we called it a day

Really enjoyed it though.

I will also mentioned that – at the place we have been staying…it is looking kind of sad. Folks leaving, packing up their gear, taking pontoons out of the water and getting ready to store them. We are less than two weeks from them closing the place down until next spring.

The summer party is about over and has come to more of an abrupt halt than usual because of the cooler than normal Fall temps in September and the first part of October.

Happy Tuesday!