WW and Vacation

I had a great few days off work before having to leave. I took the van to Tire's Plus to check the air conditioning since it was lackluster in the cool department and we were leaving for a 6 hour trip. I found out that it needed a new hose and they had to special order it. I told them go ahead and when we get back we will install it. John said instead of leaving Wed during the day we should leave Thursday morning at around 4am so we are traveling in the morning. Good idea!

I got to mess around Wed while John was working on stuff. I had the van packed and was ready to go so of course I pushed him to get going. Remember this later. He was talking about what I had packed and I said "oh yes that was already taken care of." He asked if the tarps and top were packed of course I had to drag the tarp bag to the van and put it in myself. He grabbed his stuff and packed it in and we were on our way a little later than 4am but it was ok. We drove and finally got there found out where we were supposed to set up and got the van there and ready to go. We were un packing the poles and joints. John said ok we are ready for the top. I said "What top?" He said the one that goes on top of the tent. I said "It is in the tarp bag" (The top tarp is NEVER in the tarp bag and I knew that but I had my brain shut down when I was responding since I realized I had not packed it) We have a 20X10 top that is not something you can just pick up. We had traveled 6+ hours and we were not going to just go home. Luckily I talked to Mathias from Tomah and they had an extra one that they were not using this weekend. We rigged the top to work with tarps under the white top so we would not get sunburned and we were ready to go. A storm was on its way and we to the van unpacked on top of the tables so it is off the ground. I went off to A & W to get supper while John worked on the back and I helped out a bit. The back tarp was on but not up so it was attached to the main tent and was at an angle sitting on the ground. The wind picked up and the rain started so I grabbed some tarps and made sure the bedding and everything on the tables were covered. John was holding the back so it did not take off. We both were tired and it had been a long day anyway without the storm. Oh well we made it thru. Our friend Chad came over just in time to help with getting the back up and staked down so we didn't blow away. The storm was over and Chad had a snapped tent pole so we helped him with fixing that or replacing it for the weekend at least. John was getting the beds together and asked about the 3 foot poles that were for the bed. I stated all the poles were out of the van and was on the grass. Of course they were not among them. They were left again at home. This I don't think was my fault since it was poles but I again did hurry John so he did not have the check the garage before we leave time. Again Mathias saved the day stating Ed the Tall had a saw that could cut poles. John had a bunch of "extra" poles that we could use for just this occasion. Chad and John took care of the poles so we could have beds. I was so done with the day I just wanted to crawl into bed and start the next day fresh. We got the walls up and I left everything on the tables and got bedding and air mattresses on the beds and got them all set.

The next day Friday I got up early and started getting a bit more organized and putting out the product so people could shop. It was windy and hot again. Not too bad for July. We opened up and enjoyed the day. We sold some stuff and Chad came by for the day so I went off shopping since I did not have to sit at the booth. By this time John was a little more over the top thing since the once we borrowed worked. THANKFULLY!!!! I got to sit at Meghan's tent so we could talk for a bit. I went around and got some stuff then went back to my tent which was much cooler than out and about. Anne stopped by to say hi so that was cool. Roland and Val stopped by which was really cool too because they don't usually have a lot of time to sit and talk, they are usually busy fighting and stuff. So that was a nice treat. We got some pretty good stories. That night however it rained again and we had pockets in the back so luckily John and I were up at the same time and dumped water out until John put pip pushing the back up so water couldn't pool. We made sure bedding was up off the ground and went back to sleep.

Saturday morning was hot and sunny again. We had several people stop by including Jason of Petra from Terra Fina. It had been before John that I last remember seeing him. He joined the Navy and off he went. He has 2 kids and is married so we had a delightful time catching up. It had been way too long sice talking to him. I did not have as much shopping time as Friday but that was ok, I got most of it done the day before. I must say over all the weekend was very nice and there were so many fun people to catch up with and meet for the first time. Overall very nice. Someone told us about The Vale restaurant by the Cremery. It was very nice and had great broasted chicken. Next year I will be sure to get that instead of a cheeseburger. I snuck some of John's and it was divine!!!! The town was easy to find and the townspeople were super nice. We really enjoyed ourselves. They also had a train station that was a museum. It was closed when we were leaving but next year maybe we could try and stop during business hours. It was cool seeing it from the outside so I can't wait to see inside. The trip home was pretty normal I did see IC&E and DME trains and cars on the bridges, that is a first seeing them on their tracks. I wish I could have stopped by the depot in Marquette so say hi but maybe next year for that too.

We got home Sunday and was in bed early. Monday we say Hell BoyII. We emjoyed it we were going to see Hancock but decided based on what we have heard from others the script was all over the place and those that did see it said it was movie that did not know what it wants to be, comedy, drama etc etc. John said we may see WallE but not this week. I had a great time on the rest of my days off and actually got to catch up on the laundry. The van is still pretty much packed but little by little I am stowing it back away again.

Wed I got up early and mowed the lawn. Then the girls were meeting at Black Sheep Coffee for a bit. I had to get back home for an estimate on the yard. It was nice to be able to tell someone what I want done. I can't wait to see how much it will be. The trees look wonderful from the trimming we had done. Now I just need to focus on watering the lawn and things will be much better. Thursday is back to work and I can not wait to see what over time I was forced to. We have a new contract 7/21 and I am still going over it. I was gone, so if there were any changes, I have no idea what they are.