Stratman RV Resort & Tiki Bar -- Cincinnati, OH

We've been home for over a month now.  We sold our house - had to be packed and out by the end of the month so the blog has been on the back burner.  So, going back to after a week in Goshen at Keystone having our trailer worked on, the Stratman RV Resort & Tiki Bar was just what the doctor ordered!

The Bickford's are coming!!!!!

Our campsite was a spacious level concrete pad with electric and a leaky water hose all for free. 

The 24 hour/day Tiki Bar (and pink flamingo decor) earned this resort "best campground on our TinCanTour"

Purveyors Ron & Julie Stratman

In addition to serving up free cocktails at the bar, we enjoyed big breakfasts and great cookouts at the hands of master chef Ron:

Between meals we were treated to live entertainment:

This campground allowed unlimited guest - the Hasselbecks stopped by to check out our tincan & spacious campsite:

There was a momentous day of golf when not only did Steve Pisani see this coyote's head move (note the stick holding up the coyote) but even more incredible was that Ron beat me (yes, bad) without any excuses on my part!  There's a 1st (and last) for everything!

Later that day we did a little off-roading while exploring a near by development in process:

Note the Stratlet boys in the back seat

The Taylors visited our campground one afternoon.  I could only take so much of watching this sad performance before I had to show these Midwest boys how to play their own game:

Sad cornhole display by Tim & Ron

Fortunately there's still hope as the kids were showing the Dad's how to do it:

Of course the kids showing Dad how to throw may account for the frustration you see here as Tim insist that the boys were using an illegal hold on their bean bags:

Meanwhile the ladies say "the Tiki bar is open":

All day and all night Lacey entertained everyone by plucking a frisbee out of the air:

Lacey reminded us of our Alaska friend Spaz!

Master of fire Tim Taylor demonstrates to Katie & Eva how to precisely toast the marshmallow for the best smores:

while the Taylor boys get some height in night swinging:

but the Stratlets (with home field advantage) get some serious height!

We managed to round up all of the Stratman's for a group photo (and after only 3 tries):

Katie, Eva, Julie, Matt, Ron & Tom Stratman

and the Taylor's:

Sam, Julia, Luke, Tim & Madelyn Taylor

We had a great afternoon and evening hanging out with the Taylors and Stratmans!  The next morning Suze discovered the Tiki bar is also a coffee bar:

Meanwhile Ronnie is whipping up breakfast inside . . .

Thanks again to our campground host Ron & Julie for making us feel at home!

We also spent some quality time at the Taylors sports complex and entertainment center.  No matter which sport it was, Luke displayed the best style (technique & wear - note that's a red sox shirt too, although now is probably not the best time to point that out).  In addition he took home the 1st place in around the world:

Luke's also a Patriots fan!

A not even close but still 2nd place going to Sam:

Pretty good form for Reds & Bengals fan!

And demonstrating her superior volleyball jumping height (while in flip flops) and finesse Madelyn pulls off a close 3rd place:

Not even worth mentioning was me and Gimpy Taylor's poor display (but we'll show Tim as I had the camera):

Note the air he doesn't get . . .

Later that evening the Taylors hosted a "Stock the Tin Can" party where we saw many of our "old" Cincinnati friends.  Early in the evening . . .

The Up to no good and caught . . .

Meanwhile our lovely wives looking all beautiful without even trying:

Cornhole heats up again at the Taylors house. Check out the intensity, form and focus (possibly frustration too - Ron is smirking behind that arm):

Note Tim has not only switched to lefty putting but cornhole too!

Michael getting a good seat by the fire pit early on:

Later in the evening the party on the back deck  . . .

while things were a little more laid back on the front deck:

Just like the old days we all gathered for a group picture:

Thanks again for the wonderful parting gifts for the final leg of the trip back home but more importantly it was really great to see you all!!!  Good thing the bar closed at 2am because in another hour Christy & I would have been heating up the dance floor just like the old days!   Thanks again to the Taylors for hosting a great time!!!

We packed a lot of fun into a short visit to Cinci!  Once we get settled somewhere in our new place you'll all have to come visit (just not all at the same time, we're downsizing).

So our tincantour sadly comes to an end (for now).  We look forward to going back on the road again some day!  We'll have one more blog posting with a collection of stats, lessons learned and best practices.  Hopefully that won't take as long as this posting did!

Goshen, IN - Keystone Service

We arrived at the Keystone manufacturer's lot on a Sunday afternoon so the place was very quiet.  They have full hookups here for customers.  We're stopping by to get a few things taken care of here before heading to Cinci.  Our first night here we had some severe weather roll in early evening which made for a cool sunset:

Our 1st day hanging out while the trailer was being worked on we decided to head for Indiana Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan.  Very nice park.  We biked the whole park and then scoped out the beach:

Evidently the water is not open until 11am as they kept announcing that over the loud speakers but unfortunately for all the people waiting . . . at 11am they announced the beach was closed due to the water being unhealthy.  Looked nice but glad we didn't put our feet in!

We also drove up to New Buffalo, MI where we checked out the beautiful waterfront and hit the downtown area shops.  With this being Susan's 1st time to MI, this also made it official that we both now have been to 49 of the 50 states - Hawaii next trip!

Looking like we're going to be here a couple days as they slowly make repairs to the trailer.  They've been putting us up in a hotel nearby.  One day we took a tour of the Keystone Montana manufacturing plant.  Great tour as we were able to see exactly how our rig was built:

Getting around this area isn't too bad but you may find yourself waiting on horse & buggies at rush hour . . .

One day we hit the Pumpkin-Vine & Maplehart Nature Trails with our bikes.  Roughly 26 miles of trails which go from Elkhart to Goshen to Middlebury to Shipshewana.  We covered about half of the trails in 1 day with beautiful farm land and canals along the way:

We saw deer in the farmers fields:

and lots of wildlife along the canals including these ducks:

and turtles:

and many swans by the dam:

and this grizzly and her cubs:

Oops, Duck & ducklings!  Got your attention though!

Great bike trail!  We did the other half of the bike trail the next day.  This part of the trail was a little messed up.  The map shows it running through Middlebury however it would stop with no clue as to where it picked back up.  We finally found the main trail hidden behind the DQ which we took for 4-5 miles out to Shipshewana.  Lots of farm land with horse & buggies parked in the driveways all along the trail.
We're looking forward to leaving for Cinci today after hanging out with the Keystone crew (better than new the techs tell us).  These guys really have been great about the whole thing!

More to come . . .

Arlington Heights, IL - Napoleon's RV Resort

We packed up and headed out of Door County early on another beautiful day.  We headed south toward Chicago but made a lunch stop in Cedarburg, WI to see Kristine & Jason.  We had a good lunch and a very nice visit in their wonderful new home.  Unfortunately I took no pictures other than one of this gold finch they noticed "resting" in the grill of the truck.  If you look really closely in between the spattered bugs you can see Jason and Kristine's reflection in the grill  too:

 

 We continued rolling south to Arlington Heights, IL where we stayed at the Napoleon's RV Resort.  Electric, water, wifi, powerwash and meals all FREE!

Our first night here we went to see future Red Sox player Mathew schooling everyone on how to rip the ball:

 while youngest brother Jason entertained the fans in the stands:

And here we have Coach Steve telling the boys they played a good game and giving them some things to think about:

When I was your age . . .

Another day we all hit the pool area which is a short walk from their house:

Jason sporting his Mr Cool smile while working the ladies around the fountain pool:

This dare for Matt to dive off the high dive cost me $10 (looking good Matt!):

Later in the day Football Coach Steve working on some blocking techniques with Nick and others on his team:

Another day we stopped by to check out Matthew's football practice:

Nicholas sporting a big smile and his favortie 1st place baseball team:

Our last night we went to down town Arlington Heights where there are many nice bars and restaurants.  We had an excellent Mexican food and then hooked up with some of Steve & Christy's friends at another Irish bar in town:

Napoleon's RV Resort was a great place to hang out for a long weekend!  We really enjoyed our visit with Christy, Steve, Matthew, Nicholas and Jason!  Thank you guys for everything!  Looking forward to your visit to NH!

Now we're off to Goshen IN to bring the TinCan into the Keystone manufacturer for repairs.  As soon as they are done, we head for Cincinnati to vist the gang there.

More to come . . .