Photo by The Joneses Happy Hour with good company at Camp Monaco. — — — E-mail Gisela — — — SLIDE SHOW: A good time had ... at Camp Monaco
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

Before coming here we spent several weeks at the Monaco Service Center and from there we drove through upper New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

At the Monaco Service Center we had one of our slides adjusted — one more time. It is now working as it should. There were also some other minor warranty repair items that needed taking care of. However, we stayed longer than anticipated, because we ordered something new (again) for our "condo on wheels." My birthday present — shades for the windshield and the side front windows. These are in lieu of the drapes that come with the coach.

These shades are wonderful, operated by pushing a button they cover the windshield and side windows at night and also have a sunscreen for the daytime. I realize, for non-RVers that doesn’t sound so exciting, but for me it is. These types of shades are generally in the higher end (more expensive) coaches. A distributor for these shades is located in Elkhart, so this was a perfect opportunity for us to have them ordered (they are custom made) and installed.

We were not the only ones waiting for service to be done and we all made the best of it. During the day the coaches were in the service bays being worked on and we either explored the area or sat in the community room. In the afternoon when the coaches were returned to the parking lot — we called it Camp Monaco — we had "happy hour." Several of us were here for Labor Day, so we did what most people do on Labor Day, we had a picnic at "Camp Monaco." It wasn’t the most picturesque setting, but we had fun.

While in Elkhart we went to the "Midwest’s largest Flea Market" in nearby Shipshewana. It is held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and is huge, about three times as large as the Green Dragon near Ephrata, Pa. It took us hours to walk around to all the booths. There were a lot of items made and/or prepared by Amish people including ice cream made right at the stand with an old fashioned ice cream machine, yummy.

One afternoon, while we were sitting in the community room, we had a pleasant surprise when our friends Wendy and Ken from Florida walked in. Ken and Wendy also worked at Disney World. Ken was Ralph’s golfing partner and while the guys were golfing Wendy and I had fun at the parks.

Elkhart had a very nice Elk Club with a beautiful golf course for the guys to play and for Wendy and me a nice pool to take in the last rays of the summer sun. It was so great seeing them and we hope to meet up with them next spring in Arizona, where they spent the winter.

Another pleasant time we had was with Holly, who used to work with me at Fort Detrick. She now lives in Jackson, Michigan, and we met halfway between Elkhart and Jackson.

We spent all afternoon catching up on each other’s lives and doing a lot of reminiscing about the work and coworkers. I find it interesting and enjoyable meeting with friends I haven’t seen for a while and find out all the latest news about family, children and grandchildren. Spending time with Holly was very pleasurable.

At "Camp Monaco" we met a nice couple from our part of the wood,s Richmond, Va., Rhetta and Tony.

We went to dinner a few times and also to a Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Ind. I had vision of blueberries everywhere, such as the Strawberry Festival in Florida, but that was not the case. There were a lot places to have food, but only a few with blueberry items — we did have a delicious Blueberry Sundae and also listened to a good Bluegrass band.

We plan on getting together (probably in Alexandria) when we are in Frederick in October.