Sunday, September 11, 2022

Temperature 71 Degrees, Rain

Willy-Nilly-on-the- Wash also known as Ohio Renaissance Festival.

Yesterday with my son Paul and his wife Brittany, I went to Willy-Nilly-on-the-Wash. Also known as the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It is an event that takes place on weekends from late August through October.

Yea, I know I said there would be no sightseeing here but that went out the window real quick. Little did I know what a delightful day I was about to have.

The festival is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and over 150 costumed characters invite you to this 30-acre re-created 16th Century English village where you can enjoy over 400 years of fun in a single day! There are 170 unique arts and craft shops, all kinds of unique food and drink and themed characters everywhere that you look.

There are 18 stages with performances going on throughout the day. For instance there was

where you are forewarned not to sit in the front rows unless you are ready to perhaps come away

looking somewhat like this! And yes, I did see a few in the front row who did get a bit of a mud bath! So glad I wasn’t in the front row.

On another stage there were the

Gives new meaning to burning the fat away!

Not something I would want to try. But wait, it gets better

Now she has three trays of glasses, one on top of the other. No, they are not glued to the trays so watch what happens

She didn’t drop a one of them!

Six chairs up and having the time of his life. I was most impressed.

We moved on to another stage where we were entertained by the

My lovely daughter-in-law Brittany with one of the two swordsman before the show.

Let the show begin.

Absolutely amazing to watch and to think that neither of them even once got nicked. It must take a lot of practice.

Then they volunteered certain men from the audience and put them through their paces. What a hoot that was.

Finally, we moved on to

the arena where they were doing acrobatic tricks on horses. This was just one of the many tricks that these two performed. The one picture I didn’t get and I kicked myself because I missed it was – the gentleman in this picture had two horses, one immediately behind the other, he was on the front horse, and proceeded to do a backwards summersault to the horse behind. What a demonstration of skill and talent.

Following this came the

the knights in shining armor.

Let the jousting begin and to the winner goes the hand of the Queen.

Well, just a bit more to share with you. This was Fantasy Weekend and my oh my the costumes that were on display. Here are a few of them:

These two really got me good. At first I thought they were statues – until they slowly began moving toward me!

What a wonderful day I had at Willy-Nilly-on-the-Wash. I am so very grateful that I had the opportunity to go. The costumes, the shows, the food, and the time spent with my son and his wife made it a really wonderful day.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Temperature 71 Degrees, Sunshine and Clouds

Travel Day, A Hop, Skip and a Jump

Time to move on. But not too far, just an hour south to a campground where we would be meeting my son, Paul and his wife, Brittany.

Since we didn’t have to leave until sometime between 10 and 11 am the plan was to do the basics the night before and then today we would reconnect the power to the slides and bring them in. At least that was the way it was supposed to go. The night before I reconnected the power to the passenger side front slide and it came in without an issue. Therefore, I didn’t anticipate any issues. Oh, was I wrong!

OK, today everything was put away and it was time to reconnect power to the slides and bring them in. I reconnected power to the passenger side bedroom slide, went inside and hit the button to bring it in – nothing. Oh, I got the message about the slide locks disconnecting but after that not a thing. The slide would not move. I went back outside and reconfirmed that all the wire connectors had locked in and then went back inside – the same thing. I believe my heart stopped for a few brief seconds. Understand, there is no way to bring these slides in manually without some special tools – which I don’t have. This went on for about 15 to 20 minutes and then, I hit the switch again in desperation and – you guessed it – in came the slide. I could breath again.

Unfortunately, the same thing repeated itself with the other two slides. Not as bad nor for as long but all of them gave me fits. Suffice to say, the morning was a stressful one. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get everything working as it should when we stop at Shelburne RV Repair next week.

Slides in I finally hooked up the car and we were on our way. The drive was a short one, just over an hour. Then, there in front of us was what we were looking for

the entrance to our new home for the next four nights. A quick stop at

the office for our packet of information and we on our way to our new home, which we missed the first time since we took the wrong loop. So, around one more time and we were

finally home. We have a great site, a good firm gravel base, almost dead level and all the utilities are right where they need to be. The only issue, lots and lots of trees which makes Albert very unhappy. He can’t find a single satellite to lock on to. Hopefully, we’ll change that tomorrow when we get some more coax cable and we can move him all the way to the back of our site. Overall, though, we’re both really happy with new temporary home.

As for our slides, we only put two out. One in the bedroom, which is necessary if you want to sleep back there. Otherwise, you would be climbing over each other throughout the night if you had to get up to, well you know what. And one in the living room. With both of them in there is just no room to move. Oh, it can be done for a night, maybe two but four nights would be a bear. I’m counting on them coming in without an issue. I’m thinking positive.

So, no sightseeing here. Just hanging out with family. That’s the best if you ask me. So, forgive me but I need to go now and get some rest and recover my sanity. A few more days like this morning and I’ll be pulling my hair out.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

I HAVE MY VERY OWN WILBEAR WRIGHT TEDDY BEAR!

Today I turned in my passport book with my necessary stamps and in return I was awarded my very own teddy bear.

What can I say, I’m one of those kids who will never grow up!

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Temperature 71 Degrees, Overcast with Occasional Rain Showers

The Quest for Wilbear Wright and The Aviation Trail

We were out and about again today in our quest for Wilbear Bear. We had a required stop we had to make to qualify for my very own bear and that was where we were headed.

And that stop was. . .

This was another excellent museum devoted to the life and career of the Wright Brothers. Here is a snapshot of what we found here.

They were numerous exhibits regarding their very early years.

There were exhibits that spoke of their early interest in flight.

Their first successful career was that of printers and publishers.

But it was not the only one.

Their second successful career was building, repairing and selling bicycles.

Then they became intrigued with the possibility of flying machines.

But is was not always easy, sometimes it was two steps forward and three back.

But they refused to give up.

So this is just a small part of what we saw and learned today. This is definitely a museum that deserves to be on everyone’s bucket list of places to visit. It chronicles an important chapter in the history of our country. And it speaks to what can be accomplished with hard work, a belief in yourself, and perseverance.

So, I have my necessary eight stops fulfilled. Tomorrow, well tomorrow I hope to have my very own Wilbear Wright teddy bear!

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.