November 1-5, 2024 Western Springs to Ashkum to Champaign, Illinois

54 and sunny.

Success!! After 2 days John got the receiver installed back on the bus. the insert shows the hitch reattached. We are now good to go. I wire wrapped another of the dichroic glass pendants I made in the class where I learned to bevel and polish. Since it is dichroic glass it changes colors as you move it.  It is really big. 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 x 5/8 inches, but some one may love it. 

Bridget the family over for dinner. It was fun to visit. 

Sue, Nora and John. Bridget and Sue with our matching platinum hair. 

Dinner was yummy. I gifted the family some jewels. 

After dinner was a slide show of their recent trip to Rome.  Beautiful sunny day. We went for walk with Bridget and Dean.

We stopped to see the old mill. Pizza and football game  at Katie's house. 

Watching football with the skeleton.  We are now parked at a Harvest Host- Beans Barley and Brews near Ashkum, Illinois. John thought it was a brewery, but it is a restaurant with a large selection of beers.  Usually the harvest hosts don't have any kind of hook ups, but this has full hookups. Cold, windy rainy day.

The glass show at Echter's green house opened this weekend and I did well. A first and second in wearable are, and they sold. 

A fourth place in warm glass for my Full Moon Rising tree. The entrance to the show. My Eye of the Rainbow is right at the front-on the left. I saw photos and it looked like a beautiful show. Wish I could be there. 

The Barley Beans and Brew restaurant, which is the harvest host site we are now parked at. 

We are supposed to buy something at the host sites. John had breakfast and we both had lunch. Very good heartly dishes. The latest masterpiece. It is made with dyed pine needles, glass beads, polyester thread and the center is a piece of glass I fused from old dichroic jewelry. It is 7 3/4 x 7 x 1 3/4.

We are at another harvest host site, Alto Vineyards in Champaign, Illinois. Sydney pouring our tasters of their wine. We purchased the Wiener Dog white and the Dog House Red. 

Cold, rainy and very windy day. Our site at the vineyard. We hung out inside after tasting. 

October 29-31 2024 Western Springs, Illinois

 82 and sunny.

John spent the entire day removing the receiver from the motorhome. It had 22 years worth of road dirt, grime and oil stuck to it. It was a major job, but he kept at it. He does not know how long it will take the guy to fix it and he does not want to leave the bus at the shop till it is done. I went for a lovely bike ride around the neighborhood admiring beautiful houses, fall color and Halloween decorations. This is the creek that runs behind his sister's house. 

Fall color and neighborhood. 

More fall color. When I got back I helped John by holding a wrench while he cranked on the bolt on the underside of the bus. 

The arrow is showing where the weld came loose on the receiver. John was covered in dirt and grease from his work on the bus. He looked like a coal miner. 

I wrapped two more. The one on the right I made in the class where I learned to bevel and polish. It is huge. I wrapped it anyway and we will see if anyone buys it. John and Bridget, his sister on our walk around the neighborhood. 80 degrees and sunny.

Sunset in downtown La Grange. Bridget, John and Marilyn's skeleton. 

Bridget, Dean, Sue and John. Dean treated us to a yummy dinner at Santiago's. Me with my restaurant and bier garten. 

Today John dressed better to reinstall the receiver for the hitch. Patrick (dad) as the Dude and Samantha (daughter) as the statue of liberty.

John working on the bus. Many trips to the hardware store. Two more wrapped pieces. The colors of the dichro don't show up well in the photos

Bridget cut the pumpkin. Sunset. 

October 25-28, 2024 New Lisbon to Afton, Wisconsin to Western Springs, Illinois

 56 degrees and sunny, When we went to hook the truck up to the bus John noticed we had lost one of the pins for hooking the hitch to the truck. So he drove to an RV supply and bought a couple. I drove the truck behind him.

Wisconsin farm along the way. Everywhere are big silos.  Fuel is still reasonable here. 

Burr Oak winery. Stained glass windows in the tasting room. They came from an old Methodist church that was torn down. 

Steve pouring us a tasting. He had very specialty grapes, and wines. Also cranberry wine- my favorite. Very good wine.  Burr Oak Winery is a harvest host and we are spending the night next to the barn. All the campgrounds up north are all closed now, so we are staying at harvest hosts. 

We are parked at a boondockers welcome site in Afton, Wisconsin, since there are no campgrounds open this late in the year. The site is behind an old restaurant. We have 30 power.  Our view to the side and back are this barn and HUGE lawn. 

Sunset. John on Bass Road going toward the Peace Trail. The Peace trail runs from Afton to Janesville, Wisconsin. Beautiful day to be out walking. 

Rock River,  that the Peace trail runs along. John on the Peace Trail. 

Fall colors. It has been a long time since I have seen anyone burning leaves. The fire danger is way to high in the Rockies to do this. 

Peace Trail, Afton Floral does not seem to exist anymore, but people are having fun with the sign. Pony for sale, $1.89 per pound and Bass Creek submarine sales and service. Great political sign, Everyone Sucks 2024. And I got an email that my vote was counted! We had an adventure today. The receiver for the hitch that attaches the truck to the bus broke and the hitch fell off while we were driving on a busy street in  Chicago.  The truck is connected with cables to the bus, so we didn't loose anything.   I was directing traffic behind the truck while John took it off. This nice police man showed up and parked behind us and turned on his lights to keep cars from running into us. 

John working on getting the hitch off. Where it attaches to the bus it is supposed to stick straight out, it broke and bent and  the hitch was dragging on the ground, still attached to the bus. . He got the hitch off and I drove the truck the rest of the way. John has an appointment on Wednesday to see if it can be welded back together. 

We are here in Chicago to visit John's family. there was a big family dinner tonight. Was fun to see everyone. I wrapped a few more pendants last night. Need to stock back up, have sold quite a few.