Father's Day on the road

Sunday was the 2nd Father's Day TLE and I have been on the road.  The first one, last June, it wasn't too bad being gone from my kids, because it had only been a few months at that time.  Now it has been almost 17 months since I have seen them, talked to them, and hugged them in the flesh.  We have talked often with them via phone and Skype, but, you know.....it's not the same.  I miss them a lot, and it was sooo nice to receive their Happy Father's Day wishes this year.

Fortunately we have this amazing "family" of friends on the road who include us in their birthday, retirement, 4th of July, Memorial Day, New Years, Christmas, Mother's Day, and Father's Day celebrations.  This Father's Day was no exception.  Our Newell friends, Todd and Dawn Flickema, invited us to their beautiful home here in Sioux Falls for their annual Father's Day BBQ, which included family and friends.   We can't thank them enough for their hospitality, and for the very enjoyable afternoon and evening full of conversation, and laughter.  Of course, since Todd and Dawn are the relatively new owners of a 1984 Newell there was a lot of conversation about their coach, and our travels.

Prior to our arrival at their home around 5 pm TLE and I spent part of the day doing some shopping.  Our throw rugs in the coach are over two years old and were looking a little "long in the tooth" so we went to the local Kohl's to find some new ones.  We had bought our previous set at a Kohl's in Riverside, CA.  They always have a marvelous selection of throw rugs, which is why, for the third time now, we have returned to update our rugs.  We happened to stumble in on a day when they were having their 50% off sale, so we bought $260 worth of nice throw rugs for $130!  Did I say I love Miss Serendipity?!

We also visited the local Hy Vee supermarket to restock some of our wine and beer supplies, and then Ace Hardware for a couple of things.  I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the U.S. Open, and taking a couple of naps.  The only thing missing from my Father's Day was the presence of our children, but we will be home to see them in November for a few months, and I'll try and catch up on all the hugs and kisses we have been missing.

Fast forward to our time with the Flickema's.....Todd has been working on some interior updates to his new to him Newell, but needs some help with some exterior stuff that is right down my alley.  Since he will be working his regular job all week prior to heading to Spearfish he decided the easiest way for me to help him was to bring his coach over the Fairgrounds.  He asked me to drive it so I could give him my impressions of it's performance.  So now we have a small Newell mini rally here at the Fairgounds, and by Wednesday we will have 3 Newells here.

Then there were two....

That was our Sunday, and a nice Sunday it was.......Phil Mickelson just missed winning his first U.S. Open by one stroke....another heart breaker to be sure for him.  Justin Rose, the winner, richly deserved his victory....that is one of the most brutal Sundays I have ever watched at the U.S. Open.  The combined score of the final 4 groups of the day was +35....that's 35 over par!  Justin Rose won with a 1 over par final score.  To slightly make up for that disappointment the Spurs beat the Lebron James Heat convincingly to go up 3 games to 2 in the best of 7 Finals series.

Thanks for stopping by!