Sunday July 14, 2013-Heartland Resort

This has been a nice week of Munzeeing, relaxing and visiting with Mack and Mattiegene. On Monday, Stella and I went to Indy to capture some Munzees and it took most of the afternoon to get it done! We enjoyed going out and I got a lot of good exercise, so its a good thing!

Tuesday was a day of rest but we did get a few chores done around here. Stella washed our clothes and I cleaned up the truck, removing the mud and grease on it. 

Wednesday we finished up the Munzees around the rest stop east of Indianapolis. Just as I got finished, it started to rain, so we came back home in the rain. It rained all night long and continued into Thursday, so we just stayed around here. I have been taking Tramp for some long walks around the park and training his to commands to come, heel and sit. He is making progress but still has some relapses. 

Friday, Stella fixed some sausage gumbo that we took over to Mack and Mattie's house in the afternoon. We sat outside on their back yard deck and enjoyed the cool temps and later ate the gumbo, which was delicious and visited with our friends. 

Saturday was a nice day again and we took care of chores around here. We went to the grocery store (Wal Mart & Marsh grocery) and came back home. I talked to Mack and we made arrangements to go over to their house in the morning to go eat breakfast. We had several restaurants to choose from and will decide where we will go in the morning.

Sunday morning we went over and decided to go to The Original Pancake House for breakfast this morning. They serve the biggest omelets and a HUGE apple-cinnamon pancake. I had an Irish omelet with 4 eggs, cheese, potatoes and onions, and corned beef hash and it was delish! I only ate half of it and brought the rest home for tomorrow. Mack had the pancake and it covered the entire dish and stood about 3-4 inches high. He took about half of his home too, so at least we took care of food for tomorrow.

Mack took us to the Hoosier Village Retirement Center where he worked for 21 years after retiring from the fire department. He showed us several buildings that he helped to plan and build while he worked there. There are apartments, assisted living and medical assistance living. This place is huge and I have a new respect for Mack and his accomplishments. To add this, he showed us a house that he and his sons built by hand. Wow, what a life he has had!

We came back to their house and chatted a bit more before we had to come home to care for our doggies. They were glad to see us, as always and it's always good to get back home.

So long.

Sunday July 8, 2013-Heartland Resort

We had a nice quiet Sunday around the Coffman Casa. I got caught up on some of my computer work. At least it's not raining again. The weather is nice and cool here, so I took advantage of it and went back over to Indianapolis where Mack and I went the other day and finished up getting some Munzees that I had started. There were only about 9 left, but I had to skip a couple of them. When I was there with Mack, we found some Munzees that were on one of the large bridges over the White river. They were on light poles over the water. I got three and Mack got a couple more that I couldn't reach. His being tall helped me out! Anyway, Mack and I talked about them and Stella made the comment that she was surprised that I hadn't dropped my phone in the river. Today when I returned I found two more that were over the water and all I could think of was what Stella had said about me losing my phone. When I went to get the first 

one, I gripped the phone so hard I'm surprised that it still works. My hands were sweaty and I couldn't get her prediction out of my mind so I gave up. It was only two little Munzees, 10 points! It's not like I was afraid, but I knew that if I did drop that phone I would NEVER hear the end of it! 

 The next ones I found was about two miles away and on and near the Indianapolis Speedway Museum and race track. It was pretty cool to capture and deploy Munzees here. At least I walked a couple of miles.

One of the residents here has a couple of radio controlled boats that I've seen him running around on one of the ponds. He was out tonight, running them around and I got a couple of shots of it.

 It throws up a rooster tail just like a big boat.

And let me tell you, that thing will scoot!

He was putting his boats away before I had a chance to talk to him about them but I'll keep an eye open for the next time he's out and go talk to him. I don't think Stella will let me get another hobby. She thinks I Munzee too much as it is.

So long.

Saturday July 6, 2013-Heartland Resort

Another laid-back, rainy day here in Greenfield, just the kind we like.  It rained much of the night but tapered off after daylight. We had made arrangements to go over to Mack's house to go to some farmer's markets in Carmel. We made the short drive into downtown and found a rather small market space set up near where the festival was found just a few days ago. It didn't take long to go through the displays and since it hadn't taken much time, we decided to go to Fishers, another nearby community. There were even less shops there and we didn't find anything we wanted to buy there either. We soon left for the last one in Noblesville. This was the best one and we bought a few small items to take back with us. 

Mack then drove us down US 31 to show the progress of some highway work that has been underway. The state of Indiana has been buying up properties alongside the road to widen it and to build bypasses around the cities. In a couple more years, we will be able to drive through Indianapolis to South Bend without stopping for a red light. That will be great, and should take some time off the drive too. Now I can't wait for the next rally in 2015 in Goshen IN.

We returned to Mack's house where he grilled some burgers and brats for lunch.  Of course, about halfway through our meal on the deck, it started to rain again. Not a heavy rain but a light mist that would have soaked us soon, so we moved everything inside and finished our meal. Before we knew it, it was time to come back home and take care of the doggies. 

Tramp is making some good progress in obeying. He has been practicing heel and sit and doing very well. I have also been teaching him to "talk" to sirens. He started this while we were staying at the Elkhart campground. There is an ambulance company office next door, and every time he heard the siren he would howl or "talk" to the ambulance. He still does it and this evening there was a golf cart parade, complete with two carts with sirens aboard. Tramp is funny when he holds his head back to talk to them and he seems as if he is really communicating with them. I'll keep working with him and keep you posted.

So long.

Friday July 5, 2013-Heartland Resort

At least the weather has been cooperating the last few days. Although there has been a pretty good chance of rain, it hasn't rained in three days and has been cool during the days. I took advantage of the cool 77* temps to do something I haven't done in years, cut the grass! When we checked in, we were told that the grass might need cutting but I didn't really give it much thought. I've never heard of this policy at any other parks where we've stayed, and I really thought it was a joke, but the longer we stayed, the more people I've seen cutting their grass. I can't really call it a lawn because there isn't nearly enough grass in this site and for only $14 per day rent here, I can take 15 minutes out of my busy day to cut it. My neighbor had the mower out cutting his grass, so when Tramp and I came back from our walk, I went out and got 'er done! Stella came out to supervise and picked up the TV cable and flipped the rug back so I could mow under them and that helped. 

I apparently wore Tramp out while taking him for a long walk around the park because he slept soundly for the rest of the day. I have to admit that I napped right alongside him but I did get up occasionally. At least our site looks good!

So long.

Thursday July 4, 2013-Heartland Resort

We celebrated the Fourth of July by going to a festival in Carmel where Mack and Mattigene live. A little history of Carmel might interest you. When the city was founded, it was called Bethlehem but the name was changed in 1874. The location of the original settlement is marked by a clock tower that was erected in 2002. The city has experienced rapid growth  and was recently named as the #1 place to live by Money magazine. 

Here are Stella Mack and Mattigene walking toward the Center for the Performing Arts building. 

Mack in the left foreground looking around inside the immense Performing Arts Center. 

The control area for the performers. This building is new with a seating capacity of 1600. 

 Wow, what a huge room to perform in!

 Box seats are located along both sides. We didn't go into the box seats since it is unlikely that we will return for any performances. It is a beautiful building at any rate.

A new Jaguar is displayed on the grounds also. Jags have always been a beautiful automobiles but since there is nowhere to attach a fifth wheel hitch, I'm not interested.

We walked around the festival after touring the center and briefly listened to a band that was playing. Of course, there was plenty of expensive junk food available at the festival but we decided to go find some real food. We caught a ride on one of the "limo" golf carts back to the parking garage, taking a back way out through some woods. It wasn't a path that we would have taken otherwise.

We ate at a place called Muldoons, an Irish pub. The food was good and the place was very quiet, probably because everyone else had gone to the festival, so we enjoyed a nice meal. 

We returned to Mack and Matti's home where we sat outside on their deck and played a game of Rack-O, a game that we haven't played in years. We played until about 8:30, just before dark, and were able to watch some fireworks along the way without having to deal with large crowds. 

It was a nice day with our friends.

So long.

Tuesday July 2, 2013-Heartland Resort

It was nice and cool this morning and although it was cloudy, Mack and I went over to Indianapolis to capture a whole bunch of Munzees along the White river in downtown. It turned out to be a perfect day for a long walk along the river and I captured lots of Munzee points. I'm sure that we walked over 5 miles today but since we were busy looking for the Munzees, time went by fast and before you knew it, it was lunch time. My phone battery was running down anyway, so it was a good time to stop for lunch at TJ Friday's in one of the downtown hotels. 

Mack and I had a great time walking and we returned home about 2 o'clock. He had offered to cook some pork chops on his grill, so Stella made some rice and gravy and some delicious yeast rolls, and of course, we had some leftover ears of corn  and some salad, so we had another delicious meal. After eating, it threatened rain until about 8:30 when it started to thunder and lightning, so the party broke up. I don't think they had been gone ten minutes when the skies opened up and it poured down rain. 

Another good day of Munzeeing and good food with friends. How much better can it get?

So long.

Monday July 1 2013-Heartland Resort

It rained again last night and the weather was nice and cool this morning. Today is Munzee's 2nd birthday and they have made this a double point day, so Stella and I went out the first thing this morning to capture some Munzees. We went to the rest area on I-70 and I capped most of them except two on the large light poles that weren't there in a short time. I had found some more in a little town called Cumberland but those guys don't understand the game and hid them like they were geocaching, and since it had started to rain, I gave up and came on back home. I knew that Mack could guide me to downtown Indianapolis where there were many to be found. By the time we got back home it was raining hard, so I took a break and went inside. 

By the time I came back out, it was too late to go to Indy because of the afternoon traffic, so I took Stella with me and I deployed a few around town and took her to buy groceries. We came on back home and I counted up all the points I made today. It was a good day!

Mack fixed supper for us tonight of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and corn with Stella's brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was a great meal and we enjoyed a nice visit with them, even though it started to rain again. We made it home before the bad rains hit but it was a close call. 

So long.