Happy Father's Day!

As I said in an earlier post, we went to Chula Vista Resort on Father's Day weekend for the Annual Towing Convention. The kids and I were very excited, because we were surprising Dan on Sunday morning. We made a video that informed him he was leaving on Monday for a 5 day trip to Florida to visit our friend, Tim and go Deep-Sea Fishing.
From the looks and sounds of it, it was a great trip and low and behold...Tim had a surprise of his own for us. When I picked Dan up from the airport on Friday night, I was almost sure that Tim would be there with him. Nope, he was alone. He put his bags in the car and we took off.
On down the baggage claim area, Dan almost hit a guy walking in the cross-walk, talking on his phone--the guy was TIM!! DORKS!! So Tim left the next day to surprise his dad in Rock Falls, Illinois for a few days. He will begin his Liver Damage Tour today, Thursday in Fox Lake with a bunch of his buddies from there! Town & Country Days is this weekend, so the tour will continue, I'm sure--given the amount of over-abundance of fun on any given night!!

More about lost time...or is it gained?!

So...as I was saying...our trip to Texas. Lots of roadside picnics:

After our package delivery and a pit stop in South Houston for Dan to check out his International Scout, we made it to Galveston, Texas for a day at the Gulf:

Dan actually spent much of the day back in South Houston loading up the Scout. We had a blast and have the peeling sunburn to show for it! On to the Rainforest Cafe for some din din and souvenirs...

After our meal, we headed over to a park where there was a real submarine and battleship. Very cool tour and whew...tuckered us right out.

Back on the road again, heading up to Arkansas to see Steve and Amy in Bella Vista. Not without a typical Topel incident, though! Dan and I started hearing a noise coming from the shifter area and discovered that it sounded like a bearing. After our last trip to Florida and our 6 hour tow back home, we decided to be a bit more proactive this time...checked the transmission fluid and found it was VERY low. No external leaks though...hmmm...so the noise got better after we filled it and a few hour set-back: we were on our way.

Made our way up to their house and visited with them and their 4 dogs, 4 cats, and bird!! Dan is pictured with Big Boy, one of two Great Dane's. Amy works at the Animal Shelter!

Spent the night there, then on to visit Karl's in Cedar Rapids. Had dinner and visited with them. Always great seeing them and the girls. The flooding was just starting to get bad when we arrived in Iowa, but got way worse after we left. Not too sure how we got from Cedar Rapids home, as both Dan and I were wiped OUT!

Oh yeah...The mystery of the transmission fluid was soon solved en route home. The fluid was actually leaking into the transfer case (which became way overfull). Good thing we own a repair shop!

Trip summary: Kids proved they can co-exist in a very small area for long periods of time and get along wonderfully. Had some great family time and confirmed that Tara cannot stand sleeping in hot trucks all night long! Also noted that preventative vehicle care has advantages! (check Arkansas off of the Cracker Barrel visited state list).

Making up for lost time...

I remember this time not long ago. A time when Wisconsin got dumped on with snow and our business got dumped on with work. Sleep was a luxury and our home was a pit. The phone didn't stop ringing and we didn't stop for meals. Yes, we were blessed with assistance all around, from employees to friends and of course family (which is both).

It would seem with about as much spontenaeity as it took for that to happen that our family has been blessed once again with what would almost seem a "reward" of mini-vacations galore!

It started on May 30th on the kids last day of school. We headed 'em up and moved 'em out to Montello at Wilderness Campground. The whole fam damily...even Brady.

Our home for the weekend...a 1969 trailer from Dan's cousin, Trent & Pam.

Other than the ants, it was a nice cozy little place to sleep!

Mallory made a friend, McKennzie.

Christian made a friend, Katie.

The kids played awesome together all weekend. We relaxed, played games, went paddle boating, went fishing, and even had a visit from Brian & Lynnell from down the "road" in Princeton!!

Though the time was a bit short (Dan had to head out early to go go-kart racing at Sugar River Raceway-it was pretty much worth it, as his team came in 2nd.), it felt like we were gone for a week. Before we left, Dan had a call from someone in Texas who bought a car through Hemming's Motor News from a guy in Jefferson who wanted it delivered.

Wouldn't ya know it, we got back, barely unpacked, then repacked for a Topel Family Trip to Texas. National Lampoon's ain't got nothin' on us...

The darker car on the right is the '41 Cadillac Limo we took down in the enclosed trailer. This is after we dropped it off in New Waverly, Texas. Stay tuned for more...the work is piling up as I write...