Ives Run to Middlebury Center!

 Friday 12 November 2021

   We finally left Ives run on Tuesday and moved down to Middlebury Center for a week.  We left peace and quite deer strolling around and now are along RT 287 with a lot of road noise.  Here we are in the

sunshine, most of days at Ives Run we were in the shade almost all day long. Once again it took us almost two hours to move the 5 miles down the road, we stopped at the post office,  gas station,  stopped for propane and for lunch.  Just one of our normal trips you could say. And of course, for all of you that have RV's, as I was pulling out Diane yells, I stop, it seems the steps will not retract.  I tried several adjustments with no luck.  So I decide to drive with the steps out.  Went about 5 feet and drug them in the dirt.  We made it to the new spot with the steps going in and out with each bump.  Oh fun!  And I almost forgot as we are setting up we noticed a small crack in the windshield.  So called insurance company they are sending someone out on Monday to fix it (we hope).

   I have been hunting most mornings and evenings without any luck and seeing very few deer.  But of the six I have seen 5 were buck just can't get a good shot.  Of course while I sat in the tree seeing nothing Diane would have 3 to 9 doe walking around the Moho every evening just isn't fair.  Right now I would shoot anything legal that comes my way.  Also need to find a spot for us to rifle hunt which starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Just running out of time to get everything done. We could use two extra no hunting Sundays to catch up on all we have to do.  
   Right now the weather is nice (for Nov) 55 degrees and sunny but it rained all night and fairly hard,  the streams and field are full of water again but no flooding.  I guess this front is bringing the harsh reality of what is coming (winter).  From here on out it look like lows in the 20's and high's just reaching the 40's.  I need to get some deer so I can sleep in and stay warm. We would like to go south but we both have dentist appointments,  I have two doctor's appointments, and the Moho goes in to the shop 2nd of December so we will have to tuff it out for awhile.
    Diane is out doing laundry and trying to find somewhere close for us to get water for the Moho.  Seems like well water right around us has a lot of sulfur and give you that rotten egg smell and don't want that in the tanks. 
   The big news for this post is we secured a volunteer position in Texas  starting in January.  So as soon as we are done here we will be heading out for a new experience in the great state of Texas.  So the schedule now is a week here, a week in Dillsburg, two weeks back here and then another week or so in Dillsburg before heading south to Texas. We are really excited to be going somewhere different, meeting new friends and seeing new places.  More to follow once we get the details as to where we are going and what we will be doing. Can't wait!

The last of the fall color for this year.  

Norm McCurdy

 Tuesday 2 November 2021

    As most of you know my brother Norman passed away October 23.  It has been really hard for me and the tears still swell up as I type. I grew up calling him Trig and was probably in my thirties before I heard anyone call him Norm.   He was 18 years older and gave me lots of advice over the years, I will miss his advice and opinions.  He was a great friend, brother and mentor. I will miss him terribly.

   We have spent most of past week or so planning and going down to Lynne and Rick's for Norm's services.  I did hunt two or three evenings and Diane worked a few days at the office. We are winding down at the campground, the maintenance guys are shutting down another section of the each day.  I have a feeling we will next.   The fall foliage has not been very brilliant and it has been raining just about all the time. I came back on the 10-31 and the place was flooded again.  The only good news the place closed on the 31st so no need to kick out the campers.

   Diane will be back on Thursday (she needed some baby time) and we will start packing in earnest.  Things should get slowly back to normal.

Sunday 7 November 2021

   You can see I'm having a tough time getting this post completed.  Diane finally made it back Thursday I picked her up and we had lunch at a little diner in Mansfield.  It was good to have her back Rudy was elated, now someone will cook and feed him some good left overs. She went into work on Friday but only stayed a couple of hours just toooooo slow. 
    I have finally seen some buck moving around, seen one on Thursday but didn't get a shot.  The darn thing snuck in when I wasn't paying attention.  Went back Friday morning and around 8am just as I was texting Diane poof there he stood.  I got excited and hurried my shot, missed and I heard him laugh as he ran away.  I went back in the evening I just got the stand situated and was pulling up my bow and poof there he stood, still laughing as he walked away. @#&* and crap. In the mean time Ben had been texting and Ben and his boys were coming up and Lorin was along.  I went over to the cabin in the afternoon had a good visit.  There was a buck walked up behind the cabin.  Ben took Mason out snuck around the cabin but the arrow fell just short of its mark. But the boys didn't let that slow them down.  They swapped out the bow for the 410 and went squirrel hunting. We headed out for the evening hunt but returned empty handed.

It wasn't a total waste of a hunting day!!  😏

   Now it is Sunday and we are "trying" to plan the next couple of weeks.  They turned off our water supply here at the campground so I think we will head down to our private spot in Middlebury Center. Still no water but we are out of the this campground.  We feel a little bad staying here and not working.

Norman LeRoy McCurdy  September 2 1934 - October 23, 2021

So long my friend

A Late update!

 Saturday 23 October 2021

  Well, it has been almost three week since the last update and believe or not much has happened.  It seems it rains at least every other day.  I haven't been working much as the ground is to soft to run the Kubota and just to wet to run the mowers.  Diane has been working in the office so at least one of us is putting in the needed hours.  I did mow one day and picked up flood debris another day.
  The big news is still baby McCoy.  Every day Shane sends Diane a picture and if he skips a day Diane

worries until the next one comes in.  We are done working this Friday so if not before we will go visit and meet the new grandson.
   Lynne and Rick were up for a week or at I should say Lynne was.  Rick had to work so he drove the camper up, went home to work and came back up the following weekend. Diane and Lynne had a great time shopping in Corning, wine tasting, making a glass pumpkins at Corning Glass and of course sitting by the fire most every night.  When Rick came back up all four of us went to the Corning Museum of Glass one afternoon.  We had a good time so much to see and do it wears you out.  After that we had stuffed fillet wrapped in bacon.  It was sooooo good.  We did eat extremely well that week shrimp, scallops, steak and even salad one evening.  It was good to get together for a whole week.
   After almost 4 weeks of hunting I have not one good story.  I been out 12 or 15 times and have seen a total of three doe.  I saw more driving to and from my hunting spot than when I'm in my stand.  The

best thing so far was the bald eagle I saw on my way home last week.  I even lost a arrow that just fell out of the quiver and some animal(bear maybe) chewed on the seat of my stand.  But I have a few weeks left lets hope things pick up. 

   Our time here is winding down quickly.  We have one more week before the park closes and I think we can stay here another week or until they shut the water off and close the sewer plant.  We have been here almost six months, the time has gone by so fast.  We're still not sure where we are going for winter, maybe Florida or maybe Texas for a change of pace.

Welcome Baby McCoy

 Monday October 4 2021

   Yes we are still in Tioga county working.  I don't know how we get so far behind with the the blog but not a lot of new things to report.  Oh, there is one thing HAPPY BABY MCCOY today.  That is right Shane and Morgan became parents today.  A beautiful baby boy Chase William McCoy 7.5 lbs., 21 inches was born this morning at 8:44 and all are doing well.  

                              Proud  Dad and Baby, mom resting in the back ground.

   Back to the past few weeks not a lot happening.  They were just on the verge of closing down the campground just as Congress passed the stop gap budget.  So now we are good until closing time on the 31st of October.
   I did get the boat back in the water and had it running just like it should except the throttle was very hard to turn up and down.  So today it went to shop to get fixed and then  winterized.  That seem funny with the temps still in the 70's during the day. Diane has gotten a few more kayaking trips in and now acks like a pro getting in and out with grace and style.  Well, maybe not grace.
   Hunting season has started and I made it out for opening day saw one doe and since then the temperature is just to warm to hunt.  And of course this year it seems we have rain showers every other day.  The mosquitoes are bad when it is that warm. I'll get some more hunting in next week after the weather breaks.
   Saturday the 25th we drove down to Mt Carmel for Aunt Loretta's birthday celebration in Mount Carmel.  All of the Angeli sisters were there as well.  A good time for one and all and the food was terrific.  I think they had enough food to feed us all again.  We stayed probably a little to long at least according to Rudy.  He was in his kennel for almost 7 hours not the longest for him but close.  We did give him an extra treat that night.
  With all the rain we were not doing a lot of clean up at Tompkins campground but Diane is working now in the visitor center 3 days a week answering phones and being bored.  The season is quickly winding down and incoming phone calls are dropping off.  One day she only had three calls in 4 1/2 hours. She is bored, bored, bored.  She has had opportunity to meet all the rangers and most of the other COE people and how they work.
  I guess that is about it for now hopefully I will have some hunting stories soon as well as more interesting adventures.

Lots of work at Tompkins

 Friday 17 September 2021

Wednesday 8th, Thursday and Friday we worked at Tompkins doing site clean up and flood clean up.  We did quit early enough on Friday to get some kayaking and fishing in.  Came back from work hooked up the boat loaded the kayak on top and off we went.  Backed  in the boat and tied it to the pier and got Diane off on the Kayak.  We planned for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Diane paddled out of site as I started the boat and headed out on the lake.  About 100 yds. out the motor quit, restarted it quit again and finally would not start.  I had to use the trolling motor to get back to dock. Mad, sad, and disgusted I loaded the boat on the trailer and went home.  Diane had a great time kayaking so at least one of us had a good trip. 

Saturday the 11th we went into Wellsboro I went to a auction and Diane went to crafty/fund raiser show at the fair grounds.  We both bought something and she picked me up around noon to head back home.  I walked Rudy and then headed up the mountain to relocate the trail camera while Diane went back to town for groceries. 

We are sitting out at the fire and the neighbors above us are out unloading some things from the truck.  3 deer just look at us all then go back to eating.  

Sunday we started packing up the Moho for a trip to Williamsport for some service work, Diane did another kayaking trip.  She is enjoying her trips more and more.  Dinner with Jen and Greg always a good time.

We finished packing Monday morning and headed to Rhone's in Williamsport.  I drove straight down and was parked up 2:30.  Diane on the other hand left, stopped at the post office, went to check the tomatoes at Tompkins where she met another camp host(talked) and then the wine store before joining Rudy and I at 5:00.  We were going to do burgers but opted for wings from a local restaurant.  We have to be up and out of the Moho by 8am!

Tuesday morning we were up and ready to walk out by 7:30.  We had Rudy and had to pack enough of his stuff for the day.  Food, drinks and snacks for us and the truck was quite full. First stop was breakfast at Mark's dinner.  We were the only ones there at first and I guess the waitress was bored she took our order but stood and talked for awhile.  Good we had all day to kill.  Food was good and we were on our way by 9am.  Into Williamsport hit a few stores, a few antique stores before lunch.  By  now it was getting warm so we couldn't leave Rudy in the truck.  We decided on Sheetz for a wrap for lunch, big mistake it was mostly just dough just wasn't good.  Then I got out pumped some gas and couldn't find the keys.  We were disappointed with lunch, hot and now I lost the keys while pumping gas.  After looking everywhere Diane found them on the dash!  All was not lost on the way back she spied a seafood store.  We stopped loaded up with shrimp and seafood salad.  Oh YUM and that would be dinner tonight.  They didn't bring the Moho out until after 5pm and we decided to spend the night again.

Wednesday we were up early than we wanted to be but once they opened up you just can't sleep anymore.  Only two hour drive so we packed slow I headed home Diane took the cooler back to load up at the seafood store, more shrimp, more seafood salad, scallops and a nice swordfish steak.  Back to Ives Run, Rudy and I had the camper already parked and set up, until she showed up.

Thursday was another work day cleaning up a site pulling vines and cutting branches.  We worked longer than normal but wanted to finish up this one site.

Friday we worked helping the rangers disassemble, pull and move the boat docks for winter storage.  That was quite interesting.  We quit just after lunch to give Diane some time for another kayaking trip.  We had so many left overs we couldn't cook the swordfish but don't feel to bad, all the leftovers were some sort of seafood.  Next started getting ready for trip south to Chris's birthday party tomorrow.

Glad to be on land and that
the rangers had this job.
Using 2 small boats to move 
a fairly large dock.....glad they made
it to shore.  

No more floods for us!!

Tuesday 7 September 2021  Happy Labor Day

 Hello everyone what a crazy time we have been having this year.

   We never did go back to Tomkins to camp the water came up over 20 feet flooding the electrical posts so we are staying at Ives Run for the rest  of the season.  We have settled in now and after several trips back and forth we have retrieved all of our stuff and redecorated this site.  We did have to leave the tomato plants behind just to big to move but we pick them every time we go over.
 
   Now we are working at Tompkins cleaning up just tons of debris.  You see pictures of flooded areas but once you stand in the debris you get a real sense of the enormous task of clean up.  Day after day we went back to the camp ground just cleaning the small beach area, us and the 4 maintenance volunteers.  The rangers spent days upon days moving big debris clearing the boat ramp so insurance people and boat owners can retrieve their boats and trailers.  Each day they let 4 or 5 owners in and they are escorted down to and from the boat launch area.  We finished the beach area in about week but the smell of the mud and debris will stay in our minds for a long time. On Labor Day weekend we had about 35 volunteers working to clean up the South Shore boat launch area and playground.  It was amazing to see what that many people could do in four hours.  We had the three Kubota's and a dump trailer running the whole time.  And like ants at picnic a Kubota would stop and before the driver got out it was full and off to dump again.  The concession stand was open and they offered all the workers half price meals and free coffee.  It was a good day for everyone. 

The picture above is most of the work crew, we did have

a few show up after they took the picture.

The pictures on the right are a little hard to see, but the top one is the mess when we showed up and the bottom one is after the clean up  They accomplished what the rangers wanted to get done, the Play ground was getting a wash from the Fire Comp. in the afternoon, but it is cleaned and ready for the kids!!

  

  We did take a day off and went to NY for supplies(mostly hunting) and treated ourselves to lunch at The Nine Elephants Thai restaurant.  It was good, Diane had  Pad Thai with scallops and I had scallops sautéed with fresh vegetables.  Both were very good and no cooking or dishes. Oh Yea!  The first stop was picking up a tree stand and trail camera from Sportsman's Warehouse we then hit a few more stores before returning home with a empty check book but a full belly.

    The bear visited again this past Saturday night I didn't see him but he left his tell tail sign, the grill lying on the ground and grease pan removed.  Rudy is always happy when he stops by because he smears the grease all over the ground.  We have been lucky no damage to the grill just need to replace grease pan.

    We did manage to get one job done that has been a long time coming.  The shower door has been leaking just a little bit over the past month or so and Diane finally got me fixing it.  As you can imagine no good plan ever goes the way you think.  All I had to do was remove the door take it outside clean everything up reinstall the door.  All went well and according to plan until about 5 minutes after 5 and I went to put back together.  I couldn't find my tube of caulking!!  We looked and looked no caulking.  The hardware store had just closed and there is nowhere close to get any.   Sooo I look at Diane and say we can go a day so without a shower, right.  After watching her eyes for a second, I decided it best to get caulking first thing in the morning and finish it up.  And so I did but we had to wait 8 hour before using the shower and at 8 hours and 5 minutes she was in the shower and we lived happily very after.

This is the mess he left in my shower......but we survived!!

 

   Last Monday I had to take the truck in for new tires and oil change not that big of a deal and it went smoothly.  But now we need the Moho serviced and inspected and the truck inspected by the end of September. Ouch on the checkbook.  We probably could have waited a month or two for tires but why chance it especially up here on this gravel roads one pointy stone and you have a flat and Diane doesn't enjoy changing them like she used to.

   The boat is now all fixed and ready for a trip in the lake.  All we need now is a nice day to take her out.  I can't believe it has taken this long to get everything and I still haven't used it.  I'm telling you I will get it in the water at least twice this year.

    Other than that we have been working on flood clean up and more and  more and more clean up.  I did take the government driving course so now I can drive the work trucks.  So now I'm certified to run an electric chain saw and drive a government vehicle.   They require us to do a total of 24 hours a week combined.  We probably get closer to 40 hours total but of course you get nothing extra for the extra hours just a feel good feeling.  

    Things should be picking up for blogging topics soon.  We  are going to Williamsport for some maintenance next Tuesday and don't know if it will one day or two days but always a fun time waiting to get the coach back each evening.  The seasons are changing, temperature is dropping (low of 49) last Friday,  a few trees are starting color and of course bow hunting starts 2 October.  We will still have to get our hours in but probably not as many extra hours.    

 

There is a pontoon boat and 

3 if not 4 trailers under this pile, 

when we first got there, there was a 

gigantic tree laying on top of it all.  😕

This is more of the South Shore
boat launch area, what a mess.

A Crazy time in Tioga County

 Saturday 21 August 2021

   Wednesday the 11th I returned the old motor to the guy I bought the boat from and got part of my money back.  Now we have the boat with new registration in our name, no motor, and a trailer with no title(on the way the man says).  Found a motor in State College planned on pick on Friday the 13th then Saturday and finally got it on Monday. We put it on the boat Tuesday but didn't put in the water because of pending heavy rain.  But we are ready to go.  Then Tuesday evening it started to rain.

  It rain Tuesday night over 2 inches, no big deal.  Wednesday it rained 3 inches kind of a deal but no worries it is a big lake.  Wednesday night it rained 3. 4 inches and the lake just ain't THAT big.  I went to bed around 9:30 at 10:00 the rangers knock on the door, we needed to help them evacuate the Bench section of the campground.  So in a driving rain Diane went to assign vacant camp sites to people having to move.  I went to move our boat to higher ground then down to get the kayaks out of the rising water.  To late the water was already knee deep by the time I got there.  I moved all five kayaks to a safer spot. Just in the time it took to get the last kayak, the water camp up over a foot.  I went back to the Moho put on dry clothes had a glass of wine and waited for Diane to come in. The rain quit about midnight and at 12:30 am Diane comes in just dripping wet, changed and we walked down to check the water level before heading to bed just after 1:30 am.  I thought I heard noise around 4:30 but fell back to sleep.  At 5:00 am a loud knock, Rudy started barking and I was awake.  I stumbled to the door only to find Ranger Brad and I could tell by the look on his face, we had to evacuate!  No hurry we had a couple of hours.  By now we were just getting on and off rain showers but rain none the less.  Diane packed up the inside, stuffing things anywhere they would fit and we had a lot of stuff out.  I packed up the out side.  I made three or four trips moving big items up to the gate house.  Bikes, table canopy, rugs, awning screen and bunch of other stuff all dripping wet and muddy just got moved higher up the hill.  Diane kept making coffee and offering breakfast bars  to keep us going.  

The first picture is about a foot below the sign at 6:30 AM,

at 8:00 AM it was at the bottom of the sign and

at 1:30 the sign is no longer visible, under water...

   By 9:30 am we arrived at Ives Run volunteer spot.  We parked the Moho, plugged in, and hooked up the basics before just sitting and having a coffee.  Completely drained and with everything wet we couldn't rest long.  We cleaned all day separating damp, wet and soaked stuff to dry out.  Talked to Jen and Greg just a bit.  Burgers and bed 8:30.  The last 24 hours we went through 3 or 4 sets of clothes,  had mud, water and debris everywhere inside and out and just 3 hours of sleep.  OMG what a day.
    We had over 7 inches or rain in two and half days and making it worse they cut the out flow from the dam because of down stream flooding.  Many, many small towns around here had flooded roads, washed out bridges, downed trees and power lines.  And I almost for forgot Diane was to head down state for Morgan's baby shower but we couldn't even think about it at all.

All settled at Ives Run,
 this is our evening sky!!

   Friday the 20th of August 2021 the sun came up time to get back to normal.  Diane picked up a rental car a headed down state.  I made two trips over to Tompkins(now closed for the year) to pick up the things we left behind.  Still tired and still not rested well it was a struggle to focus.  I left my glasses at Hall's, went to the post office but forgot to drop off the out going mail so I had to make another trip.  But making progress on getting everything over to the new campsite. 

  So now we are at Ives Run, the boat is at Tompkins but both lakes closed until further notice.  Doesn't that just figure.  They will open I'm sure by early next week.  The camp site is looking good and ready for a day or two of normal.

  Saturday morning update!!  Now that we are all moved over they may want us to move back on Monday to help with clean up.  Oh yea!

Sunday 23 August 2021

   I woke up to a noise around 3:30 am.  As I looked out the window I saw something running across the road.  Turns out it was a bear!   He knocked the grill down cleaned out the grease pan and I can't image why, but he ate my work gloves.  When daylight came I surveyed the area and the other campers no real damage but I need some new gloves.

Images from the bear visit.  He got the grease pan from 

under the grill, but why did he eat my gloves!!!

   I had breakfast with Jen and Greg visited for awhile then started cleaning up the camper for Diane's return from Morgan's baby shower trip.
   No rain now for three days both lakes are open and things are getting back to normal.  I think we are moving back to Tompkins tomorrow and stay there until Labor Day or so.
    I picked Diane up in Mansfield we went to look at a piece of land and drove the back way home.  A nice end to a crazy week!!

Oh yea,  I (Diane) had a great weekend visiting with Shane, Morgan, Lynne and Rick.  The baby shower was wonderful, and everybody had a great time. 

  Morgan just loved her cookie table.....she does have a sweet tooth.  😊