Karen and Ron arrived at Dan and Sue's on Friday. Karen brought a Sam's size package of brats and we had them for dinner. Todd and Ann arrived after dinner. They had their horses, Shamrock and Zoe, pastured at the fairgrounds and were all ready for the Cowboy Mounted Shooting on Saturday. The weather has been rainy each afternoon and overnight. It's kept us from going out on the boat but the guys can fish off the seawall so they are happy.
Saturday we met everyone at the Mercer County fairgrounds to watch Ann and Todd compete. They ride a course set up with cones topped with balloons. They not only have to ride the pattern quickly, they have to shoot the balloons along the way. They also have exhibition rides where people learn and horses practice. There were about 5 little kids and one boy was so tiny his legs stuck out. He did real well. They point a play pistol but don't actually shoot until they are 12. We had a tailgate party for lunch. Neither Todd nor Ann placed in the money on Saturday.
We all went back to the State Park for them to check it out for next year's family reunion. Then five of us went to Immaculate Conception Church for Mass and three went to Dan's. We all met up at a restaurant.
Where we met was the old bar and store that owned the cabins the Ruhe and Homer clans rented for vacations in the 40s and 50s. Our family reunion packet for 2009 has a picture of the establishment's original owners presenting my great-grandfather with the key to the city of Celina in 1943. I learned to fish on the piers in front of the cabins and clean them at the fish house out back. All but a couple cabins are now gone. But we had a great time with Blue Moon Beer and some fish for dinner. (I drank Merlot.)
Sunday we went back to the fairgrounds and this time Todd took second place. Besides some money, he won a pair of spurs. They must dress in period costume. Ann wears "prairie skirts" and she looks good no matter how well she does! Karen and Ron left after the last heat but we stayed to help them load up their electric corral fence and tend the horses while they packed up. I never thought I'd see the day I was raking manure but that's exactly what I did.
Once the horses were on the road we went back to Dan's for a little bit and the guys did a bit of fishing but then we headed for the RV. We stopped for a bite at Arby's and then took a walk around the campground before sitting outside until dark.
Today we are e-mailing pictures of the RV damage to Goodyear, the factory and the dealership we bought it from in Lufkin, TX. We decided to have the parts shipped there and we can stop on our way home down 59 to have it fixed. Let's hope it all works out.
I'm going to Sue's to do laundry this afternoon. Then we are taking them all out to dinner. If all goes well we'll be heading to Dayton to get the rest of the tires changed out on the RV. Two failures is enough. We're getting rid of all the G614 tires that were manufactured during that time period. The guy in Dayton is a friend of Dan's. He said he is well aware of this crop of tires and can handle the inspection and claims process for us.
The Lord willing we'll be back in Cincinnati tomorrow with all new tires (except for the new one Goodyear bought us last year). We're going to Elk Lake for the 4th of July.
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