Before we left, we decided to see a show--Cats Pajamas Vocal Band. This is a four person acapella group which found itself at the UW-Madison several years ago. In fact two of the members are from the greater Madison area. It was a 10:00 AM show (highly recommended) and we decided to leave immediately after the show. So the day before we packed up and prepared to leave the rig in storage. We wanted to winterize the water system which involves replacing all water in the plumbing system with RV antifreeze. It usually takes a couple of gallons to fully winterize by leaving only the water heater empty and dry. Our system has a water heater bypass valve which allows us to pressurize the system without filling the heater with antifreeze.
Of course, since we were in somewhat of a hurry, the valve would not work properly and antifreeze flowed into the heater. After several head scratching moments and verbal rants, the valve had its way. As the heater holds 6 gallons, we needed to find 6 more gallons of antifreeze.Walmart came to the rescue--even on sale! We got the rig winterized and parked in a storage area at the campground. We finally hit the road by 2:00 PM.
Arriving in Madison, we wanted to be sure we had as much contact with family as possible. We attended Kiley's holiday choir performance, Easton's hockey practices and saw all three kids in their holiday dance performance. We witnessed an awe inspiring goal by number 35 on ice:
We also attended Easton's kindergarten holiday program and Donna was a volunteer "parent" escorting Easton's class to a performance of "The Nutcracker" at Madison's Overture Center. Then, of course, was the Maier family Christmas event held at the hall in the Dane Fire Station, the Haug-Lemke Christmas bashes.
Chezney and cousin Maggie decided to decorate the Dane Hall :
There were also gatherings for Packer and Badger football games with highly excited fans:
Another event was a tied blanket get together organized and presided over by Donna's niece, Lori. Donna and Erik took his kids to a fabric store to pick out fleece to make their blankets. Each child picked a patterned fleece for the top and a solid colored one for the bottom of each blanket. After much searching through the store, each child found what they were after. We all met at the Catholic elementary school basement where Lori had access and where large tables were available. In addition to our instructor Lori, Donna and I, daughter-in-law Becky, grand children Kiley, Chezney and Easton, Lori and Donna's niece Lynette and nephew Mike and his daughter, Cassie. were in attendance.
Fleece sets for each blanket were arranged with pattern atop solid color, flaps were cut on each side and tied together.
Two pieces of fleece were quickly joined to become one-piece blankets:
And blankets were needed while we were "up north." In the three weeks we were there, the area received 24 inches of snow and suffered through a blizzard and below zero temperatures.
Here is our summer home, Madison KOA:
And Kiley's snowman:
Many thanks to Dianne, Gene and Ruth for sharing a bedroom with the homeless. Heading south January 02.
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