Back to traveling!

A week or so ago, we closed up the house and took off in Phaeton Place for the Warsaw fairgrounds. We stayed there for a couple nights and visited with Mom and sister Nita and husband. We enjoyed a great visit. Mom is in great shape for 93 years old with no real complaints.  She is living in her own house, a park model in Nita's woods, and is as independent as she wants to be. Nita visits every day and sees to it that she has what she needs. All the same things we did for her when we would be with her in Texas for the winter. But Mom has decided she will not return to Texas anymore. Our job is to sell her place when we get there and we hope to get that done pronto.

After leaving Warsaw, we went to New Castle and set up camp at Summit Lake State Park, near our former home in Mooreland. We stay there and do the rounds of our doctors which we kept when we went fulltime and travel all over. You gotta' be somewhere for doctor's appointments, so we stick with our old providers.

We managed to have some fun at the same time by visiting with a colleague of mine. They have a Scottish Terrier, Baxter, and he and Duchess got to visit. Didn't really do much together. . . they are like two ships that pass in the night. But it was a change of scenery for Duchess and she does enjoy their back yard!

Our yearly doctor appointments went well. Terry's doctor reinforced our thinking on his medical problems, particularly his heart issues. He confirmed that Terry can build his heart back up from where it is now and perhaps get back into the same physical condition he was in prior to getting sick last winter. That illness really dragged him down and reduced his heart function, but he is already doing better. It will just take time and we are working on getting his stamina back. Walking daily has already improved that, so we are hoping to continue.

We then saw his cardiologist in Indy. He made a couple med changes which we hoped he would. One med he takes is a rhythm drug and the doctor had scaled back on it. Other doctors have tried that, but it seems they all want to give it a go. But it doesn't work for Terry. So they are increasing that again. At least we know from the tests they did this summer that the med, previously suspected of causing lung problems, has not in fact done anything to his lungs, so they were okay with increasing it again.

So we are back on the road and heading toward Virginia to see the kids. . . at least the first round! We will get into Charlottesville on Sunday and visit with Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan, Aenea and Pepper for a week! Whoo hoo! Can't wait to see them. It's been a long summer without my grandkids fix.

We are currently camped at Camp Creek, West Virginia, which is a neat little state park we found a couple years ago. We even have a full hookup site and it's paved. There are streams and waterfalls all around us and it's quite loud when we step outside. I was concerned about the level rising as these streams are raging pretty good right now what with all the rain they have had here. But they assure us the worst is over. The picture on the left and the picture on the right are the same MashFork falls, two years ago and yesterday.


We will go make a supply run today before leaving tomorrow. And do a little hiking.

Till next time. . .

Dale

You may notice a large void. . .

Suffice to say, it's been the worst of times. Terry's health continued to be at the forefront of our thoughts all summer long and getting him back into better and healthier condition was goal number one.

He did start walking again. A physical therapist gave him some exercises, but most importantly told him what he could safely do with his heart condition. He started out walking 10 minutes 3 times a day. He now is up to 35 minutes once a day and walking about 1.5 miles. His sleep problems are ever present, but he spends most of the night in bed and not in a chair, so that is definitely an improvement.

We did get to touch base with some friends this summer and managed to get in his high school reunion and then mine. Those were great times with old friends. These were both our 50th reunions, so a lot of people made extra effort to be there. Mine was a three-day event, starting with a meet and greet kind of thing on Friday night. Then on Saturday, there was a golf outing, a tour of the high school and downtown Goshen. Saturday night was our big event, a dinner, a silent auction to raise money for our scholarship fund, and dancing and mingling. Really enjoyed seeing everyone again. Sunday we had a ride on the "LilyPad" which is a tour boat that goes around Lake Wawasee. It's been years since we have been on that lake and it was a lot of fun. It was a hot day and most of the day we were on the top deck in the breeze, but later when we turned into the sun, we went downstairs into the air conditioning.

Our big plan for the summer was to get the house emptied and sold. Had Terry been well, we would have probably got that done, but as it was. . . it didn't happen. But as he got to feeling better, he did start working with me.

We took two pickup loads of stuff to Goodwill and a half load to electronic recycling. I boxed up most everything that was in closets, cupboards and dressers. Everything is labeled and ready to be packed into the trailer or put out next summer for a garage sale. All the furniture will be sold and there is some nice stuff, but we don't want to continue to pay for storage for it after we sell the house. Most of the stuff belonged to Terry's parents and was not our stuff. Once we get it all emptied, then the house will be sold. Anxious to get that done and behind us. Eventually we think we will have a house in Florida near Brandon. We have to be somewhere warm year round for Terry and it makes sense to be close to one of your kids.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Getting some help!

We left Elkhart Campground on Tuesday this week and drove to Summit Lake State Park, near our old home in Mooreland. They have installed 50 amp and have water on every site with a dump station, so when we need to be in the area, that is a good choice for us. We reserve the one pull-through right next to the bathhouse and use the campground showers.

I had my dermatology appointment and got my cortizone shot for my psoriasis. It's the only thing that works, so three shots a year is what I get without any side effects popping up. After that appointment we returned to the motorhome, ate lunch, and headed toward Indianapolis by checkout time at 2 p.m.

We arrived in Indy at the Indy KOA which is actually at Mt. Comfort Road, and I guess technically in Greenfield. We had registered for two nights. Terry was scheduled into the Advanced Heart Failure Lab on Thursday. Starting at 9 a.m. we had a different appointment/doctor/medical person every hour till 4 o'clock.

Terry has had heart failure that we watch and treat for nine years. People live with heart failure. At the very worst, however, heart failure patients may elect a transplant. The problem for us was that all the people we saw thought we were there for consultations for a heart transplant. Nooooooo....... we didn't get that memo and didn't sign up for that. Heart failure can be treated and the very first doctor we saw, a transplant specialist, said Terry wasn't sick enough to even think about a transplant. He was confused as to why Terry's cardiologist wanted him seen in the clinic. But most HF clinics treat heart failure. Perhaps he doesn't want to there. . . I don't know. But he did request a couple tests and said that perhaps the new HF drug, Entresto, would be a good fit for Terry. The second doctor we saw was a lung transplant specialist who was also mystified at our appearance in the clinic. He reiterated what the first doctor said. He ordered a test as well. Those three tests are all scheduled next week. The next guy was a dietitian and he said he was going to try and get the rest of our appointments cancelled because we did not need to see those people since we were not there for a transplant and that's what they would all talk about. But the gal who had scheduled everything declined his recommendation saying that if we ever needed this, it would already be done. Course, that may be years down the road or perhaps NEVER. A few more years and Terry will probably be past the "age" for such a procedure and he really doesn't want to consider it. He just wants to get to feeling better.

So we went to all the appointments and the next to last one was a social worker which was a total waste of time. She put Terry to sleep with her drivel and she arrived late and kept us 90 minutes, making us miss our last appointment.

The last one was the one we really wanted because it was a physical therapy assessment. We went down to the office and we were able to get rescheduled for today. So we went in this morning. The PT was super and she assessed Terry for doing some PT. He hasn't been able to breathe well enough to walk, but she wants him to walk 10 minutes 3 times a day. We've already done 2 rounds today and he's done well.

The biggest problem has been his sleeping. He cannot sleep at night. He is up and down until he just gives up and stays up, sometimes not getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep a night or none at all. Then he sleeps off/on all day. Skipping sleep during the day does not necessarily mean he sleeps at night. He may still be up all night, so I have been insisting that he sleep when he can. His heart needs rest and when he doesn't get it, he looks terrible. He has been so much on edge with this doctor stuff this summer and his overall health, that these things have obviously contributed greatly to his condition. Last night after seeing all these doctors, he went to bed at 7 p.m. He got up once and slept till 7 a.m this morning. Today has been a great day. He looks and feels great and he is acting like himself. I hope he continues to sleep now that he has some answers and is getting some help to get back on track.

So, we have decided to spend the weekend here in Indy because his tests are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. We plan to leave here Wednesday and visit with Mom in Claypool before heading back to Elkhart Campground on Thursday.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Where have I been?

That's probably what all my regular readers are wondering. It's been a long few weeks and while some things have gone well, other things have not.

We have been here in Elkhart Campground for a month and just signed up for another. Our plan this summer is to get the last duplex cleaned out and sold. Would like to get that done this year, but it's not looking good. Next year for sure.

Shortly after we arrived, Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan, Aenea, and Pepper the Poodle got here. We knew they were coming and I was planning on getting everything ready over at the house. But we walked in there and found mouse droppings all over the kitchen. What a mess. So I sent Terry out for more and better mouse traps and I set to cleaning and bleaching the kitchen. I spent the entire day on it and got little else done. But at the end of the day the kitchen was clean and new traps were set for those dastardly mice. I've caught three.

Jocelyn called and asked if they could come in that night and we said yes. Although I hadn't cleaned the rest of the house, I had cleaned in the fall before we left, and the house does not get dirty during the winter months. I did manage to clean the bathrooms and we were ready for them.

We enjoyed seeing them. They had been to Niagara Falls and into Canada, camping with the dog even! And in a tent! Tom had some shows with his band, including one in Toronto. Go Tom! I hope to hear them sometime. I have heard his one band, The Hollow Machine, but I have yet to hear Spider Lilies.

We were able to see the kids every day while they were here and they visited Mom a couple times. She enjoyed seeing them and the grandkids always enjoy their great-grandma. She is the only one they have left. I managed to take Ronan for a ride in the Miata. He loves it and always wants me to take him out.

We really enjoyed their visit. We don't get to see them often and it really helps us get our kids/grandkids fix when they visit us. We try to see them twice a year and we look forward to that.

We managed to go to Terry's 50th high school reunion. Wow! They had a really good turnout and we got to see quite a few people we hadn't seen for years. Well, that Terry hadn't seen in years. A few people I knew or had met at previous reunions. We attended a meet and greet on Friday night at a bar in downtown Elkhart. The food was good and we enjoyed seeing some of his classmates there. Then Saturday night was at the country club with a dinner buffet and some games. Our table won at trivia. We earned play money for that and then we bid on door prizes people had donated. We "bought" two thermos bottles that are really nice. And since we were using our "play money" they really didn't cost us anything. It was a great time and we enjoyed ourselves.

We enjoyed an evening of cards with our friends, Luanne and Jim. We girls won! The next night we had a campfire here in the park with other friends. They are from the Elkhart area, but live in Arizona in the winter and return here in the summer to visit their kids.

Terry's been really sluggish for some time and so we paid a visit to his doctor in Indianapolis a few weeks ago. They did a few tests and changed some meds which seem to have helped. But we are going back next week for some more testing. He's had heart trouble for 20 years and it may be time to change some more of his meds. There are a lot of new meds for various heart problems and we are hoping we find something that works better.

The last few days we have had some really heavy rains. That's okay, because we were needing rain desperately. I hope it was in time to help the crops. We had a couple inches yesterday and it rained more today and supposed to tomorrow as well.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Reunion Time!

We moved over to Piney Grove on Wednesday so we would be there for the reunion. Piney Grove is a Corps of Engineers park and a decent place to stay. We are in among the trees, however, so Terry has to fuss with his portable satellite dish in order to get TV reception. But he usually gets what he wants!

We went into town and visited with family members at the Buck Creek Flea Market. That is where Paul, Rusty, and Shirley are during the day. I always like to look around because I usually manage to find something I like. They were all there as were Gary and Jo, so we got to see them all.

We visited for awhile and then Terry, Gary, Jo and I all left on a mission to find an Amish vegetable market up north of Corinth in Tennessee. We did give it the ol' college try, but we never managed to find it, although we drove all over the area. As it was, when we got back and talked with the fellow who had told Terry about it, we found out we were very close and just turned the wrong way on one road. Geesh! I guess that will mean another road trip next time we are there. . . that will be next year. LOL

On Saturday, we met at Ramey's Restaurant in Marietta for the Pace/Stevens reunion. We had 18 there, I think. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. The only person left in our parents' generation (the ones who started the reunion) is Uncle Bob. He, unfortunately, suffers from Alzheimer's and no longer comes to the family gatherings. That is a difficult situation for his children as it is for any family dealing with a loved one with that disease. But he is happy where he is at and that is a good thing. We always enjoy the reunion and hope every year that more of the family members will come.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at the camp and getting ready to break camp on Monday. When we left there, we returned to Red Bay to get our paint work done on two of our bay doors. They got that done on Tuesday and we spent that night in Red Bay, then headed out. It was supposed to rain the day we left and it did. We drove the Natchez Trace and it poured down on us the entire time. I love driving the Trace and it was okay in the rain. There wasn't much traffic and we easily made it to north of Nashville for the night. We stayed at Dad's Bluegrass Camp.

The next day we drove on up to Edinburg, Indiana, and stayed at the Johnson County Park. It is located in what used to be a part of Camp Atterbury. Our first campsite had power problems and we were moved to a site we had used a year or so ago. That worked fine. We shopped a bit at the factory shops down the road. And while we were in the area, we stopped and got carryout at Nick's Diner. There we had their famous tenderloin sandwich. I was not impressed. Terry may have like it better, but I didn't care for it.

We left there and drove to Warsaw and stayed at the fairgrounds for a couple nights and visited with Mom and my sister and husband. Then we headed on up to Elkhart to the campground where we plan to spend the summer.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back home in Red Bay!

I say back home, because Red Bay is where Phaeton Place was born. She has her roots here. We came back this time because we have to get two bay doors replaced. We actually are scheduled on Monday, June 11, but we had a couple other things we hoped to get fixed while we were in the area. Terry's family reunion is June 9, so we got done in Searcy in time to get over here.

We stopped into the body shop and they have our doors. They are going to check their schedule to see when they can do it, maybe this week or early next week.

We also stopped at the camp office to sign up for a service appointment. After July 7, Tiffin will no longer work on motorhomes past ten years old, so we won't be able to get factory service. But there are so many outfits here, former Tiffin employees who have gone out on their own, that this is still the best place to come to get work done. Tiffin even supplies you with a little catalog of all the places that do work and even a map with their locations. We had two items that needed attention, the door awning and a slide roller. We were told that the scheduler would come around today to see us.

So we went to bed last night knowing we would be talking to someone today. I got up early and was having my first cup of coffee when the phone rang at 6 a.m. The lady spoke in a heavily southern accented voice and I had trouble understanding her. But she asked if we could be in Bay 10 at 7 a.m. What???????? Yes, I said. We will be there. I ran and woke Terry up and told him. He asked, "Can we make it?" I said, "We're gonna try." We left at 6:45 and were sitting waiting in front of Bay 10 a few minutes later. In fact, our paperwork had not yet reached our bay. Once we were in, we told them our two problems and we unloaded the cabinets they would have to have access through. Since we had rushed around, we hadn't had breakfast, so I ran out and got us breakfast. I got back about 8:15 and they were DONE! DONE! Unbelievable! The awning was not broken. Water had built up in the endcap and the tech removed it and then drilled a little hole to keep water draining from now on. He lubricated it a bit and it is good to go. The slide roller was a bigger job, but they know how to repair this stuff. They had to actually jack up the slide from the outside. Didn't take much time to get it in place. They thought they might have to fix our broken one if they didn't have one in stock. But they did have one and told us to keep the old one and have it repaired/welded so we would have a backup.
We were back on our site here at the camp at 8:30. Man, what a fast, busy 2 1/2 hours that was. I can't believe we just dropped in hoping to maybe at least get someone to look at in and it's fixed! I just can't say enough for Tiffin. They do it right.

We are here in the camp for another 5 nights or so, then we move to Piney Grove Corps Park in Mississippi, to be close to the reunion. Once we leave there, we will be back here in Red Bay, unless our work is finished between now and next Wednesday. So we are happy campers once again!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Searcy, Arkansas

For years as members of FMCA, we were aware that the president of FMCA (now ex-president) had established a company based in Searcy, Arkansas, that would rebuild your RV windows that were fogged up or had moisture in between the panes of the double-paned glass. While our Phaeton was still under warranty, we had several windows replaced. The driver's window I think was done three times. Tiffin would simply replace rather than fix the windows. Now that the coach is not under warranty, I did not want to take it to Tiffin and have them replace the windows with other "like" windows that would fail in a short time. So we decided to head to Searcy and have our bad windows fixed.

On the way, we stopped in Gretna, Florida. When we pulled in, I noticed the coach two down from us as being familiar. Our friends, Rod and Marsha, who were the hosts at the Tiffin Campground for years, were camped there! So we visited a while. They had left Florida that morning, same as us. They mentioned they were headed to Red Bay in June and we were too! So it seems we will meet again.

The next morning we broke camp and drove on. We stopped at a Corps of Engineers Park along the Tombigbee River. It was a beautiful camp and we were right on the river. We saw a barge going through soon after we stopped. That was the only one we saw, but I'm sure there are more moving up and down that river. They also access the Tenn-Tom Waterway, which connects the Tennessee and the Tombigbee to the Gulf of Mexico. We were able to sit out for awhile, but once again, RAIN! It seems there is no end in sight. We we were safe and snug in our campground.

We finally got into Searcy on Friday afternoon and set up camp at Whitney Lane RV Park. It is owned by a very kind older gentleman who had just lost his wife three weeks ago. He put us on his best site. It was a full pad with 50 amp and full hookups. It was the last site on the row and we stepped out with a view of a grassy yard running back to a woods. We had gotten in late afternoon and it was hot, so we plugged in. After waiting a bit, our power still had not kicked in. Julian, the owner, had pointed out that the other hookup was bad because a plug had overheated and he hadn't yet replaced it. So Terry tried a couple things and nothing worked. We had to call Julian back. He came back and prepared to open up the box and fix the problem. He had built the park and knew how to do all of this, but this stuff is right up Terry's alley, so he helped him. The box was full of mud dauber nests, long since vacated, and the breaker was bad. But they got that all fixed up and decided to fix the second box which had some bad wire due to the overheated plug at one time. So the two guys worked till they had that done and Julian spent another hour just talking. He is such a sweet man and he no doubt is lonely having just lost his spouse. I think Terry earned his angel wings talking with him. He does have family around. His sister across the street, a daughter next door and another relative next to her. So I'm sure they all check on him.

On Tuesday after Memorial Day, we were up early and over at the FogDr. garage at 8 a.m. They were ready for us and backed us right in and up to the building. The have full hookups as well, but we just plugged into electric so we would have air. They came out and asked us which windows needed work, so we walked around as they labeled them, nine total. Then they took out the four in the bath and bedroom. They had told us it would take two days so we were prepared to stay the night there. But they had those four done by noon and pulled the others in the front and said they would try to have them all done. And they did! Very professional people to work with. They worked fast, but not too fast that you questioned their work. They had a definite system for removing all the windows and worked steadily till the job was done.

Once they were finished, we went to get some supper and once back in the motorhome, we started hanging valences. Terry had made all our wood valences and they are beautiful, but it was a lot of work removing them with the blinds in them. And a couple of them are really heavy. We had done all that before we got there, so all they had to do was do the windows. So now we had it all to put back. And we had several cabinets we had to empty and leave empty till they were done, so in addition to having wood valences all over the place and in the car, we had boxes of household goods sitting under the table. It was a mess. But by the time we were ready for bed, it was all done. Our new windows look great. We can actually see out of them for the first time in years!

We spent the night in their parking lot and slept in. Wednesday, yesterday, we got up and left their place at 9 a.m. It was a great stop and after leaving $$$$ in Searcy, we went on down the highway.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Marking time. . .

The guys who did our new mask on the front didn't want us driving off into the sunset just yet. Especially with the monsoon style rain we've been experiencing. So we signed up for another three days here at Tampa East RV Resort and will be leaving on Saturday morning.

While we were in Tampa we had almost torrential rains the entire time. We really didn't get out and do much because we didn't want to run in and out of the rain. We did go to Ikea one day and shopped. Bought a couple things, but not much. We did have lunch there. I had the salmon lunch and it was very good. When we left, we took a drive through Ybor City, the old cigar district. I guess that's what you call it. We had been through there years ago, but we may have missed the shoppes area because I didn't remember it. A lot of little restaurants and bistros now. All the kind of places we can't go because of diet restrictions.



Saturday we left Tampa East and drove 50 some miles up to Bushnell. We had reservations at Blueberry Hill for three nights. It's a very nice camp. They have a lot of activities for campers, but their season is over, so not much is going on. It would be a great camp if you weren't packed in so tight. It is a fairly new camp, but the spaces are just a bit short for us and not much space between campers. They have a "moat" that surrounds the camp and warning signs telling of alligators. They weren't telling lies, either, because we took pictures of two. One was a baby, the other was about 4-5 feet long and capable of taking small pets. Good advice to stay away!

We went to the Webster flea market on Monday while we were there. Big disappointment. Course, the season is over. But the real reason it was so dead was no doubt the amount of rain they've had.

We enjoyed our time in Florida. We got to see the kids and granddaughter and had some work done on the motorhome. But it's time to roll. We hit the road tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Time to roll . . .

Our time with the kids came to an end, but not before we spent a glorious day Saturday with the kids. We started out by planning on an air boat tour, but the weather did not cooperate and we eventually scrapped the idea. We wanted a 30 minute ride, not knowing how Brynlee would handle it, but no one was doing those on Saturday.

So after driving to the various venues and threatening skies, we decided to head to the restaurant, Grills Riverside, where we enjoyed a dinner inside, but at the window, so we could see the Indian River. We actually spotted a dolphin swimming close to shore.

After dinner, we returned to the camp to let Duchess out and feed her, then we headed back over to the kids' again and spent the evening with them. It was a great time and we hated to go. I always hate to leave kids and grandkids, but we have other places to go. Terry had made an appointment to get the front mask removed from the motorhome and a new one applied.

We left Sunday morning to go to Tampa, actually Dover, just east of Tampa. We arrived in the afternoon and it was clear the entire way, but soon started to rain. It really poured the rest of the day and all night. They had told us they wouldn't be able to do the mask if it rained. As it turned out, their other appointment didn't show and they were able to put us inside the building and do it. So Monday morning we were over at Florida Applied Films, just about 2 miles from the camp and they took about 2 hours to remove the paint protection film that was on it. The problem with these films is that rocks pierce them and then mold forms underneath. I actually thought we would have to repaint the entire front cap, but as it turned out the paint underneath was good and not damaged. So after it was removed, we returned to camp. We needed some touch up paint and we were told to go to Lazy Days and get it mixed for us. We went on over and it didn't take long to get our order in. We removed the refrigerator hatch door which contained the three colors we needed and the paint shop was able to mix up some paint for us. They called when it was ready a few hours later and we picked it up.

The new mask was ordered and we made another appointment for Wednesday (today) morning to have it applied. It had continued to rain and pour every day we have been here, but today was sunny with a few clouds here and there. We took the coach back into the building at the shop and they started work immediately. By the time the mask was delivered, they were ready for it and got it installed. It looks great. There was a Phaeton logo on the the front which had to be removed in the process and we weren't going to put any back on. But the logo has been there for over 12 years and there was a shadow where the logo had been. So the guy offered to do a decal, which we approved. It is the same style looks very nice. We are very pleased, especially since we didn't have to repaint the front end.

While we were waiting on things, we drove up to Zephyrhills and looked around at some RV sites. But we didn't find anything Terry wanted to go back to see, so no news there. We did have breakfast Tuesday with some great friends, Bill and Helen. We met them when we started fulltiming. They live in the Villages now and we rarely see them anymore, so this was a special time.


My friend, Josie, is still in the park in Texas and took even more pictures of our cactus. They continue to bloom more and more and are really beautiful.



We are here for a few more days because the mask needs to "cure" before driving off, especially if we have a lot of rain. So I see a casino in my future as well an IKEA! Whoo hoo!





Till next time. . .

Dale

Winding down. . .

Our time with the kids is coming to a close. This week at the park has been busy with wildlife sightings. We have seen an abundance of the gopher tortoises, Sandhill cranes, bunnies, turtles, ducks, a pileated woodpecker and we even spotted a lone eagle! We have seen the eagle on past trips here and it is always a thrill.



Yesterday was the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. We were able to see it from the cul-de-sac in front of Brandon's house. Pretty cool. A few minutes later we heard the rumble from the rocket launching. We heard later what we believe to be the rocket boosters returning to earth. They actually are landed on a drone ship in the ocean and reused. Pretty clever.






While we have been gone from Texas, our cactus have been busy blooming. They started the week we left there. We have never seen them blooming. Our paddle cactus always have flowers on them, but they never "bloom" and the long armed cactus (don't know the name) have never produced blooms while we are there. Dang, but they're beautiful. A friend who is still there took these this week.

Till next time. . .

Dale

FLORIDA!

Once done with our spring appointments, we hit the road for Florida. Megan and Brandon had a trip to Cancun the first week in May and we agreed to stay with Brynlee during that time. This was an incentive trip Brandon earned for reaching some really high sales goals set by the company. He is doing very well with his company, loves his job, and they reward him accordingly.

We traveled long days to get there, more than the usual 250 miles we normally do, but Brandon had an event on Saturday he wanted Terry to go with him to, so I got him there just before noon on Saturday. Brandon had tickets to EggFest, an event sponsored by the Big Green Egg and Wassi's, a meat market in Melbourne. They were cooking on 200 Green Eggs, demonstrating how they work, etc. The Eggs they demo are then sold at a highly reduced price. You have to sign up beforehand and Brandon had two free tickets, so he took Terry.

They enjoyed their time, got to eat all day and at the end of the day, had his Egg loaded in the car and brought home. It was a chore getting it out of the car and through the house to the lanai, as it weighs 200 some pounds. But a neighbor came and helped and all went smoothly.

The kids left the next day for their flight to Cancun after dropping Brynlee off at school. I picked her up later that day and the fun began. We had a great week. I was the chief chauffer, driving her from one event to another. LOL But we had great fun and enjoyed our time together. I stayed at the house with her. Terry was there during the day and we even brought Duchess, who got along well with Jax. Terry would go back to the motorhome at night. Brynlee had school, gymnastics, dance, Gymboree, and T-ball during the week. We were busy!

The kids arrived back on time Friday evening and we all met at Sonny's BBQ where we had dinner together. Sunday Brandon cooked out on his Green Egg and we had steak, shrimp, salmon, burgers, asparagus, corn on the cob, salad, cake and watermelon. It was a grand feast and we lots of leftovers.

In other news, Mom returned to her home last weekend and is doing well. She gets visits from home health and the physical therapist, but is able to get around on her own and even shower. So she is recovering very nicely. Nita even took her to church yesterday and dinner out and she enjoyed herself immensely. Prayers have been answered.

Today we are going to look at some RV lots in the area. Would like to find something, but pickins' are slim. Tonight we are going to Diane's, Megan's Mom's, for dinner. We are looking forward to that.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Spring appointments

We drove in high winds all the way back from Virginia to Indiana. We drove the toll road, which was expensive, but the quickest way to our destination. We pulled into the drive at the storage condo and were there for a week. We made one trip to Indy for Terry's cardiology appointment. We will have to make some time for Terry to have a pulmonary assessment, but all is well.

Mom is doing well in the rehab division at Miller's in Warsaw. She is in rehab every day, usually morning and afternoon, and is trying to do everything they ask of her. She says she grows stronger every day. She can feel her strength returning and is able to do more and more by herself which is really encouraging.

Toward the end of our time there, we camped at the Warsaw fairgrounds so we could visit more. I attended her evaluation where they said she would be there one more week, then released home. We also went to her house with the PT people and Mom and they evaluated what else they specifically needed to work on to get her living again in her home. Fortunately after what we went through with Daddy, her home is now 100% handicapped accessible, so she can negotiate very well with her walker, although she will be able to ditch that soon. The people at Miller's have been wonderful to her and have kept her safe and mobile and have improved her balance and stability a lot. We are very grateful to them. They in turn have been very pleased with Mom's eagerness to help herself and are in awe of this almost 93 year old woman who refuses to be bedridden. Whoo hoo!

After our last weekend there, we headed to central Indiana and the rest of our doctor appointments. All went very well and I am pleased to say I got released by my back doctor in Indy. He is a peach and he and his staff gave me my life back and free of the pain I have endured for over 40 years. If you are having back issues and they are not resolved with the treatment you are seeking, please go to St. Vincent's (Indy) to the Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine and at least have a consultation. I used Dr. Potts, but there are several specialists and they will help you see the right one. I am eternally grateful to them.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Moving on. . .

We spent another night on the road before we got to Charlottesville, Virginia. We spent a glorious week with the kids and grandkids. We always enjoy seeing them as we only see them about twice a year for a week each. Fortunately, while the whole family had been sick, they all were recovered by the time we got there. Illness is something we try to avoid like the plaque, with Terry's health problems.

The kids had some school functions this week, so in between times, we visited and even babysat while the kids were gone. Tom now works away from home, so he is not readily available if Jocelyn has to step out. Most of the time, she can take them with her, but if she has a doctor appointment, it's handier if we can watch them. Tom is enjoying his job. He now works for the university, UVA, as a computer programmer in the School of Medicine. I guess his job is a lot like his last job, but working at a university certainly has more perks. His job is flexible as well. When he was sick for the week, he was able to work from home so he didn't have to take time off work.

We entertained the kids out at the motorhome a couple evenings. While we were there, we gave Ronan his birthday presents because we wouldn't be there for his actual birthday. At least he gets to drag it out a bit more. LOL

The weather was less than stellar while we were there. Winter has been hanging around most of the midwest longer this year and Virginia was no exception. We had snow twice and while it wasn't a lot, it did hang around on the ground for awhile. We tried to use our propane sparingly and since we had 50 amp there, we could use our heat pumps if it was above 40, but that wasn't always possible with the cold temps we had.

Our week was too short and we are on the road again, headed to Indiana. Going to spend some time visiting Mom and we have our spring doctor appointments lined up.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Continuing on. . .

We are currently stopped for the night in Bristol, Tennessee. We passed right by the Nascar track. It looks like a really deep "well." It is a short track and reminded me of a Chinese Checkers game or what some call Stadium Checkers. We are camped close by. It was a bit of a trick to get in here because the drive was a 180 degree turn down a steep hill, but all is well. Getting out won't be much fun, but we will manage.

Tomorrow we will be in Staunton, Virginia. Our reservations in Charlottesville start on Wednesday, so we will be getting a couple of supplies before going in the next day.

All is well with our traveling across country. At least no more tornadoes, thank goodness.

Mom was released from the hospital yesterday and transferred to Miller's Merry Manor just south of Warsaw. She is impressed with the facility and is making the most of the situation. So far the food has been good although she claims they give her too much. She eats what she can and doesn't complain about it. A lady came in today from physical therapy and said they would start by working on her upper arms. They told her that her days would be filled from now on. She said she hopes she can do it. I pray she can. She had gotten thinner and didn't have much strength, so I'm hoping this therapy will help get her back on track.

Cooler temps are prevailing now and it will be colder in Charlottesville this week. Sure wish it was warmer.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Cousin time!

After leaving Kinder and the storm behind us, we traveled on to cousin Gary and Jo's. This time we stayed at the Baker Mobile Home court in Baker. Since the flood last year at Gary's, it hasn't been firm enough to get in/out of his yard with the motorhome. So we have been staying at some camps in the area. The closest camp though is about 20 miles away. Graciously, they let us bring Duchess and she gets along well in their house, mostly finding a place to plop down amidst the foot traffic, just like she does in the motorhome. She is blind, so I guess she lays there thinking we won't forget she's there. LOL

We enjoyed a couple days with Gary and Jo and Kristen's family. One day they picked us up and took us over to False River and we ate at a Louisiana type restaurant. We all got seafood and it was really good. It was great to be able to visit with relatives.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A little "twist"er on things. . .

We left the RGV on Monday. Made it to Houston and on Wednesday put my 92-year old Mom on a plane nonstop to Indy. First time she had ever flown by herself, but she had always insisted this was what she wanted instead of having a "babysitter." I put her in a wheelchair right away and got a gate pass so I could go with her to the gate. Southwest Airlines was wonderful with her and I left her in good hands. We decided to exit Houston once her plane was off because bad storms were headed our way. Actually by the time we were pulling out of camp, my sister had already intercepted her at the Indy airport and all was well. We drove to Kinder, Louisiana, to try and escape the storm chasing us there.

Along the way my sister reported that 15 minutes after leaving my Mom at her house to "take a nap" she had fallen and they were awaiting the ambulance. Turns out she cracked her pelvis in 3 places, but thank God, who was watching, there were no broken hips. She will soon be transferred to a nursing home for rest and rehab. I know my Mom will try. Surgery was not called for because neither hip was broken and this is the standard treatment. I'm sure she will always use a walker from now on but we all thought she should have been anyway and she refused. I asked Mom if she wanted me to come to her and she said, "Heavens no. There is nothing you can do here. I'm being cared for." So we will move on and in two weeks will be back to check in on Mom once we arrive for doctor appointments as we planned. I only get to see my grandkids twice a year for one week as it is and Mom knows how important that time is.

In the meantime, we were at Coushatta Indian casino and Red Shoes campground at Kinder, Louisiana, to dodge that storm rolling through Houston and had a tornado hit our campground at about 5:15 am yesterday morning. It flipped a 30' trailer over about 100 feet from us and then passed on to the perimeter fence where it took out about 600 feet of board fence. Then it crossed a small field almost directly hitting a house, tearing the roof and twisting and downing trees around it but leaving the main house intact. Before crossing highway 165 it hit a new motel and left the metal roof in pieces strewn across the lawn and highway. Next time I vote for staying put.

Power was out in the camp till noon when we left. We heard the occupants of the trailer were okay. EMTS and workers arrived very quickly and pulled the residents out the top which was actually the side escape window since is was laying on its side. I think it would have continued to roll but it had rolled into a picnic table which seemed to hold it.

Living in the midwest all my life, I've seen enough tornadoes for a lifetime and don't need anymore. This one was so quick, almost just a microburst of wind, but the telltale twisting of the trees was there.

We are now in Zachary, Louisiana, visiting Terry's cousin and wife. We had a fish fry last night which is second to none at Gary's since his hobby for 30 years has been as captain of a fishing service off Grand Isle. Hmmmm hmmmmm good.

Take care, and stay safe out there.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Here we go again....

We're on the road again. Today we left our winter spot in the Rio Grande Valley. The past week has been spent, putting stuff away, doing some maintenance items on Phaeton Place and “summerizing” our Texas lot and Texas room.

Dale's mom, Alice moved into Phaeton place yesterday and we closed up her place for the season. At 92, she's not planning on returning this fall and we will be hopefully selling her place for her.

Tonight we are parked on a camp site at Gateway to The Gulf RV Park, on the south side of Victoria Texas. This made our travel today about 250 miles, after closing up the Texas Room this morning. Tomorrow we have only about 110 miles to cover to Advanced RV Resort in Pearland Texas, which is south of Houston on Texas 288. We hope to visit with Dale's cousin Jim Turley, after we check into the RV park.

Wednesday morning will be an early riser for us since we're taking Alice to Houston Hobby Airport for her flight to Indianapolis where she'll meet up with her other daughter Nita. Dale has it all set up for her to accompany her mom to the gate, to make sure she makes her flight.

Thursday we're off heading east toward Virginia to see Jocelyn and family. Late April we need to be in Central Indiana for our spring doctors appointments.

And Now for Something Completely Different!

Hi everyone!

Our plans this spring will be different. Normally when we leave Texas, we travel across the south to Florida to see our son and family, then up to Virginia to see our daughter and family. This year will take us straight to Virginia, bypassing Florida. After Virginia, we head to Indiana for our 6 month doctor appointments. After that, we head to Florida for an extended stay. Our son's MIL has just gone on dialysis and is not well enough to babysit for their 4 year old. Brandon earned an incentive trip with his company, so he and his wife are going to be gone for a week and we agreed to babysit. That's why we changed our trip around, so we could get our doctors out of the way. We have decided to spend more time in Florida once they return, maybe getting some windows changed out on the coach and some other work done. At 12 years old, she's starting to show her age. We decided to spruce her up rather than buy new again.

We will hang around in the south until Terry's family reunion in Mississippi in June, then gradually work our way back to Indiana for 3 months. We still have one rental and hope to begin cleaning it out and getting it ready to sell.

Last year we both had surgery, so our travel was extremely limited. But this year we are both in great shape and will be able to do what we want!


Until next time. . .


Dale

Not much going on....

We've been fairly sedentary for the past few weeks. Last Wednesday we took in the lunch buffet at The 2nd Street Bistro at the Double Tree in McAllen, turned out to be a very good Tex Mex offering. It was 2 for 1 with 2 beverages, which made it a fairly decent deal. We also have been hitting some of the country and rock and roll jams at local parks. The weather is forecast to be much better in the coming days, into the high 70's to mid 80's.

Dale's been busy with crocheting classes and Spanish classes, here in the park, seems to be enjoying both. Also she has made a lot of headway on getting our tax records sent off to our preparer of many years in Indiana. In the mean time, I have been basically a slug doing only what needs to be done and catching up on my sleep, which has been hit or miss about every other night. Either waking up at 2:30-3:00 for the day or sleeping until 7:30.

This next weekend we have entertainment at a local park by Adam Pope and The Rebel Roots. They are a 3 piece rockabilly band fronted by Pope, who is a songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. This will be our 4^th show with him performing and we hope to not miss it.

Yesterday started off with the second “dead” battery in the past week on the Flex aka Oster Toaster. I used my compact jump start and it fired right up. I checked the voltage at the battery while running and found 14.5v from the alternator. After about an hour of running and charging, I turned it off and found 10.43v at the battery terminals. At this point it was off to the local Walmart for a new battery, This morning all is well the Flex fired right up without any hesitation, but I had a low battery alarm from our, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, driver's side rear needed a new battery. So that interrupted my planned early morning nap, as I replaced the battery which should make that sensor good for a year, just have 19 more batteries to replace over the two motorhomes and two toads.

I think Duchess and I will wait for Dale's return from one of her classes at the patio table, take in some sun, read some and more than likely, both doze off.

Until next time...Terry

It's a New Year......

So far this year we've experienced three cold snaps here in the Rio Grande Valley. We've had a couple of nice days, high 70's to mid 80's then back to the refrigerator. You notice I didn't say freezer, because not like northern Indiana, ice cream will always melt here if left outside overnight..We have had a few nights of low to mid 30's but that is much better than what the northern US has been receiving. This morning it's 51 with a high in the 60's – low 70's.

We've been hanging out close to the RV for the most part, other than the few days it was in the shop for annual maintenance and a perky repair. Dale had been seeing low fuel pressure/boost error/engine shutdown message on her command center screen. It started out as a seldom event and had started displaying every time we started rolling for 2-4 seconds then disappear until the engine shutdown and restart. The excellent folks at Holt Cat RV Center in Edinburg, Texas came through again and corrected the problem. It took a few hours of diagnostic work but all is well. My Silverleaf engine monitoring system which runs as we travel had 20+ error codes showing in the “diagnostic history” section. . . the Cat ECM computer at Holt showed two codes maxed out to 255 instances. Now our turbo, waste gate and fuel systems have been all checked out and we have a new boost actuator valve and a new boost sensor. All is well. A rather cheap repair as diesel engines go from past experience, $390 in parts and around $450 labor. So at 131,225 miles Phaeton Place will be ready to roll when we leave the Valley in a few months.

Dale Ann and her Mom have been attending park dinners, with me staying at the RV to fend for my self, just too much salt for me in these “home cooked meals,” which I don't care for anyway. If I'm going to gain 3 pounds from eating a meal overnight, then work for 3 days to get rid of the “water weight,” it's going to be something this boy likes.

Well that's all I have maybe Dale will add some more....Terry