Okay

I've added some new pix, but I put them back on the correct dates, so some of them are in the June 2006 archives.

Till next time. . .

Dale

New life!

I don't thnk I mentioned it, but while we were in Tunica at the Hollywood casino campground, we found a KillDeer nest with four eggs in it.
The Mom dutifully sat on those eggs and we were anxious to see the hatchlings. Much to our surprise, one day they just disappeared! No eggs, no nest, no nuthin'. :-(

I was really disappointed that something had apparently gotten into the nest. Later the neighbor came over and said, "Have you seen the babies?" I said, "No, I thought something got into them." "No," she said, "we watched them during lunch. They are skittering around. . . all four of them!"


So I had to do some research on this one. Little did I know, but Killdeer babies are exact miniatures of their parents and can hop up and walk around after they have hatched and dried off completely. Wow! Did you know that? I didn't. I took some pix. Sadly, we saw four the first day, 3 the next, and by the time we left, only 2. Don't know what happened. Supposed they could be off on their own. Hope so.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Land O'Goshen

We arrived back at the house on Thursday after Terry's second cardiology appointment. He is doing well, although he has some strict orders to get with the program as far as his diet is concerned. Not surprised. His favorite food is hot dogs and he just cannot have them.

I am where I can finally upload some pictures, so I will be doing that. I considered just bunching them all together here, but then decided it would be better to have them with the text on the days we experienced it. Check back as I will be posting them as I get time.

Today I spent the morning cleaning out the Tracker. It is officially for sale and I have pictures posted on the web. If you know anyone looking for a good reliable Toad all set up to pull behind your motorhome, let me know and I will send them an invitation to view the pix. It is over 100 degrees here with the heat index (I almost said wind chill) and it is truly miserable being outside. I also did the trimming with the push mower which was not fun in the sun, but the yard is done and it needed it.

I got some bad news about my one tooth yesterday. You remember I had a root canal, 2 crowns and an extraction in May. The root canal tooth has continued to bother me since the crown was placed. I saw the endodontist yesterday and he took xrays but couldn't find anything wrong with it. He said, however, the protocol is to retreat the tooth, i.e., re-do the root canal. He said I didn't have it have it done now, but I am going August 9. Decided not to wait. Don't want to start having trouble 6 months down the road. He will retreat it for free of course, so decided just to give it a try. Hate to have it done, but the root canal was not as bad as my last crown prep, so hopefully it will go smoothly. Since it is hurting, there has to be something there. He did give me more antibiotics in the interim. We'll see what that does.

Well, Terry wants to go to Menard's. I don't want to go as it is my least favorite place to go (right up there with Lowe's), but I may drive him over. He is hot and tired and don't really want him going alone.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving St. Paris

Today we left St. Paris, Ohio, and Camp Pull-Tab where we have camped for the past two days. It was great to see Tab and Deanna once again and we hope we persuaded them to attend the pre-Escapade gathering at the fairgrounds in Celina in September. It just wouldn't be a class campout without them. They took us out to eat at Young's Dairy Bar the other night for some burgers and mighty fine ice cream.

We traveled across US 36 today and are back in our old stompin' grounds at Summit Lake State Park. We are here for just one night and then on to the Indianapolis KOA for 2 nights while Terry checks in with his primary cardiologist.

We aren't staying back at the S & H Campground where we were last week. Talk about a pit. They have mostly seasonals and we have no problem with that, but when they let the trailers rot right down to the ground, it really makes for a bad and dirty atmosphere. The overnighters are taken on a road trip up a hill and into the wet open area where little grading has been done and virtually no upkeep of the grass, etc. A constant parade of golf carts come by to gawk at us and their kids ran all over through the sites, etc. Getting out was a bit scarey as the roads were very narrow, and dropped off to ditches and ponds and with trees overhead. We don't plan on going back there at all. The KOA is way overpriced, so we are only staying as long as we have to and that's it.

We are headed into the dogs' vet in a few minutes. They have a routine visit planned and this is a good time since Neal had a seizure last night. Another this morning and another later in the morning. The last two were extremely mild and basically just some tremors. I am giving him honey after the seizures and it sure helps him come out of them.

Till next time. . .

Dale

St. Elmo's Fire

That has to be the name of the cocktail sauce they serve with their shrimp. We just got back from St. Elmo's Steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Terry took me there for my birthday today. Woohoo! He had been there numerous times on business, but I had never been. He had promised me all year he would take me there since I like steak and have a hard time finding a good one. Turns out this is "restaurant week" in Indianapolis and the higher class restaurants are all offering a particular menu for $30. We got a 7 oz. filet, shrimp cocktail, fresh bread, redskinned mashed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables and either creme brulee or cheesecake. The entire meal was delicious and expensive, but we don't do this often. And the waiter lit a birthday candle in my dessert for me. Hah. Thank you, Love.

Terry saw his one cardiologist today and I am glad to report that everything is very, very good. They were happy with his condition and then the good doctor talked with us about RVing. So we had a very good day and tomorrow we are going to check out some computer stores. Terry accidentally dropped his laptop on the steps of the motorhome and the DVD drive popped out and was really mangled. It really wasn't his fault. He put it up on the dash on a cushion and he was driving the motorhome behind the Gator that the park attendant was driving, directing us to our site. The Gator popped out of gear and stopped and Terry had to hit the brakes on Phaeton Place and down went the computer. He's pretty ticked because of that and because this place is supposed to be "big rig friendly" and it's not. There ought to be a law.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back there again. . . in Indiana!

We are back there (not home, for home is South Dakota) in Indiana. We are in Oaktown at the New Vision RV Park on US41 just north of Vincennes. We were here about 6 weeks ago on our way south. It is a comfortable park, Passport America, $12.21 for the night with full hookups. We may stay 2 nights, as we just have to mosey on over to Indianapolis by Tuesday.

I drove today all the way from Boomtown and there wasn't much traffic. We took to the red roads today (Terry likes to do that when I am driving). The interstate was a little bumpy and the state highways were pretty good. The heat is really a factor in our comfort if we step out of the coach, so we spend most of our time inside with the dogs. They only like to go out to do their job, then it's back in. That's okay, though.

Today we got here in time to catch the Nascar race and it just finished. Looks like another evening of movies inside since we don't want to go out. I thought it would be nice to look around Vincennes, as there are some historical sites, but probably won't do it this time.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Boomtown!

We are in Boomland, aka Boomtown, near Charleston, Missouri, close to the Illinois line. We came up here yesterday from Memphis and planned to stay for 2 nights. Anyone passing through here needs to know about the Boomland campground. It is down the frontage road in front of the huge store (they sell fireworks, hence the name Boomland) and costs $12 for full hookups. It is the honor system. You put your money in an envelope and drop it in the box. The campground is grassy with gravel sites and roads. Not real fancy, but plenty of space to get in and out even with Phaeton Place at 40 feet. We did have to unhook the toad, as the site isn't real long, but we planned to anyway.

Today we left to go have a late lunch at Lambert's, in Sikeston. They are the "Home of Throwed Rolls." Thanks to the 10 million people already there and waiting outside for a seat, we didn't stop. Five buses were in the parking lot. Grrrrr. So we went on down the road and ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, and it was very, very good. We ate very well and probably didn't overload like we would have at Lambert's. There are 3 Lamberts--one in Sikeston, one in Ozark , Missouri, near Branson, and the third in Foley, Alabama.

This morning I decided to trim the dogs. They were so "hairy" and since poor Neal spends more time on the ground than not, he was really dirty. Got him trim really short and I believe he is really happy. Got Bailey trimmed up pretty good before he started balking. The trimmers were heating up and he didn't like them on his hide. After getting trimmed, they got baths and I am now washing their blankies. They are smelling fine now!

I think we are going to be leaving in the morning, although we haven't decided exactly where we are going.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving Memphis

Last Tuesday we moved north from Tunica. We are camped at a campground on I-55 north of Memphis in Marion, Arkansas. We were tiring of the casino scene and thought that when we got ready to move, we would like to be on the north side of the city for a quick escape. This is the ABC Campground, sister to the one in Branson. It is comfortable, the people are nice and it is considerably closer for my acupuncture appointments. I had my final one this morning and I am so much better. Thank you, Dr. Barry.

I really don't have much to report, as we have just been hanging out between my appointments. It has been so hot. We did do some gaming, but didn't have much luck and it isn't fun if you aren't winning. We checked out other campgrounds around Memphis, but trust me, there aren't any. This one is convenient. Takes 35 minutes to the SE side from up here NW of the city.

The dogs are doing fine. They don't like being outside in the heat too much, but neither do we, so we stay inside when we are here.



When we leave here tomorrow morning, we are going to Boomtown for a few days. From there we are going to "mosey" on over to Indiana, close to Indianapolis. We have picked out a couple private parks to check out. Terry has doctor appointments the 19th and the 26th. Think we may move in between and visit some friends perhaps. After the doctor appointments, we are headed back to northern Indiana to check on the apartments. Not sure then where we are going, but have a few things in mind. Had wanted to do some UP or Canada, but nothing concrete yet.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Great Scots! I'm seeing double!

Tonight as I stepped out of the coach in my quest to let the dogs out one more time, I looked up and saw two Scottish Terriers tugging on leashes. AND. . . one was black and one was wheaten just like Bailey and Neal! Wow. What a sight. It is just so unusual to see the wheaton Scottie, so I had to run over and invite the owner over to see our two. Her dogs are Misty and Maddy, both females and mine are both male. They were so cute. I got some pictures of the four of them and we got to visit for a little while. I have pictures, but I cannot post with my connection right now. So I will have to do it later.

Till next time. . .

Dale

We've moved!

Phaeton Place has moved about 3,000 feet across the road to Sam's Town Casino Campground. Hollywood had a 14 day limit and if you weren't gambling a LOT of money, they wouldn't let you stay longer. So, the campground over there is almost empty tonight, but they are happy that they are empty and not getting $$ per night for campers. Figure that one out.


Actually we have a much nicer site over here and we just came in from outdoors and had not been bothered by mosquitos while we were out. That was a problem over at Hollywood. They had a retention pond and a stagnant pond right next to the building. Then the Resorts casino right next to the Hollywood is actually on a barge with a moat around it. The moat is really nasty and stagnant and we figure a lot of the mosquitos were coming from those sources.

We spent most of the morning making the move and got settled in this afternoon. No need to do anything else. It was a beautiful day today. . . not too hot and we were able to sit out under the awning for most of the day.

We are going to be here through Monday night and then try to move to a campground on the east side of Memphis while I finish out my treatments. That way we are a couple hours further up the road when we leave at the end of next week.

When we leave here we are headed for Indianapolis and Terry's doctor appointments. They are going to check his progress since they changed a couple of his meds. He is doing extremely well and we are pleased it is all going so well.

We are making plans to attend the fall Escapade in September. It is in Van Wert, Ohio. We have also signed up for a few days before the Escapade at the Celina, Ohio, fairgrounds. Hope to meet up with some more of the Class of 2005 as well as RV Notebook fans.

Things continue to go well and we are enjoying the quiet time here in the south.

Till next time. . .

Dale

You win some, you lose some!

Here is a picture of our rig and the site at Hollywood casino.

We are still a few dollars ahead. We win a little (little being the operative word) and we lose a little (again little being the operative word). It's a lot of fun, but I would like to be like my neighbors. They arrived yesterday, she walked in to the casino to a penny machine and on the second spin, won $900. I guess if I would wager more than my $1, I might stand a chance to do a little bit better. But as it is, we wager small, win small and get hours of entertainment out of it. That suits me just fine.

We spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in Memphis at the acupuncturist. It is helping a lot. . . I hope it continues to offer me relief. We usually try to see something while we are there. Yesterday we checked out a state park which is really quite nice. But it is on the SW side of Memphis and that is not the best side of Memphis. You have to drive through some pretty seedy looking areas to get there. It would be closer for us, but not sure we will do that. Yesterday was also the day President Bush and the Japanese Prime Minister visited. On the way out of town, we passed an exit which was closed in order to accommodate the motorcade, but we didn't see it.

We spent the other evening driving over to Arkabutla Lake. We took the dogs with us. It is a COE park and very nice. They have just refurbished their campground and most of the sites are long enough to accommodate our rig. They have water and electric hookups and the campground sits right on the lake. Very pretty and secluded.

We have a new neighbor. The gal who won the $900 and her husband have a 4-month old Yorkie named Harley. He is one bundle of energy. He loves everyboy and I got to hold him. He gave me puppy kisses. June (Harley's) mom told me that Harley was following her husband out one day. Jim didn't know he was behind him and Harley got caught on the steps and hung himself. Jim found him shortly after hanging lifeless and immediately started CPR. He continued for 30 minutes while she rushed them to the vet's. Harley was revived, but the vet said it was likely he would have brain damage. Happy to report, he performs all his functions normally and appears to have no lasting effects from the incident. He is one lucky puppy. He is so cute. He is such a happy puppy. I hope he continues to live a long and natural life. He certainly has some determined and loving owners.

It is getting hot here already. Supposed to be 98 today. . . humid, too. We walked earlier and will probably spend the day inside. May hit another casino toward evening.

I also have new births to announce. The killdeer who has been sitting on a nest since we arrived 10 days ago has new hatchlings. She has moved them further into the bushes for protection and we can no longer see them. But she tries hard to keep everyone away, so we may eventually get to sneak a peak.

We are here through the fourth and then I think we will move over to Sam's Town across the street for a few days until I finish my treatments.

Till next time. . .

Dale