Anybody got a bucket?

Son Brandon is sweating it out in Melbourne. Who knows exactly how many inches of rain they have had. That all becomes a moot point when you have to start sandbagging. Tropical Storm Fay has sat over Melbourne for much of the day, actually stalled and dumping, by some accounts, over 25 inches of rain. These pictures were all taken from his front door.

So far, it is not at his front door, but it is about 5 feet away. He has blocked the sidewalk to try and keep waves from splashing water into his house. Waves, you say? That's the result of SUV's flying down through the flooded streets of the neighborhood pulling kneeboarders. Proudly, I will say, Brandon, took care of that in short order. . . but probably none too kindly. He told them that they were causing water to splash up on their houses that everyone in the neighborhood was desperately trying to keep it out of their houses. The perpetrators sheepishly said they had not even thought about that and could see that they were definitely in error. They left and haven't been back. On his way back into the house, his neighbor stepped out and asked if he needed any help. The guy's wife had been after him to go out and confront the joyriders, but Brandon saved him from that.

The rain has let up a little and hopefully Brandon will have escaped the worst. But I'm not too proud to ask for prayers that TS Fay moves on out quickly and weakens to the point that those who are already suffering will be spared more damage and no one else will be subjected to the devastation of this storm.

Till next time. . .

Dale

For Rent!

Apartment for rent (1/2 duplex), between Goshen and Elkhart. Any takers?

We've been playing landlord for the last couple weeks. We have two tenants who are moving the end of the month and we would like to get them rented asap so we can get out of here before the snow flies. We've had a few things we've been doing. I've done some trim painting and Terry's been tinkering. We've done some visiting with our tenants and neighbors. We try to ride bikes every evening, but this is pretty boring if you ask me.

Phaeton Place is at Elkhart Campground waiting for us. We will be leaving here in two weeks, headed to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see Ronan and his parents. Then we will be returning to Ohio to attend the Gypsy Journal Rally. After that it will be back to Indianapolis for our second round of doctor appointments for the year and then we will come back up here and close the place up for the winter. We may stay later if the apartments are not yet rented. Ho-hum.

We did take some time on Tuesday this week to go to Shipshewana. We enjoy walking the flea market and finding a few things that we still don't have. I was surprised that I was able to hold out as long as Terry, but then we did not walk fast and took breaks, so that helped.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Update on hip problem

Ok, the doctor's office just called. I have an L5 nerve root disc herniation. The L5 disc is bulging and pushing on the nerve root. I also have degenerative bursitis in my hip. She immediately said she would be faxing over an order for an epidural to one of their doctors.

I said no, I am not having another epidural. The last one only lasted 9 months. She said that was a "good" result. I promptly put on 20 pounds I haven't been able to get rid of. I had 3 months of acupuncture later which is still giving me relief, so I am NOT going to get a shot now.

I still believe the pain I am feeling is in my hip, directly related to the fall on concrete, and it is finally starting to get better. Swimming in Brandon's pool seemed to really help. The nurse did say that swimming was the best thing I could do and the doctor would recommend that along with the swish ball (big ball). I have had the back problem all my life, originating with a Pars 5 defect. . . I know it is no doubt progressing, but I am not ready to go the epidural route. Last week was the first MRI I ever had on my back, so I don't know if it is better/worse/same than before.

What I really need to do is embark on a program of fitness and stick to it. In Texas, I will have a swimming pool, so that is a plus. The hip is finally getting better and I only have pain when I do certain things. Otherwise, things are improving. The nurse did say I might need another shot in the hip. The epidural would include a shot to the nerve root, but I am not going to do that.

So that is the problem. At least I know now. I would appreciate hearing from any readers out there who experience similar problems and what has worked for you.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Good for another 5 years!

Well, the high school reunions are history and we are good for another 5 years. This year marked our 40th reunions, having both graduated in 1968. Terry graduated from Concord High School and I graduated from Goshen High School, both in Indiana. My reunion was last month and his was last night.

Terry's festivities started with a meeting at a classmate's home on the Elkhart River. Mike bought a home there and is refurbishing it. It is really beautiful already and he isn't done with it yet. He and his wife actually live and work in Phoenix, but grew up in the area and are working on this home in the summer. We met there on Thursday night to review the setup for the reunion and to work on getting some decorations ready. Mike treated us to a cookout and then a boat ride on the Elkhart River. I have never done that and it was a really nice ride, getting to see some of the fabulous houses from the river side instead of the road.

Friday night we met at Harrison Landing, a bar in downtown Elkhart. We weren't sure what to expect here because downtown Elkhart is not really a "great" place, but the bar was very nice and friendly and we had about 25 classmates and spouses meet. We all enjoyed a great evening and it was good to talk with people and share where our lives had taken us in the last 40 years.

The reunion on Saturday night was at the Elks Country club in Elkhart and we started with a lot of visiting with classmates as they arrived. Dinner was delicious and afterwards, we were treated to a casino night. We were each given $100,000 in play money to start and they had blackjack tables and a roulette wheel. I gave my money to Terry because it was his night. He doubled our "holdings" and used his winnings to buy a couple items that were donated. What fun!

We didn't leave until about 12:30 a.m. and we came straight home. We were tired. We don't keep late hours like that anymore and we were really beat. Today we had to get up early with the dogs, but we both went back to bed and slept until about noon.

It's been a lazy day and I've been doing laundry and troubleshooting a computer. Grrrr. Tomorrow we are taking Phaeton Place over to the Elkhart Campground for storage until September 1st. Sniff sniff. But we must get these two apartments rented.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Brandon's House

Here is a picture of Brandon's house. This is where we were last week helping him with the finishing touches.

Till next time . . .

Dale

Heading to Indiana. . .

Florence, Alabama, is situated on the Tennessee River. I mentioned we were camped there. Here is a picture of one of the tugs pushing a barge down the river. There were several barges. I heard the engines of a tug after we went to bed one night and raise my blind to see the lights of the tug pushing the barge downriver. I have also included a picture of the back of our campsite. We had enough room to park our trailer on the lot and still have a place for the truck.

We had some errands to run and one was to the local Petco to get dog treats as the boyz were almost out. Right outside on the wall of the petshop was this little bat. I'm not sure why he was there, but he was alive. He had cobwebs on him and it appeared he was trying to groom himself and get them off. I almost wanted to help him, but I didn't. Later we noted he was gone. I hope he flew off and no one disturbed him.

We did do some sightseeing around Florence. We went to visit the Joe Wheeler State Park. It appears to be an older park and not much in the way of sites big enough for Phaeton Place. They had a few, but it was very heavily forested, so none of our satellite systems would work. But it was a nice park. We crossed the Wheeler Dam on our way back to the camp.

Today we drove up to Shepherdsville, Kentucky, to Grandma's RV Campground and will be here until Monday when we head to Goshen to play landlord and hopefully get a couple apartments rented. We just learned this week they will be vacated in September.

Till next time . . .

Dale

PS: I have been asked to mention in my blog that prior to the Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, Ohio, in September, the Graduating Class of 2005 is going to have a reunion, aka, getogether. We would love to see as many classmates as possible. See here http://escapees.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1511067051/m/9081021113 It will be a fun time and we hope you can make it!

New Windshield!

Terry got it fixed yesterday. The repair guy said we were really lucky. If it had hit an inch down, it would have gone through the windshield and being just left of center, it would have hit me, the driver. Not good. That probably would have resulted in my losing control of the car pulling the 12' enclosed trailer. He said it was heavy and very high velocity. I'm thinking airplane part since it apparently bounced from what I saw. Or shot from a homemade cannon. But it was a rural remote area. . . I don't think it likely was a prank. The repair guy said it also bent the windshield frame and he rarely sees that happen. But that is what deflected it upwards over us.

I know Terry was in the other seat, but more likely God was/is my co-pilot. I normally react very badly to loud sharp noises that startle me. Balloons, for instance, terrify me. I know in a former life someone must have tied me down and popped balloons around my head! It hit, Terry yelled, and I calmly just kept going as though nothing had happened.

We are in Florence, Alabama, arriving from Red Bay late yesterday morning. We are at McFarland park. I would tell you more about it, but I'd like to keep it a secret. . . oh well. It is a city park along the Tenneesse River just past the yacht harbor. What a lovely park. 50 Amp, full hookups, $18, but we paid $15 because of Terry's Golden Access pass. The section we are in has long, wide paved sites and concrete picnic tables. The paved area is probably 20' x 70' long and a good distance between sites and that is nice grass. We are out in the open by choice, due to our satellite systems, but you can have shade if you like. Plenty of parking. They told us we could put our trailer in the parking lot behind us, but there is plenty of room and we have it on our site. There is a beach here. We are about 30 yards from the river and there is some barge and boat traffic which is fun to watch. The dogs are happy to be back home, but I know they enjoyed their time at Uncle Brandon's. Bailey especially liked sniffing all the new smells and because of the fence, he didn't have to be confined. I don't think Neal liked the fact that a hose was handy so every time he got dirty he got hosed off. I liked that, though.

We are here today and tonight, regrouping, then we start our trek toward Indiana. I am trying to get an appointment with my hip doctor early next week. The shot did not work and I continue to have a lot of pain. If I do nothing, I'm fine, but who wants to do nothing? Not me. So I do a lot and have a lot of pain.

We will no doubt take a slower drive north than when we came down. We have no deadlines, and since we are driving separate (motorhome + car pulling trailer) we will take our time.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Caught a rock chip today!

Have no idea where it came from. I saw it coming in a big arc and realized as soon as it hit what it was, but there was no stopping it. Only one car approaching us head on and I didn't see anyone hanging out a window tossing rocks. It was on a state highway in southern Alabama, out in the rural area. It will remain a mystery. . . a meteor? a part off an airplane?

It covered us with glass, but fortunately the safety glass crumbles more than shatters. We happened to have a dust buster in the trailer, so stopped a short time later and cleaned it up. It probably is a good thing I didn't have time to react. Had I slowed down or swerved one way or the other it may have hit lower and gone through the windshield and hit one of us.

Stay safe out there. . .

Till next time. . .

Dale

Who says it's too hot in Florida?

People seem to complain about the weather no matter where they are. Our son loves Florida weather so much, he bought a house here and does not plan on leaving. He has a motorcycle also and loves to ride and rides all year.

Is it hot? You betcha! But we left Red Bay, Alabama, last week on a day the forecast called for 97*. Now 97* is Red Bay is pretty miserable. The forecast for Melbourne, Florida, the same day was 87*. Melbourne sits right on the Indian River south of Cocoa and there seems to be a breeze most of the time. It does get hot and humid during the day, but it is nice enough mornings and evenings to sit out. Very few bugs have bothered us, an occasional mosquito perhaps, but in the evening the frogs are the noisiest. Perhaps that's why there aren't any mosquitoes. We did clear up one mystery for Brandon. He talked about seeing some kind of strange "mold" on top of the water in his swimming pool every morning. "Son," I said, "that isn't mold . . . those little black dots in the water are froggie eggs." Hah. A quick start of the filter gets rid of those top floaters. The frogs are out at night and they hang around the pool. They aren't too shy and you can usually see them. They are loud! We are usually in the pool for a midnight swim and they don't seem to like it. Something about being in a swimming pool in the dark surrounded by jungle-like plants and hearing this really loud croaking sound makes you think you are in a scene from Jurassic Park. Then you might also see a little skenk dart across the pool deck. Speaking of which, I caught one yesterday in our bedroom. Just a little guy and he was heading for the dog's pen. I got him cornered then called for backup. They are so fast! I think they are cute, but don't care to have them in my bedroom. They usually die in the house because they can't find food.

The work continues on the house. You should have to pass an IQ test to buy a house and then paint it. Grrrr. Brandon's house was a foreclosure and the only problems with it are purely cosmetic. That's good. But the goofy guy who had it painted the interior and never masked out a thing. He painted the top edge of all the woodwork the same color as the walls and that looks really tacky. So, with my steady hand, I have been slowly repainting that top edge. He also slopped paint up at the ceiling which has a popcorn finish and that is also requiring my talents. This is the most time consuming task we have had. . . well that I have had. He also had holes in the ceiling where he intended to put lights, etc. The holes are now history, thanks to Terry's drywalling skills. He had mounted a TV on a wall in the bedroom and just cut out a humongous hole apparently looking for a stud. That is filled and finished now. He stole about half the light switches and in the living room, put in black boxes with covers on a green wall. Looked really trashy. Just switching all those to white made a big difference. All the light switches and covers are now fixed and the mystery of what switch does what has been solved. Most of what we are doing now is touching up the paint and cleaning. Brandon has a new ceiling fan in his bedroom that works by remote. Very nice.

There is still stuff that needs to be done, but we are about done with what we can/will help with. I think he will eventually repaint, but with his job, he frequently has to travel a week at a time, and that doesn't give him a lot of time to plan a big painting job.

Not quite sure when we will leave. Perhaps Wednesday. I want to finish the trim painting. I will take pictures when we are done.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fun in the Sun!!!!!

We are here in sunny Melbourne, Florida, at Brandon's house! We left Goshen on Sunday and drove to Cave City, Kentucky, where we spent the night at Cave Country RV Park. It was very nice and comfortable, although a little pricey. We left there at 8:10 Monday morning and drove into Red Bay at 2:30 that afternoon. The dogs are riding nicely and are cozy in their little separate beds Terry made them in the back seat of the truck. He built a console to keep them separate and to keep things from shifting when/if Neal falls over.

We talked with the service people and they were going to put the refrigerator in the next day and put Phaeton Place back in her slot and plugged in to make sure it works. We left Tuesday morning at 7:30 headed to Melbourne--hoping to get there in one day.

It was a long drive, but we got here at 11:30 p.m. Brandon was asleep so we had to call him and wake him up. He knew we were coming though. We didn't unload anything from the trailer. We just got it backed into the drive and grabbed our suitcases and went to bed. The dogs are also restless when they are "out of their element" and took a while to settle down. They both wanted to sleep with us on the airbed, but we put their cushions down and they finally slept. . . till 5:30, then they wanted up. We decided to get up and get to work.

Brandon's house was a foreclosure and people do really stupid things when they are losing a house. This guy took the light switches. Not all of them. . . just enough to be annoying. In order to get the porch light on, you had to put two wires together. Such an idiot. There were also very few switch plate covers. Lots of lightbulbs missing. . . and he bent the poles on the doorbell, so it is ruined. Really stupid stuff. He also had done some repainting and never bothered to take anything off the walls. He slopped paint on switch and outlet covers, the bathtub, etc. Fortunately, with Terry having a degree in electronics, he made short work of all the electrical stuff. They are done and finished and didn't take too much time. I like to paint, particularly the small detail stuff, so I am going to clean up the transition areas and the baseboards.

Last evening after we had worked a good part of the day, we donned our swimsuits and swam in the pool. Fortunately, the guy did nothing to it and it is very nice. It looked like a storm was brewing, so when it started lightning, we got out, but it only rained.

Brandon has to work, of course, but he is working from home this week, so at least he is handy if we have questions. Things are really shaping up and he has a nice place here. The dogs have settled in and are glad they have a fenced yard in which to wander.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Home Again!

We are finally home again. . . and rolling down the highway. We left Goshen this morning with Phaeton Place headed for Red Bay. The only problem with this trip is that we are driving separately. Phaeton Place has to go to Red Bay and get a new refrigerator and the truck is pulling the enclosed trailer with all the furniture and stuff from our "storage condo" on its way to Brandon's new house in Melbourne, Florida. We were originally going to just take the truck and trailer, but when the reefer had to be replaced, we decided to combine the trips; and by having the motorhome with us, it gives us a place to stay for the night. We are in Cave Country RV park in Cave City, Kentucky. Plan to get to Red Bay tomorrow, spend the night, then make the mad dash to Melbourne. With both of us driving, we actually plan to make it to Brandon's in one day from Red Bay. That would keep us from having to find a pet friendly hotel, but we can if we have to.

The day started out quite nicely, not real hot, and it had rained, so everything was wet. But we were all packed and just had to load some odds and ends. Terry re-did the dogs' "nest" in the back seat of the Sport Trac and it is quite comfortable for them and keeps them separated. He built a tall box to separate their pens and it doubles as a console which will be nice when we are all together driving to Florida. There is enough room in it for our small cooler we will use to carry water in for the trip down.

Since the reefer is getting replaced, it is virtually empty except for a few Healthy Choice TV dinners. That is what we are eating on the way down since we emptied the refrigerator. Once the new one is in and we pick up the coach on the way back from Florida, we will get a few things in it.

It is certainly warm here, 96* when we arrived and we have all the air conditioners on cooling the coach. It is comfortable in here now. I think I will sleep well in my own bed tonight and the drive tomorrow will be smooth.

Till next time. . .

Dale

The quiet is eerie!

Ronan, along with Mom, Dad, and doggie Jericho, left Friday morning and arrived home in Charlottesville, Virginia, 12 1/2 hours later. We miss them already, but they had to return and we had other things on our schedule as well.

The kids did manage to sneak away for a couple days and went to the Indiana Dunes National Seashore and did some hiking and "swimming" in Lake Michigan. From the pictures, it appears my grandson loves throwing sand and sitting in the water playing with his bucket and shovel. While they were gone we kept Jericho, their black standard poodle. He is a real sweety, but stayed glued to my side while they were gone. Their departure that day led to the reappearance of Bailey. Bailey for some reason does not like Jocelyn and prefers to keep his distance. He lay in the back hallway at the back door while he was inside. Once they were gone and he realized it, he came back out and communed with the rest of us. When they returned a few days later, he was back in the hall. Hmmmm. Strange behavior.

I took the kids down to the woods south of Warsaw where Mom and Dad (my parents) and Jim and Nita (sister and brother-in-law) live. They had wanted to see where they live and see Jim and Nita's new house.

This weekend was my 40th high school reunion. Friday night there was a "mixer" at the local Travel Lodge and we always enjoy those. We had a good time and I enjoyed seeing people I had gone to school with, some for as long as 13 years. They had lots of food and drink and no one went away hungry.

Yesterday, some of us met at the Olympia candy kitchen in downtown Goshen. This soda fountain/candy kitchen is an institution in Goshen and most all of us spent time during our high school years slurping up milkshakes, sodas or rootbeer floats after ball games. It was so much fun. Then last night was the big event. We met again at the Travel Lodge and donned name tags with our high school graduation pictures on them. It's the only way to tell who people are, because that is the way we remember them. What great fun. There were picture boards posted around with pictures of the last reunion on them and lots of yearbooks and gradeschool and junior high books to help us recapture our youth. Hah. Snacks were laid out to nibble on while we mingled around and talked with people we hadn't seen in a long time. . . some for 40 years. Two of my best friends from high school were there, Luanne and Barbara. We had a lot of fun revisiting with one another. Luanne and I stay in touch throughout the year and we usually have dinner during the summer when we drop into Indiana. We are going to do the same with Barb and her husband. We just have so much to talk about!

Dinner was delicious. The committee did an outstanding job of lining up a caterer and the food was wonderful. We topped it all off with a graduation cake. What could be better! We had a DJ who started playing music after dinner and a lot of people joined in the dancing.

We really love going to our reunions. Each one is different. Terry's 40th is coming up in one month. One of the greatest despairs is that many people who don't attend are ones who live in town. It is a mystery to me why they don't come. They may think we know where they are at, but with a class of 258, it is hard to keep track of people. If you are one of those people who don't attend your high school reunion because you don't think people are interested in seeing you, YOU ARE WRONG!!! Make plans to attend your next one. You may just be surprised!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Ronan's arrival!

Ronan, Jocelyn, Tom and Jericho arrived last Thursday about 12:30 a.m., having driven non-stop from Charlottesville, Virginia. It wouldn't have been a difficult drive had the last 160 miles not been done in a driving rainstorm. But they arrived safely and I knew they were coming, so I camped out in the recliner and cat-napped so I could get a hug from my grandson as soon as they got here. At 14 1/2 months, he is a little wary of strangers, but it doesn't take him long to warm up. He is such a cutie, as I'm sure all grandparents feel about their grandbabies, so I am no exception in that department. He isn't quite walking, but "cruises" around tables and furniture, so you have to keep a constant eye on him. I had to go out and buy foam "corners" for the one coffee table in the living room as the corners are extemely sharp. We also took one of those "noodles" for swimming pools and slit it lengthwise down one side. We slipped that over the front edge of the table and that made a nice tight fit on the table and protected him from getting hurt.

Ronan particularly likes Neal, our handicapped Scottie, who he calls "ki" shorty for kitty. We keep telling him dog, but I think because of Neal's white fur, he thinks kitty. He has now started to call him "daw. ." short for dog. Neal is a rescue, surrendered because he supposedly bit a child. Neal cannot escape situations due to his disability, so we watch him carefully with the baby, but he has done nothing but show a little curiosity about Ronan. We don't let Ronan crawl on him or anything, but it is cute to see the two interact. Neal likes people and is socialable, preferring the company of his humans rather than the other dogs.

Thursday evening I went with the kids to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Francis in Niles, Michigan. Terry stayed home with the dogs. Jerry suffers from separation anxiety, so someone has to stay with him all the time. Uncle Bill was glad to see the kids and to see Ronan for the first time. Uncle Bill is recovering from lung cancer and the latest report is that the cancer is gone. Truly an answer to prayer. He has suffered some strokes and so his speech is a little difficult for him, but we have no trouble understanding him.

Saturday evening we had all my family in. . . or as many as could make it. Jocelyn's cousins came: Staci and family (they have Collin, the preemie baby I wrote about earlier and Breanna), Michelle and family with their 2 girls, Al (Carie's husband--she had to work) with their 3 boys, Kellie and her friend Ryan. Then my sister Nita and hubby, Nancy (sister-in-law) and hubby Tom, and my Mom and Dad. Whew! We had grilled chicken, brats, pigs-in-blankets for the kids, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, rolls, quinoa salad, fresh fruit with dip, veggies with dip and cake. Everything was wheat/gluten/soy free because of Jocelyn's allergies. That way we could pass babies around without worrying about any allergic reactions.

We had worked hard the week before and got the basement family room all cleaned up and cleaned out so the kids would have a place to play. Boy am I glad we did. They had a lot of fun. The dogs survived and all is well.

Jocelyn, Tom and Ronan left Sunday for the Indiana Dunes National Seashore. We are keeping Jerry with us as they cannot take him out on the beach. He is sticking to me like glue. . . and I do mean glue. I have to be careful walking because he has to be touching me. Bailey is not sure he likes that, so I have two dogs on me. . . one on each side. Jerry brought his bed with him but has yet to sleep in it. Neal likes it and makes sure he is the first to the bedroom at night so he can get to it first. Last night Bailey wanted his turn and Neal was not yielding, so Bailey joined him in the bed, which made Neal extremely nervous. We got a picture of them as Bailey was exiting. Bailey only left because he doesn't like his picture taken, not because he was yielding. It was quite funny. We still put our boyz in their pen with their beds and let Jerry have his, although so far he has opted to sleep next to our bed.

We have had a few minor disagreements, primarily between Bailey and Jerry, but nothing major and things are going quite smoothly. The kids are due back tomorrow sometime, then they will be heading back to Virginia.

The last shot is Ronan in his new Bass Pro Shop camp chair which we got him.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A great story!

Last summer around Labor Day, my niece Staci went into early labor and delivered her baby boy, Collin, 7 weeks premature. Babies this young at one time would never survive outside the womb, but Collin's cord had collapsed and he wasn't going to make it unless he was born and took his chances in the outside world. While he was very tiny at just over 2 pounds, he didn't have other complications and was able to go home several weeks later. The last time I saw him before we left for the the winter was in an incubator. Last week I went over to their house and got to see little Collin and big sister Breanna. Collin is trying hard to crawl and kind of rocks on the floor. He is such a cutie and seems real interested in going after anything Breanna has out to play with. It is a wonderful thing that we have the technology to help these babies and we are all thankful little Collin is such a fighter.

Till next time. . .

Dale

About to get my Ronan fix!

Grandson Extraordinnaire Ronan and his Mom and Dad and doggie Jericho are coming for a visit. They will leave Virginia tomorrow morning and will be here either late tomorrow night or sometime on Thursday. I am so excited to see them all, but at almost 15 months, Ronan is the one who changes almost daily. His Grandma Sharon gets to see him more often as they are closer and she sends me lots of pictures. Ronan is so fortunate to have great parents and two sets of really great grandparents as well.

Yesterday we did a lot of running around. We had the pickup loaded with stuff from out of the basement destined to Good Will. A lot of this stuff was left over from our push to full time. That job is just so overwhelming, as many of you know, and since we had an empty basement in which to store stuff, that is where a lot of it went. We have probably taken well over 10 pickup loads to GW loaded with our stuff and stuff left over from Terry's parents. We have taken a load or two to the landfill and another couple loads to recycling. We are pretty much down to the nitty gritty now. I have so many cases of photos. My plan was to scan them all into the computer and put them on DVD's. That has yet to happen however.

My sister Nita and husband Jim brought our enclosed trailer up from their woods on Sunday. It is such a nice trailer and we bought it when we were moving all this household stuff. They are expensive to buy, but resale isn't so great, so we decided to keep it. Jim and Nita were building their house and Mom and Dad had yet to move, so we figured it would get plenty of use. We were right. It is now in the drive hooked up to the Sport Trac loaded with furniture and Brandon's stuff. In a few weeks we will be headed to Florida to take it to Brandon's new house. He is getting a dining room set and a futon and then his boxed stuff he never had room for before. I am sure a lot of the stuff he will just pitch, but it is his stuff and he will need to make that decision.

Actually when we leave here, Terry and I will be caravanning with Phaeton Place. She has to go to Red Bay, Alabama, to get a new refrigerator, so we are driving the truck/trailer and the motorhome to Alabama where we will leave the motorhome. From there we will head straight to Florida with the trailer and help Brandon out with some minor work on his new house. Once we are done there, we head back to Alabama, pick up Phaeton Place and head north. Once back up here, we will be at the Elkhart Campground. Our work on the apartments is finished for the year, but our "storage unit" needs some work, so it will be easier to work on it when we are not staying here.

Till next time. . .

Dale

My job as supervisor. . .

Today the window guys arrived right on time. . . 9 a.m. We are having all new replacement windows put into a duplex. Ten windows, then they will wrap all the sashes on those and the sliding glass door, so there is never any trim to paint. Yay!!!!! They will have all the windows in by 10:30 and be done by 1 p.m. This is the second duplex we've had done. They did one last year for us and we are so pleased with the results. The tenants are very happy with the windows and they aren't drafty like the old ones. If you are going to have rentals and keep good tenants, you must maintain your properties and that is what we strive to do. This is the same duplex we had to replace the roof on this year. Ouch! We had not planned that expense, as the roof was only 8 years old. Terry's mother had it put on and without someone supervising the work, there were some things done incorrectly. As a result, the heavy snows here this past winter created a terrific snowload on the roof. Some decking had been run incorrectly and some rafter repair done haphazardly; and, as a result, we had a swag in the roof. Probably would have been devastating if we have another winter like last, so we made the decision to replace the entire roof. It is a good thing we did, because it was poorly done underneath. It is now repaired properly and will last 30+ years. This duplex has gotten all the attention this year. We just had a central air unit go out on the one side and the bad news is it must be completely replaced. . . there is no fixing it. But the unit there lasted 30 years. We do have a yearly maintenance we do on the heating/AC systems, so that has no doubt increased the longevity.

Our window guy cannot believe the condition of our apartments. He believes we are too cheap on the rent, but there is a reason for that. If your rent is reasonable, you can get good people with steady incomes and they won't want to leave. If you charge too much, you get people for a year or two, then they move on. We don't like turnover, so when we get tenants, we like to keep them. A little less for rent pays off by having tenants who are long term and take care of the properties as they would their own home. And there is considerable expense when you have to keep renting and re-renting. We love our tenants and they love us.

Well, gotta' run back down there and check on the progress. Will take a picture or two.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Working Hard. . .

We are in Goshen, staying over at the apartments. We have some work to get done in the next couple weeks. Still working on cleaning out the storage locker, sorting through stuff to take to Brandon's house in Florida in a few weeks.

Phaeton Place is in the driveway, but we are getting stuff out of her to take her over to the campground for the next few weeks. The refrigerator is getting replaced, so we thought while we are here we would just get it unloaded so we wouldn't have to rush to do it later. We also are going to take out the recliners and the file cabinet which sit in front of the escape window in the living room. The repair guys are going to appreciate having a clear shot getting the refrigerator out that window and the new one in. They aren't going to have to climb over any furniture.

We had what appears to be an air conditioner compressor go out in one of our rental units today so Terry checked it out. We had to call our heating/AC contractor and they will be out on Monday for the repair. It may have to be replaced. Then on Wednesday, one of the duplexes is getting all new windows. The workers will be here at 9 a.m. and out by 4 p.m. with everything done and cleaned up. The tenants are anxious to get their new windows in.

The weather has been different here than what we had down south. It is cool in the evenings, requiring jeans if you are out. Mornings are cool and warm up. Then today we had intermittent thundershowers in the afternoon and it got cool again, down to 63*. After that the sun came out and it has gotten hot again. Hmmmm. We had a storm go through last night about 2 a.m. I think. I heard the wind and was going to get up and check it out, but stayed in my nice warm bed instead.

Monday my parents are coming here in the afternoon to visit and will stay for supper. We will throw something on the grill and have some veggies. It will be good to see them.

My hip is feeling better, but only time will tell if this shot did the trick. I am doing my stretching exercises three times a day and icing it down afterwards. Sure hope it works.

Till next time. . .

Dale

What are friends for. . . but to share your troubles with. . .

Well, our friends Janice and Dean have been posting about their troubles with their motorhome engine. At least it hasn't sidelined them for long. We felt so bad for them, we decided to have our own troubles. . . just so we could share their "joy."

We left "near" Indianapolis today for a 160 mile run to Goshen/Elkhart. We got to Wabash, which is about half way and several trouble lights lit up on the dash. Terry was driving as I was still nursing my aching hip and generally feeling sorry for myself. The "shift inhibit" light was lit, and sure enough, we were stuck in 2nd gear, running about 2500 rpms. So we limped into the new Wal-Mart with its HUGE parking lot and parked across the curb in front. . . well away from any other cars and right in front of the sign that read "NO RV OR SEMI PARKING." Well, we didn't have any choice, that's for sure. Rather than call Coach-Net, after our dismal experience in February with them, we thought we would start with Tiffin. Tiffin said to call Freightliner, Freightliner said to call Allison and Allison said to call the service center in Fort Wayne, the nearest one. We had not turned off the motorhome because it was in 2nd gear, would not go into neutral and we knew if it stayed that way, we would not be able to start it again. At this point, I went into Wally World and asked to speak to the manager. I told him we had a breakdown and knew they didn't want us there, but we most likely would have to be towed and no telling when that would happen. He was very gracious and said it was no problem and he would alert the night manager. Thanks, Ryan.

The service center in Fort Wayne gave us to "Mike" who just happens to be the trainer for Allison transmissions in the motorhome factories. Did he know his stuff? Hah. Imagine calling and 20 minutes later getting someone who KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. He told Terry we needed to shut off Phaeton Place and that when he did that, it would default to neutral and would start again, but would be stuck in first gear. He also said he had a tow service well qualified to tow the motorhome, but asked Terry to try something first. He had him read him the trouble codes off the transmission. Then he sent him out under the back end of the coach to find the sensor that was involved. It happened to be handy and LOOSE. Terry tightened it but was sure by the feel of it something was perhaps broken inside. It was the connector that was bad. Terry thought he may have tightened it up enough. We got back in the coach, started it up and started rolling. Mike said if it shifted into second gear, we were good to go. It did and we were! We called Mike back and since we knew the connector needed to be replaced, asked if his center could do it. He said yes, but not sure if it would be today or tomorrow. So we headed for Ft. Wayne, only about an hour away.

When we got closer, I called Mike to verify the exit number and we were only 3 miles away. He said, "Well, since you are so close, I will just hang around and fix it when you get here." What a class act. We got there, he came out and fixed it in about 20 minutes. The paperwork took longer. It was $157.00 which I will be turning in as it is under warranty. They don't do Freightliner warranty, but I wasn't going to be picky. I just cannot believe it yet. . . that he walked Terry through the fix over the phone, then stayed put for us and fixed it right then. We gave him a tip and will be putting up a review on rvservicereviews.

We made it to Goshen at 4:30, a little late, but not really stressed . . . and I forgot about my hip hurting most of the afternoon. Yay!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Really "HIP" today!

Well, I'm still hurting. A little bit differently, but it still hurts. Yesterday we went to the hip specialist at OrthoIndy. He is a great doctor and I have seen him before when I thought I was having hip trouble, but it turned out to be sciatica. My sciatica is under control, thanks to accupuncture, but having fallen badly on my hip last December has created new pain.

The doctor ordered xrays which I had right there and fortunately, nothing appears to be broken or cracked, which was a surprise/relief to me. The bad news is I have trochanteric bursitis in the hip and he said that can be very difficult to heal. He said the initial treatment would be to inject cortisone, but I had a shot in April and he really didn't like to do it so soon. However, the shot I had in April was with a tiny needle like an insulin syringe and about a half-inch of serum. Terry was watching and said he couldn't believe that little bit would cause me the relief I had for 3-4 weeks. This shot was using a syringe about three-eighths inch in diameter about 2-3 inches long and much more serum than last time. In addition, he pressed around to find the painful spot and when he plunged in that needle, he apparently got right in the middle of it. I really groaned and had to have flinched. His only comment was, "I guess I hit that hot spot, huh?" I think that was what he was hoping, but man, did that ever hurt. It didn't linger, though. As soon as he finished, which was quite quickly, the pain was over. Course, then the aching started. We planned to go to the casino last night, but I was pretty miserable.

The doctor also put me on celebrex for one month and I have to ice my hip 3 times a day and do some stretching exercises. He hopes that does the trick. He said this is the most common hip injury and he sees about 10 cases a day. If I still am having trouble in a month, he said to call back and he will order an MRI. If there happens to be some soft tissue damage, then we will look at other options. He said there aren't many surgical options, but depending upon what might be torn, there are some other treatments, including surgery to repair.

We are headed north from Indy to Goshen today. We will park Phaeton Place in the drive and move into the house for a few weeks. We have to empty the refrigerator in the motorhome as it is getting replaced at Red Bay in a few weeks. We also will be loading the enclosed trailer for the run to Florida with a bunch of Brandon's stuff. He has a house bigger than our "storage facility" in Goshen, so he will get to go through everything and can toss/keep what he wants.

So today we have a travel day. I suspect that will involve mostly Terry behind the wheel so I can prop my leg up.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A little wet in Indiana

We left Shepherdsville, Kentucky, around 9 a.m. amid and between rain and thundershowers. Just when it looked like it was clear, it started again. But the rain wasn't hard and the wind wasn't blowing. . . just summer rainshowers.

I took the helm as we were headed to Louisville and over the bridge and I try to do all the "white knuckle" driving, although Terry has actually been doing some. For a long time it was really stressful for him, but I don't mind. The river was up a little, but I expected flooding, which we did not see. I guess the rains have all been farther north. We did see the east fork of the White River north of Seymour and the fields there were pretty flooded. You could see where the water had been, and it had been quite high. We switched drivers at the first rest stop in Indiana becaue I wanted to take some pictures of the flooding, but there was very little visible from the interstate.

I will say that on our travels this month we see so many fewer RV's than normal. In the past, there were so many on the roads all during the day. You didn't drive a mile without seeing a couple coming at you and driving with you. Not so now. I think a lot of people are electing to stay home instead of spending money on fuel and others are staying close to home and not spending time traveling days to get to their destination. The RV dealers' lots are full to the brim with new and used RV's.

We are at the GloWood Campground north of Indianapolis. We are here so I can go see the hip specialist on Wednesday. I am anxious to go and find out what is wrong with it. I hope it will just require some rest, but whatever it takes, we will deal with it.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Waiting on Weather

Yesterday we left Red Bay at 5:30 a.m. Yes, you read that correctly! Our work in Red Bay was finished. However, we were not happy with the repair done on the shower, so we asked to go to Iuka, Mississippi, to the Waterway Plastics Company. They are a Tiffin affiliated company and make all the front and end caps and the showers. So, Wade, the Tiffin service manager made an appointment for us. They weren't actually open on Friday, but they brought someone in just to do our shower. Robin took care of us and since we were about 25 minutes early and she was already there, she got started early. We were out of there by 9 a.m. which was much quicker than we had expected.

We had a list of stuff to be done and all but one item was actually completed. Norcold has decided to change out our refrigerator. I have not had any trouble with it, but cracks are developing in the box at the bottom. The first crack encircles the hinge and it is spidering out from there. I figured they would just slap some tape on it and wait for it to get bigger. But the warranty is up in December, so they said change it out. It has to be ordered and would take 5-7 days so we will take Phaeton Place back down when we go to Florida next month and leave it for the refrigerator to be installed, then we will pick it up on the way home.

We drove up the Natchez Trace to Nashville again, my favorite drive. It was beautiful and there were some dark clouds at different places which really made for a pretty landscape. We stopped at one rest area as it started to rain and had lunch. It rained quite hard but it had subsided by the time we were ready to leave. We ended up driving all the way to Shepherdsville, Kentucky, as campgrounds along the way were either full or not too good for a 40'er with 4 slides. We are in Grandma's RV Park just off I-65. We were going to leave tomorrow, but it is quite nice here and we have decided to stay another day and head north to Indianapolis on Monday. There is a lot of flooding in central Indiana around Columbus and they were expecting more rain. We thought we'd give the weather time to clear before make that run. My appointment with the hip doctor is Wednesday, but we will have to pick up mail and will probably run some errands in Indy. We will be staying at the Glo-Wood campground north of Indy, near Fortville.

In other news, son Brandon has bought a house in Melbourne, Florida. He closed on it yesterday. We have rejoiced with our kids on their first home purchases. We know how important owning their own home is to them and it is quite satisfying as parents to see our children realize their dreams. Congratulations to both Jocelyn and Brandon for reaching that milestone!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Phaeton Place is Home!!!!!

Yes, Phaeton Place was born in Red Bay, Alabama, home of Tiffin Motorhomes. We are here for her yearly checkup and most of the items on our list were addressed today. Still have a couple things left to do and it looks like we may be getting a new refrigerator. The box is cracking on ours; looks like stress fractures and since we have the extended warranty, better to get it replaced now.

There are still building motorhomes here, although we have heard they are on a reduced schedule, but the service bay techs are busy working on coaches, so that is good.

Today we just hung around the lounge as it was probably in the 90's here and we thought the dogs would be more comfortable in the air conditioning. They both got baths last night, so that meant Neal has been mad at me all day. But he has to appreciate being more pleasantly fragranced today than yesterday. Ho ho.

We sat and talked with other Tiffin owners and the general feeling here is always upbeat. I guess that's because we want the techs to do a good job, so we try and keep things "light."

I got my kitchen worked on. My cabinets were "falling." A support block underneath the kitchen cabinets had broken and the cabinets started to sag. Terry was sure he could fix it, but he was afraid of breaking the solid surface countertop. At least if the tech broke it, he would have it to fix. It appears he got the job done without damaging the counter. We also had 3 windows replaced and some other little stuff fixed. You just can't put this much on a chassis and run it down the road without something jiggling loose. We will probably be here for another couple days.

The Pace-Stephens reunion was last Saturday. . . and it was another great time. There were 41 who signed the book this year, but we know of at least ONE (right Uncle Bob?) who didn't sign. We did vote to try and get a building next year which is air conditioned. The community building just up the hill may be the site next year if it hasn't already been scheduled. It would be nice to have it inside as it has been really hot the last couple years and we are hoping more people will get out to come if they know they will be comfortable.

We have some friends who are out in the Cape Hatteras area volunteering at a wildlife habitat and we had thought about going out there to visit when we get done here. Many of you know, however, that I fell last December and injured my hip. I struggled with it until April when my doctor gave me a cortisone shot. It isn't any better and it has been getting much worse. Last week on the boat, I hurt it again and yesterday I did the same. I try very hard not to hurt it, but a little trip or mis-step sends pain shooting through the hip and down the leg. It takes about 12 hours and lots of motrin to get to walk again with only a slight limp. I do have an appointment next week with my hip specialist in Indianapolis I had seen before. I don't know what he will find, but something has to be wrong. It may mean a change in our fall plans depending upon what he finds and what he recommends as a course of treatment. But whatever, it will be a temporary diversion and then we will continue on our way.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi

Note: This post was made June 6, but since I didn't have internet access at the lake, I had to wait until today to post.

Yesterday we left J. Percy Priest Lake at Nashville, but not before I got a couple pictures of the lake. Really pretty, but it was windy and very rough the days we were there.

We drove around Nashville and picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway for the run down to Bay Springs Lake (Mississippi) on the Tenn-Tom Waterway—that’s the Tennessee Tombigbee. I have pictures of this waterway while it was under construction. The first year we were married, 1971, Terry’s parents brought us down to Mississippi for Thanksgiving for me to meet the relatives. Terry and I went exploring on our own and we came over to where they were digging this huge ditch. Someday I will drag out those old pictures and show them side by side with the current ones.

We stay at the Piney Grove Campground when we are in the area as it is the closest campground to the relatives, although it is some 30 miles away. It is a comfortable campground, a COE park, so we camp quite cheaply. We have water and 50Amp electric, but no sewer.

Today we ran into Booneville, Mississippi, to Wal-Mart for some supplies and stopped off to see Terry’s cousin Shirley briefly. It is always good to see her and we also got to see Preston, her grandson. Since he won’t be at the reunion tomorrow, it was good we stopped in and visited with him.

We are back at the camp now and it looks like we are going to take a nap. Hah. That’s what you get to do when you retire. . . NOTHING, if it suits your fancy!

Till next time . . .

Dale

The Music City

We are in Nashville, arriving yesterday afternoon at the J. Percy Priest Lake, a reservoir of about 14,500 acres. It is a very nice campground, very heavily wooded, so none of our satellite systems work, but. . . hey, we like to rough it sometimes. Hah.

Last evening we drove downtown into Nashville and went by the LP stadium. This week is some sort of music festival and they are having some big name entertainment, but we are leaving tomorrow, headed to the family reunion, so we won't get in on that. We also went down to Centennial Park and I got pictures of the Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the one in Greece. It even has a 42' statue of the goddess Athena, like the original. It is quite impressive. The building houses Nashville's art museum and was built in 1897 in celebration of the town's centennial. We will come back another time and do some browsing there.

Today we shopped at Opry Mills. Found a few things we couldn't do without and then it was laundry time. Nothing too exciting about that, but when you are without full hookups for 2 weeks, it kind of stacks up. Terry left me at the laundromat and went back to feed the dogs their supper, then came back to get me. We have been sitting outside in the breeze until just a few minutes ago.

It is very pleasant here and definitely a place to return to. It is full, however, and the hosts tell us it is filled to capacity most every night. I guess that is because of its proximity to Nashville and the reasonable rates, since it is an Army COE park. The other parks closer into town charge $35-$50 a night.

Till next time. . .

Dale

The Air Chair!

Several of my readers have asked about the air chair. Here is the link:

http://www.airchair.com/

This shows exactly what these people were doing on the lake. They were flipping way high up in the air. They are strapped into the chair and wear helmets and lifejackets. Now I used to ski in a ski show, but I would not do this. I might try the chair, but no flips!

Till next time. . .

Dale

A good day on the lake.

Yesterday and today were supposed to be wrought with thunderstorms all day. Yesterday we worked on the jetski, trying to get it running a little better. We finally got that accomplished and fortunately didn't have any nasty weather. It did start lightning later in the evening, but nothing happened. I awoke about 2:30 a.m. thinking I had heard thunder. The dogs were sleeping in their pen and hadn't heard anything, but I started to hear a couple sprinkles on the roof. I knew we had not set our lawn chairs inside and so I went outside and put them both into a basement hatch. About a half hour later I heard Bailey dancing around and I got up and let him out of the pen. It was lightning and I could see it through the front curtains and Bailey doesn't like that, but he was content to come back to the bedroom and lay down on the floor beside my side of the bed. Neal never did wake up and while it did sprinkle some, there was no storm or big deluge.

Today was overcast all morning, but we decided to head out on the boat this morning and go over to Sulphur Creek for lunch. The first picture is our boat in its slip and the second is backing out of our slip behind the Sunset Dock Marina. We weren't even away from the idle zone when we saw a boat with a family and the two young boys were taking turns paddling. We pulled up within talking distance and asked if they needed help. They did; their boat wouldn't start. We asked if we could tow them into the dock. They weren't that far away, but it still would have been a couple hours before they could have gotten in. . . and if weather set in, they would never get there. So we tied them on and pulled them in. They were very appreciative and offered to pay, but I would never take money from someone I helped. I told them no, just offer the same to us if they find us stranded! The lake is so deserted right now and the marinas are hurting because of the high fuel prices. People are not boating. One of my fears was that we would get out on the lake, break down, and no one would be there to help us; so I am glad we were able to help this family.

We rode on out into what I call the "big water" and made it over to Sulphur Creek for lunch. We were the only ones in there eating, but while we were there, two other families came in. No one in the shops either. I really hate to see this because one thing you need if you are on the lake are services of some kind. . . primarily fuel, but also food and shopping. That's what makes a day on the lake so much fun.

We did a lot of riding around to other docks we used to frequent when the kids were with us. On the way to Holly Creek, we saw 15 houseboats all docked together. They were so close, you could walk across the back ends of the boats. They had a couple signs that indicated it might be a school reunion, but at the dock, they said it was a church group. I kind of doubt that was the church group because one of the banners said, "Party Animals." Ho ho.

The skies continued to look ominous the entire time we were out, with only a bit of sunshine, but we never did have inclement weather. On our way back to the dock, we saw a couple of the ski show participants in their "air chairs." It's hard to get a picture when you are moving in opposite directions. We came in and got the boat in the slip and all buttoned up, all the while listening to thunder and watching some pretty dark clouds. But here we sit some 3 hours later and we still haven't had any rain or storms. I'm not complaining, just making an obversation.

We are in for the evening now. For the first time today, the sun is out, very brightly and it has cooled off a little. A nice evening to sit outside.

Till next time. . .

Dale