Warning, Warning,Warning!!!

OK, if you are a fan of the Polish Prince, think he’s just so wonderful and kind…funny, endearing and enchanting (like I do much, well most of the time….) Do not read any farther…I am warning you…this is a venting post and it’s gonna get real ugly.

We slept in a bit this morning, planning on breaking camp and heading to Cahokia Mounds and Museum(which I have wanted to do for years, btw), and we needed to stop at Zack’s apartment to pick up the protein I had drop shipped there. We start latching down the Asylum and all of a sudden the prince comes in the rig and says don’t do much more, one of the levelers won’t go up. Oh. Great. We play around with the controls for the leveling system. “We” meaning me inside on the phone with the prince in the 110 degree sunshine under the rig, playing around for or about an hour or so. I get the book out. We dick around for another 2 hours, calling HTH, making arrangements to have the part shipped to Midway Motorhome in Grand Rapids. $162 for a rebuilt hydraulic left passenger side leveler. *Sigh*. I call Midway, make the arrangements for them to get the part, make the appointment for service which won’t be until August 24th they are so jammed up. Hmmmm. Mean time, the Prince gets on the phone again with HWH which is in Moscow Iowa. HE decides we shall journey to Moscow Iowa today, and have the manufacturer do the job. He says it will be cheaper. OK, I have no way to disprove this theory, which at this point is merely theory. I ask the Prince how this could have happened. Without batting an eye, he tells me that he knew there was a problem when be backed into the camping spot and put the rear levelers ON THE CONCRETE STOPPER at the edge of the space. He then MOVED THE RIG FORWARD ON THE LEVELERS….get the picture. Polish Prince had his blond head up ass is my guess. So, because HE did this idiotic and stupid ass thing, hey, it’s no biggie. Say What? I don’t park exactly between the lines with the car yesterday and he criticized me for 20 minutes…no shit. OK. I am not angry. I am just trying to keep my mouth shut without starting a real war. OK…we get the leveler up with the help of the customer service gal at HWH. We finish the packing up. We need to dump, get water and get the car attached. Plus the dirty sweaty and stinky Prince needs to shower at the shower house. OK. He pulls into the dump station, and during dumping of the black water tank (remember, that’s the one with all the poopoo in it) the sewer hose breaks. There is a great scene in the movie RV where Robin Williams does this same thing. The Prince was very, very lucky…the poopy stuff went on the ground. Ugh. I am just sitting there watching this disaster unfold. Hmmm. The Prince is now 2 for 2 and getting hotter. After he cleans up this disgusting mess, we hook up the car, pull the rig over and he goes to take a shower. It is now 1 pm. We can’t go to Cahokia but we have to go to Zack’s to get my protein. We get on the road and are at Zack’s by 2. By this time I have a raging headache because I MUST NOT utter anything nasty at this point so I have to keep my mouth shut. Do you know how hard this is to do?

I lay down on the couch and off we went on I55, north to catch I74 thru Peoria and up to Davenport. Moscow is about 30 miles west on I80. After my nap, I join the Prince in the cockpit. We are traveling along just fine…I am over my headache, and have decided to keep my mouth shut over anything. But I do have these incidents to fall back on next time he accuses me of doing something “stupid”. All of our problems seem to be those of our (or I should say someone’s) ignorance or carelessness. We are getting close to Davenport when the low fuel light comes on. Ooopsy…the Prince has been putting off fueling ‘cause he is looking for the cheapest diesel price. Once a pollock, always a pollock I guess.

We cannot find a gas station to save our lives…they must all be outside Davenport…there are a few Casey’s along the way, but they don’t carry diesel. We are running on FUMES. We turn off the generator…the air, everything we can…Finally we see a BP. Heck it’s $3.00 a gallon this close to the highway. I tell him I don’t care if its ten bucks a gallon, he’s getting fuel. After we fuel up, I make some warmed up meatballs with mozzarella cheese for dinner. After eating about half, we get back on the road to Moscow. We are just now pulling into the HWH mfg plant. They have electric for us to hook up to so we can spend the night. Just so you all know…I am really ticked off. Or couldn't’t you tell.

Well, we are here, so I will upload this on the net if I get a signal here.

Later

dee

Tuesday…

I’m just two days behind in my story folks, so bear with me. After setting up the rig in pitch dark at the state park, I mentioned earlier that we just had some chow and hit the sack. We both slept like the dead. We were up around 9 and decided that we would check out how far it would be to Eureka MO where Byerly RV is which is where we need to be early Monday morning.
We stopped at “Lilly’s Café” for breakfast…I had a huge pancake and Paulie had a half order of biscuits and gravy. It was so-so and Paulie complained that there wasn’t any “sausage” in his gravy…I asked him if the menu said sausage gravy ‘cause I sure didn’t read that. He couldn’t remember so I said ya gotta READ the menu, genius.

We traversed the country side and found the quickest way to St. Louis and then to Eureka. The road from Grafton to Alton along the river is beautiful. I could SEE fish jumpin’ outta the water, to the obvious frustration of the fishermen in the boats watching ‘em I am sure. We decided to get a soda and gas and then go to Union Station and surprise Jr who was working at the putt putt place. I think he’d worked 7 days straight so it would be a nice visit for him, well for me anyways!

We get to Union Station and yep, we surprised him. We stayed for about an hour and visited. We seem to get along well now since he is on his own and we are now just “parents”….let me correct that…parents who PAY.

On the way home from St. Louis back to Grafton, we stopped in Alton at Fast Eddy’s. This is the infamous Fast Eddy’s… 29 cent shrimp, 99 cent ½ lb burgers, steak on a stick for 99 cents. We had a beer, some shrimp, and one pork on a stick and one steak. The pork was dry, the steak was wonderful. The shrimp sauce just makes those shrimp jump it is so full of horseradish..yummy.

We headed back to the campground and the temp was over 100 degrees. No campfires for US tonight, LOL! We paid our Sunday night fee, and planned to hit the sack early so we can get on the road by 7 am. We watched some TV and then went to bed.

I was up at six, showered and we were on hwy 100 by 6:55 a.m. The traffic into St. Louis was fine until we hit the 270 interchange, but overall we made good time. We arrived at Byerly’s at about 8:30. We checked in, unhooked the car, grabbed the laundry and off we went to get some breakfast and do the wash. We drove all around trying to find something better than Burger King or Denny’s to no avail. Finally after about 40 minutes we head into “historic” Eureka and find a little café. We had a nice breakfast of eggs, Paulie his usual western omelet. I am such a foolish person…I KNOW I cannot eat two eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon, which is just what I ordered. I did take home a ½ bacon sandwich…I’ll add a little tomato to it later for lunch!

We hunted all over for a Laundromat and couldn’t find one anywhere. We stopped at Panera’s so we could upload a few pictures, of course we had problems with the PC and I was ready to toss it in the trash. I hope you were able to view the pictures. I didn’t take a whole lot, especially in Hannibal, but the one’s I took are ok. Paul said to tell everyone to skip Hannibal…I said he was just disappointed because it was a bit tacky and dated…money must be hard to raise to keep such private sites open. In our search to do laundry, we found a beautiful state park near Eureka, Babler Memorial State Park. It even has a beautiful pool which we will be heading to later today. It is going to stay in the 100+ degrees all week. Since we only have 30 amp service here, only one air can be on. It is warm in the rig but not unbearable as we have several low wattage fans circulating the air.

After we picked up the rig…with the bill well over $900 (grabbing heart) but the rig is 5 years old and things will need to be replaced. So far it’s been tires and slide toppers. The next thing is to add window awnings so we can open windows if it is cool but raining. I also want to get rid of this disgusting carpet. That is going to be a real tough sell to the Polish Prince.

We stopped at WalMart and dropped another $100 for groceries and tank holding stuff…we really haven’t been grocery shopping in a long time. Off to the state park to get settled. It was so hot, the poor tomato plant was wilting. Paul rigged up something so the plant can catch the water waste off the air conditioner. We have about 10 half red tomatoes on the vines but then I think our traveling garden is kaput.

Since it is so unbearably hot with warnings abounding about heat indexes etc, we stayed in and made meatball sandwiches for supper….yum with melted mozzarella. I was able to access a wifi connection probably from one of the other campers with a satellite setup so I was surfing the net for a while. It was wonderful to have 11 mbps since my air card gives me 3.6. I was able to upload more stuff on the blog, access the bank, etc. Unfortunately my knight in shining amour with the internet satellite took off this morning and once again I am at the mercy of Cingular. Ugh.

We will stay one more night here…then head back into IL. I still haven’t been to Cahokia, however even riding my scooter around 68 burial mounds is a bit much in this heat. It is almost noon and its 103. I hear everyone is having a heat wave.

Don’t know yet where we are staying but want to visit with Zack a bit. Michigan’s cool breezes and the lake is calling us. We may just head up there early to escape the heat. We’ll pay a premium at a RV park, but I am not sure if that sounds so bad when I think of how hot it can get in here with only one air running if we stay in Il. Call me spoiled. Like I care, lol!

We are going to the pool in a few…will post more later,

Hugs

dee

I'm a bit behind due to NO cell signals, so here is the first update since Saturday...

Hannibal, MO

We pulled out of Nauvoo on Friday, heading down the Great River Road towards Quincy. We crossed I72 heading west across the Mississippi into Hannibal. Paul stopped at the Visitors center and got some info on the town and a recommendation for a campground. I called ahead and got a reservation…jeepers $30 bucks for one night. Makes me cringe…we paid 30 bucks for three days in Nauvoo. We pull into Mark Twains Cave and campground and get our spot. We begin to set up the rig as normal. Well, main slide in living room is stuck. Paul comes in, and true to form….why haven’t you let out the slide…I try to explain…he tries…no go…it REALLY is stuck…I didn’t make it up! He goes outside and signals me to try again and then quickly yells to stop. Apparently, the ripped slide topper (the awning that keeps debris from coming into the rig when the slide is brought in) had been slowly deteriorating and we had planned on replacing both slide toppers in Michigan but just didn’t get around to it. Well, it has take so much abuse, the locking mechanism shifted out of alignment somehow and is jamming the slide…it is also lifting the edge of the roof on the rig, kinda like a giant can opener. Oh, great. This changes plans…we need to get this fixed asap…hopefully there is no rain in the forecast so we won’t have to worry about water seeping in where the roof has lifted up. Well, nothing we can do on a late Friday afternoon, but we will call Byerly Motorhomes in Eureka first thing Saturday to see if we can get in for service on Monday.

Off we head to Hannibal to look around and take the Mark Twain Steamboat ride. It would have been a beautiful and relaxing ride, however the sun was blazing and the temps were in the high 90’s. The humidity was around 90 percent as well. Needless to say 10 minutes on the paddleboat in the sun almost made me jump into the mud! We spent most of the hour inside in the air conditioning. After the cruise we tooled around town and then headed back to the rig. It is unbearable in the valley. We just stayed in and watched a movie on tv, and had a sandwich for a late dinner.

We checked out of the campground early and went back into Hannibal. We wanted to see the Mark Twain boyhood home, and all the stuff at the museum. It cost $8 to get in…what a disappointment. 5th graders could have done a better job on these exhibits. We were both very disappointed. Once again by 10 am the temps were near 100. After our disappointed tour, we went to the Mark Twain Diner, home of the world famous Maid Rites, Onion Rings and homemade root beer. We noshed on the local fare and it was pretty good. Neither of us could finish our sandwiches so we had them wrapped and then headed back to the rig. $14 for lunch is such a waste for us…I don’t know why we continue to eat out. We no sooner than get in the rig and on the road to WalMart to get gas, I was in the bathroom getting “rid” of my lowly Maid Rite.

Paul decides to take Rte 79 down Missouri closer to St. Louis rather than back across to the River Road in Illinois. I am passed out on the couch from my sick tummy while Paulie traverses the ups and downs, curves and snakey road towards Louisiana, MO. He finds his way to St. Charles and then programs the GPS to take us to Pere Marquette state park, which the GPS indicates is just 19 miles. OK. We now are going to and fro on country roads. Our lady in the GPS announces, “…in .4 miles board ferry.” FERRY!?! Well, we reach the ferry boarding place and the ferry is across the river picking up cars. Our trusty ex-Fedexman panics thinking we won’t fit on the ferry (does he WAIT to see and ask or does he just instinctively just ACT?) Well, he does the later and this gut reaction has dire consequences. He decides to do a u turn and get the heck outta the ferry line. Unfortunately, we are about 50 feet from the EDGE of the Mississippi River. He sees grass…Old Man River laughs to his old self and chuckles under his breath(I heard it) “ welcome to my place, sucker”. Under that grass is gucky sucky MUD…yanno, the famous Mississippi mud? Well, the mud sucked down the rear wheels of the rig with surprising speed. We are stuck like flies on doodoo. I say nothing although I have bitten my tongue so hard I taste blood. We are shall we say up to the hubs in Mississippi mud?

He calls Good Sam. Their tow truck guys calls and says FOUR HOURS. Paul calls Progressive Insurance….they use the same tow truck turkey. He calls Good Sam again…they are closed. The emergency number goes unanswered. Well, we have a great view of the river up front and personal like, we have a satellite dish so we can watch the Cubs, we have food, a bathroom, and a bed if we need to spend the night. The generator is doing a wonderful job keeping the air nice and cool. We finally hear from Good Sam…after about two hours. They have found another tow truck. Finally after about 4 and half hours, he arrives and zip, we are out of the mud. We CAN board the ferry; they move tractor trailers all the time. We did provide the local rednecks a great laugh as they passed us to get on the ferry. I tell Paulie to jell out….if he is gonna be a tight ass about stuff like this (shit happens yanno?) he’s gonna stoke out or have a coronary.

We cross the river and are now on country roads surrounded by corn and soy beans, and it is now quite dark. The GPS is telling us to turn left here and right here and then announces “in 500 feet, board FERRY.” Ah, what?
We pull off the dark road, and Paul goes to the car and contacts On Star. Then a guy in a pickup stops. Yes, Mrs. GPS voice is right we have to get on another ferry…apparently we are on a peninsula and gotta cross again. The pickup truck guys says it’s a free state run ferry and will let us off on Hwy 100 and its about 4 miles to the State Park. Well, after HOURS exploring our environment, we arrive at the park. We find a spot, pull in and head to bed…after a few cocktails and some chow. What is it that RVer’s like to say?
It’s the journey….? Hah. Gotta agree there! What a journey!

I’ll finish our weekend in another post. My fingers are cramped…

Hugs

dee

The graves of Emma(wifey #1) Joseph and Hyrum Smith....at long last in a proper grave...
More missionaires doing a recreation thing...it was 98 degrees, I bet they wished their mission was in the air conditioned museum!

Robert Smith's grocery store which he had to rent out when his flock didn't pay their bills...and if he challenged them, they left the church...so so prophet and lousy business man.
Statue of Robert and Hyrum Smith overlooking the Mississippi River near the "saints" memorial from the Sweetwater Rescue Mission.

This is a model of the temple in Nauvoo...quite beautiful but only "saints" who have been yearly reviewed by the elders can enter the temple and they must wear special underwear....so no Boxers Joes allowed....

Charlie and Sam our Belgian tour guides
one of the original restored(actually they are all) recreated

This is a "missionary duplex" where all the folks on their mission stay...

This was the ONLY interesting thing in Hannibal...don't waste your time or money...it is not worth the price...

More to come from our adventures on the Mississippi ferries....

hugs

paul and dennise

inturupting my regularly scheduled blog to upload pix...we are at Panera's and I have wifi...now let's hope this works!

Friday...Hannibal MO


We just landed in Mark Twainland. I have finally been able to get a cell signal...forget wifi and pix until I can track someplace down. Start at Tuesday down below and then come back up here to read more.


Paul went off to the visitor's center to get some stuff on the area. It is a weekend so I am sure it will be a busy place...I would like to find a campground that is not $50 per night...hmmm, gotta check out the Walmarts around here, LOL!

Last night we went to the pageant...it was quite the production I must say. These folks sure put on a great act. I say that tongue in cheek...no mention of WHY Robert Smith was persecuted....can we say POLYGAMY? He had 33 wives at one time...and all of these women had civil marriages to other men...ya think he created polygamy so he could justify adultery via the church? Makes one wonder. I would say 90% of the people in Nauvoo as visitors are pilgrims...making a connection with their church's history and their "saints" and "prophets" persecution. Well, they sure wanna convert the world from what I saw, and these folks have MONEY! We did enjoy our stay...

Tuesday…lift off!

We left Riverside Campground around 10:30. We took State 97 up through Petersburg and Havana, reaching the Dickson Mounds Museum around noon. The museum was virtually deserted this time of year. We watched a nice 15 minute movie about the area and the Mississippian Indian cultures. The second floor of the museum is full of artifacts, short into movies and a recreation of the daily lives of the villages. The first floor is now merely a walk down to the museum gift shop…this area was where the uncovered graves had been displayed. It is now just a long curving walkway with Indian music and voices from the past talking about life, life after death and their culture’s beliefs. I had thought when the Indians reclaimed the bones of their ancestors that were on display, the museum had replaced the burial plot with fake skeletons. I guess I was wrong. Maybe the Indians thought the souls of their ancestors would grieve over their exploitation or some such thing. After the museum we stopped and had some lunch, leftover tuna salad from last night. I had put grapes and celery and pecans in it and it was wonderful. After lunch we drove over to the three enclosed archeology sites. It was interesting to see these ceremonial excavations…in one, a sweat lodge had the fire pit excavated and we actually saw 900 year old ashes! They looked like the stuff from our old fireplace! Geesh, something’s never change!

We headed out of Lewiston heading toward the Great River Road along the Mississippi. Passing through some small town, I asked Paulie to stop at a DQ or Whippy dip or some such place so I could get a blizzard. We spot a DQ a few blocks down and I say turn at the next light/corner…apparently Mr. Leadfoot was going too fast and passed the street and then hung a two wheeler into another parking lot ½ block down. Jeesh. He hit the curb and every dish in one of the cabinets fell onto the floor in shatters. I had bungee corded all the cabinet doors but obviously I didn’t do this particular one strong enough to keep gravity in check for goodness sakes. Hmmmm. I leave Mr. PIA to clean up his mess and then I stalked back to the DQ. By the time I got back, we had both calmed down. Why does he blame me for these things…I had spotted the DQ sign several blocks away why didn’t he slow the pace a bit so we could check the situation out before he does something dumb like he did here? Argh.

After a beautiful ride along the Great River Road, we find the Nauvoo State Park. We find a nice end spot and settle in. No camp host on duty so we just relax and watch local TV coming out of Quincy. We were both were pretty pooped so we hit bed early.

Wednesday

After showering we had a visit from the Park Ranger who collected the two nights fees…$20 bucks for two nights…incredible. Of course it is a State Park and I get a disability discount, and the sight is only electric, but boy that’s pretty much what we need. Why spend $25 to $35 for one night with full hookups that you don’t need. We can dump as we leave, and fill up the water tank for the next leg of trip before we leave here.

We went into the town of Nauvoo to get some breakfast. There are NO fast food restaurants here….none. We tried a couple of places but breakfast is a hard meal to find around here…buffets are the order of the day. We finally found a Casey’s and got a donut and some coffee.

We stopped at the Nauvoo Chamber of Commerce and found out all the things we can see here. I think we may stay three days instead of two just so we can see everything. There is the oldest Winery in Illinois here, and both the LDS settlement at Nauvoo and The Community of Christ settlement. Brigham Young decided to leave Nauvoo for Zion in Utah after the murder of the Prophet and founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints Joseph Smith. There was disagreement amongst the elders about the practices and tenets and the Mormon Church split. We have found it amazing that there has been not ONE mention of polygamy or what these Mormon believe as “the principle”. Hmmm, I gotta get on line (internet has not arrived in Nauvoo as of yet…I am NOT making this up.) We are in a heavily forested campground so I get nothing on either the cell phone or the aircard.

We rode in a covered wagon and rode all over the settlement. Several of the homes have been rebuilt and some are the remainders of what was left when the “saints” as the pioneers were called, left for Zion in Utah. The guides are actually Mormon ‘missionaries”. They are called Brother and Sister. I wonder how these missionaries are “called”. I guess if I was a Mormon, I want to be called to be a worker in the beautiful Visitors Center…not one of those poor “Sisters” in period costume riding behind smelly Belgian horses with poopy bags hanging off their butt attracting flies by the thousands. My luck, I’d get stuck mucking out the crap from the stables. The tour was fun and interesting however the poopy smell and the flies were nasty. I got quite a few pictures. After about an hours ride we return to the visitors center, viewed a pictorial history done in paintings of the Sweetwater Rescue and then an hour long documentary type recreation of this disaster. When Brigham Young declared Zion in Utah, thousands of “saints” make the trek through the mountains via oxen and mule driven Conestoga wagons. Later, immigrants of the faith from across the oceans flocked to American to join their brethren in Zion. Having no money, the Church tried to finance these wagon trains. Because funds were short, handcarts were used to transport the families and their belongings across the rugged plains and wilderness. 8 teams set out, the last two delayed due to lack of handcarts and supplies. These two parties were doomed when they left late in the summer and an early winter set in. The wood used to make the handcarts was unseasoned and unsuitable to the environment. They set out with fewer supplies than they should have. The two groups lost hundreds on the trip and Brigham Young once hearing of the lost “saints”, sent out rescue parties. This is a sad and heartbreaking story. The devastation of families who made this trek is unbelievable. Excerpts from journals of the survivors is used extensively and bring you to tears. All I kept thinking was why in the hell did the leaders let these to last parties leave? Why didn’t they stay in settlements along the way to wait out the bad weather, hunker down and just get through the winter? I guess I do not possess the soul of a saint ‘cause there is no way you’d find me trekking through the plains of Wyoming in snow and -70 degree wind-chill. Thinking about it, I would probably have been the first one to lie down on the side of the road and die. That’s my kinda luck. We really enjoyed the visitor’s center and spoke too many of the missionaries there. We needed to have lunch and knowing there was little to choose from, we went back to the rig and had lunch. By this time it is almost three and just the small out of the ordinary activity has me exhausted. Darn chronic fatigue. I took a nap and Paulie went to get the car washed and check out Keokuk Iowa. He made meatloaf for dinner. I woke up with that nagging bladder infection AGAIN….grr. We were going to go to the Nauvoo Pagent but because I am having the bladder issues we will do that tomorrow evening. We plan on going back to the settlement tomorrow and tour on foot the various buildings open for display, and visit the bakery, blacksmith and brick making place. I guess we just have to do just a little each day. No use overdoing it and then having to be in bed for three days.

I will update some more tomorrow. Hopefully we will find a place to download this and the pictures we took.

Hugs

Dee

Thursday

We were up and out before nine in order to get the first walking tour of the day at the “other settlement”, The Community of Christ. The original homestead of Robert Smith, his second home and his business, a general store are located on this side of the settlement. The Community of Christ folks are the ones that decided not to follow Brigham Young to Utah. Robert Smith’s widow remained here with some of the children, although she did leave the settlement but returned. We visited the graveyard where Smith and his brother Hyrum are buried. We learned that Emma Smith was so concerned that because the Smith brothers were “wanted” dead or alive in Missouri, bounty hunters would dig up the bodies to collect the bounty. She had both of them interred along the banks of the river, right behind their homestead. Buried in the formal cemetery at the Temple were caskets filled with sand. No one but Emma knew where the bodies were buried, all she told her children was they were buried under the “spring house”. After Emma’s death, she too was buried near her husband, but no marker was placed above her final resting place. Later, the church wanted to give these “saints” a proper burial place but since the river had shifted over the years it was quite an accomplishment to even find the coffins. They were finally located and were then interred with other Smith family members in the family plot which was right next to the original log cabin and Smith homestead.

We continued our walking tour in the 94 degree heat and humidity visiting the Mansion, the home and then the hotel Smith built for incoming businessmen and new converts. We visited the store Robert Smith ran and in the upstairs viewed his office and the meeting room where the elders met. We then ended the tour here and walked back to the car. We went to visit the brick makers and learned how the brickworks at Nauvoo worked, bricks were made in that time and how the homes will built. We received a small brick to take as a souvenir. We then visited the little bakery and learned about the Scovil Family. I guess their claim to fame is that they converted to LDS and were baptized by Robert Smith himself.

We headed back to the rig for lunch. After a nice break we went to Baxter’s Old Nauvoo Winery. We did the tour and tasted some wine. Quite tasty…I bought a bottle of a sweet pink similar to Zinfandel. Paul remarked that I had never purchased a $13 bottle of wine in my life and wondered if I had lost my mind. No…I have been collecting wines from local wineries and this way I will have something unusual to offer guests when they visit. What a smart aleck…ok, so I like the cheap red zinfandel from Gallo…what’s the big deal?

Since the heat was so stifling with all the humidity, we headed back to the rig to take a rest. Paul listened to the Cubs game and I napped. We had leftover meatloaf sandwiches for dinner. We will be going to the Nauvoo Pageant later tonight. The show begins at dark, so I better lather on the bug spray. The flies here are plentiful and pesky.

I will write about the pageant later. We are heading south along the Great River Road tomorrow. Don’t know where we will stop…perhaps take a side trip to Hannibal. I’ve always wanted to ride the Mark Twain River Boat on the Mississippi and maybe we can do that. I am sure we can find a cheapo campground near Mark Twain lake, or somewhere near there.

Later.

dee

Sunday...

As my favorite TV character would say..."holy crap". Once again its almost a week since I've posted. Such an exciting life we have lead this week. We met Mom and Cecil for lunch on Tuesday. They were leaving for NY on Wednesday. We were both out of town for her 75th birthday so I had a little gift for her and a card.
We met at Panera's their favorite lunch time spot. She told me that she was having some pain that started up near her rear end and shot all the way down her leg. She said it had been happening more frequently and when they got back from NY she would go to the doc. I told her three long days in the car driving to NY was going to do just wonders for that type of problem.

Later that evening, Cecil called and said he was taking her to prompt care...she couldn't get out of the car or walk. Zack and I met them at Prompt care...the doc in the box thought it was bursitis and gave her a shot and some anti-inflammatory.

Wednesday we visited the Lincoln Museum. Quite impressive I must say. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed it, altho it was jammed with tourists. Lots of kids from the rodeo, which was good to see.

Thursday morning we get a call from Cecil...Mom is in terrible pain and can't get out of bed. We tell him to call 911 and take her to St. Johns. Instead, he goes to Memorial. Big mistake. I left around 11 because Zack has his follow-up surgery appointment in Clinton at one. In the meantime, Mom has not even seen a doc, just nurses and a PA. Finally, the doc comes in, orders and Xray and around 3 they leave the ER after 6 hours. It is not bursitis it is sciatica. She gets another shot and gets more meds. Paul had stayed with them, gotten them lunch, got them settled at home, went to get the meds and some food. Since their trip was canceled, they had gotten rid of most of the stuff in the house to eat, so they had very little in the house .

Zack's appointment went well, and his total loss according to the scale in the doc's office was 28 lbs. I had figured more since it appeared on the scale at the hospital that he had lost about 26. I guess one is more forgiving that the other?

Friday was another uneventful day, Zack was still feeling the effects of the surgery(I told him it takes more than a week to recover from major surgery and anesthesia. We went out for an early dinner at Mike's and then went to the movies to see Hairspray. The boys liked it...I thought it was so so. Travola was creepy and his makeup was phony to me anyways. Plus he sang in his lower regular voice and spoke in this falsetto....ick.

Saturday was a bad day for me so Paulie took Zack back to Edwardsville. He has to go back to work on Monday, and work I think he said something like 12 days in a row...11 hours a day. Of course, at the job he has at the putt putt place, he reads, watches movies and plays video games. Hmmm...some job eh?
He is doing very well with his food choices, and low and behold he no longer inhales his food. He actually chews...he could only eat 1/2 cup of chili and about 1/3 of a cheese omelet...no potatoes or toast, just eggs and a bit of cheese. He seems to be very determined. I can see the weight loss...his face looks thinner. I can't wait until he gets to go down a size...that is always a positive to keep going.

I was up at 6:30 am (yes, you read that right....) so I decided to go out and get the newspaper. I watched CBS Sunday Morning and then got out the maps and attraction books for our trip to Pere Marquette State Park and the Great River Road Scenic Road. We will leave here Tuesday and our first stop will be a bit west of Peoria to go to Dickson Mounds. I have never been there. We think we'll hit Navaoo, Alton, Grafton and then Cahokia Mounds. We are going to stop at a few MO vineyards also. Should be a nice leisurely trip. We don't head to Michigan until the 20th.

Later...

dee

Not much happening here...we left Clinton around 11 and checked into Riverside park. We are on the "hill"...the main gravel/dirt road into the park. Too bad the other campers are so inconsiderate and drive too fast past us into the main park spewing us with dust. I will begin to take down license numbers and report the worst offenders to the park management. Going 40 mph is a bit much.

Paul and Zack took off after setting up...Paul to go to the bank and Zack to find some friends to hang with. He's been stuck with us for almost two weeks. Actually, he has been the perfect kid...no arguments, smart comments, etc. It's like he's an adult!!!

Still reading the Harry Potter book. It's not bad...a bit dark tho. But we all expected that considering the nature of the end of the books...either Harry or the evil wizard will survive and you don't find out until the end.

Barb and Arnie popped by to say hi and we took a ride over to the Jr. Rodeo Championships...wow, what a ton of folks over there. We sat outside and talked for a while...me being devoured by mosquitoes. Zack's friends brought him home and we are now watching Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader...this show cracks me up. I would LOVE to get on this show!

Well, I have an early doc appointment so I guess I'd better get to bed. We are meeting Mom for lunch tomorrow. Wed we are going to the Lincoln Museum and then Thursday back to Clinton for Zack's follow up. We will stay here a week and then we are going to just jump on the highway and head someplace else. We have reservations in Michigan for the 20th of August and are totally free until then.

I have added a link to the side bar...I am now doing a daily political commentary...so if you want a laugh or to get steamed...just stop on by.

hugs

dee

Sunday 7:10 pm....

Let me catch everyone up since I last posted. Everything with the surgery for Zack went extremely well. He was allowed 1 oz of water every 15 minutes. He indicated he had really bad dry mouth but Mom stuck to her guns and only let him have an ounce. He started to come out of the anesthesia around one. Told him he had to pee before they'd let him go....He wanted to go right then and there! We were out of the hospital and on our way to the campground at Clinton Lake by like 2. We stopped at Wally world to pick up some ice, drinking water and his Loritab.
He walked around the store just fine. Back at the rig, he talked to us for a while then decided he needed to sleep. He settled himself in the back bedroom and off to dreamland. It takes several days to get that anesthesia crap outta ya.

Friday night was uneventful and we all just watched TV for awhile.

Saturday morning we slept in then went into town. I promised Zack I'd buy us the Harry Potter book so we were back at Wally world...we also got some chewable vits for him. He must do one a day and also calcium. I have powered stuff I put in his protein shake. He seems to like the Choco Stack that I use...problem is you can't get it locally and I have to order both the protein and the calcium over the net. Poses a real problem now that I don't have an address. Geesh, how do homeless people get UPS deliveries?

Saturday was quiet for the rest of the day and evening. Zack can start full liquids Sunday so he will be a bit less ornery. Just kidding...he has done very well and has complained very little. The area where the port is has been giving him some aches but he should get better each day.

Sunday morning, Paulie and I got up and showered. Paul went into town for a newspaper and stuff for dinner. We haven't shopped in a while except for you know...junk. Zack is engrossed in the Harry Potter Book. I started it while he napped, but he is almost done already.

Paulie made chicken on the grill with baked potato and texas toast which I hate. The chicken was good...a mix of teriaki and BBQ sauce. Chef Paulie is sure the experimenter. I have at least the last two days convinced him to stand at the bbq and watch the stuff so it doesn't burn.

The boys are now playing rummy and as always, Paul is kicking Zack's butt. You'd think he stop being a masochist and not play with him anymore...I won't play cards or games for that very reason...I hate getting my ass kicked and the winner gloating.

We will prolly head for Springfield tomorrow. The Jr. Rodeo Championships are in town all week, but Richard from the Riverside campgrounds told Paul he had a spot for us. I have a doc appointment on Tues with the hip surgeon.

This is a really beautiful campground. Clinton Lake is large and has a huge marina...bigger than Lake Springpatch. I will try to get some shots before we leave tomorrow.

Sorry, still no pictures....I am lucky I can get a signal here anyways so I guess beggers can't be choosers.

Hugs

dee

Friday....

Paulie and I are sitting in Zack's room waiting for him to come out of recovery. Dr. Rohrschrib was here about 50 minutes ago telling us it was simple, no problem and an easy surgery. I am relieved and glad. He will be able to go home in about 4 hours or so...he must be able to drink water and must take a pee. I am sitting here in this humongous recliner...made for larger patients obviously. When Zack was laying still on the bed, the scale built in said he had already lost 26 lbs in his two weeks of liquid diet. Of course, he was starving himself the first week drinking only water and broth. I made him start protein and SF jello, and yogurt. He will do himself no good to go into starvation mode as his metabolism will just come to a screeching halt. Once this happens weight loss stops. I think he has done quite well...no regular soda, no beer, no JD. He will have to be a very good boy from this point on or the surgery will do him no good at all. He still will have to stay under 1200 calories, 70 to 120 grams of protein and less than 60 carbs. South Beach diet in a nutshell if I recall that diet correctly. The good thing is that 1200 calories will satisfy him...his tummy will only be able to hold less than 1/2 cup for most of the time. He will feel a lot of restriction and when that restriction lessens, he will go have saline added to his band to tighten it up right away. He should do fine...I think he was eating well over 4 to 5 thousand calories per day prior to this.

Yesterday on Thursday, Paul and Zack went to meet the Cenois group for lunch and a tour of the auto plant in Bloomington. Paul was also wanting to attend the biz meeting. I was having a really terrible day and spent it in bed....rain was affecting my Meniere's and I was just in agony with my firbro. I slept all damm day. What a waste. Missed seeing everyone at the Cenois Rally and prolly missed a great Red Hat lunch! Darn. Hate it when I can't do what I want to do.

We are staying at the Clinton Lake Recreational Area. The campsites are wonderful. It should be filling up today for the weekend, but we will most likely just stay thru Sunday. If Zack is OK we will leave Saturday...I assume he is anxious to get home. I have a doc appointment in Springfield on Tuesday. I wan to do to the Museum and also see if I can get in to see Terri at Dr. Stegemens for a Valium refill this week also. I have been hitting the Valium kinda hard lately with all my ear problems. Even wearing my hearing aid hurts. I will also have to request copies of all our health records as we will have to change doc's when we officially make our residence in Texas. *Sigh*. I hope I find someone as good as Dr. S and his PA, Terri...I just love her to "interview" several docs down there...I need someone to support my current medication routine and support my disability stuff. I never had a care with Dr. S or Terri...hope I find a good one!

Last night while tooling around the park, Paul and Zack saw an albino fawn...of course they didn't have a camera. Someone gave them a great copy of it that they had taken earlier so I can scan it and perhaps post to the blog. I haven't been able to find a wifi connection so until I do, the blog will remain pictureless.

Well, they are about to bring Zack back from recovery so I am going to close. Will let you all know how he is doing as the day continues....

hugs

dee

Well, the post below was never uploaded...d*mm cingular...
We are currently going thru Holland MI heading towards Clinton IL for the big day on Friday. I will have to wait until I can access wifi before I can upload any of the pix I promised.

We are leaving just as blueberries are coming in. Crap. I love blueberries and they are good for you too. Of course, I like them in pie and muffins and crisps so that is not part of the good part of blueberries. *Sigh*.

Zack is plopped on the couch reading while Paul is trying to watch Price is Right while driving. This satellite in motion sucks. The signal is always getting lost and the poor roof top thingy is spinning like a top...Oh my, I can't wait to ask him if the extra $ for the in motion was worth it...I know what MY answer is.

Well, not much going on as we trek down Hwy 31...we are hoping that the construction backups on 94 are gone...last month when we arrived here there must have been a 30 mile back up....going from three lanes to one is such a bunch of fun for all of us driving out here. Engineers...at least those who plan for road construction must have to take a college course on how best to piss off people. Similar to the arrogance course doctors are required to pass. Then there is the other requirement for doctors...."god" role playing...sorry, my sarcasam is just based on experience.

OK...well, I will post more later...

hugs

dee

Picking up where I left off…

We drove around Grand Haven for awhile, showing Zack the sites…we checked out the used book store, and the Health Food store looking for my fav protein. No luck at either place. By this time its after three so we stopped at Beach Burrito…I told Zack that the insides of the burrito, the ground beef, beans and lettuce would be suitable for him to eat. Well, to say he was excited is an understatement. He is allowed a Lean Cuisine or a similar low cal/low carb dinner under 400 calories. He must have 70 to 120 grams of protein daily and less than 60 carbs. Therefore the expert (I, of course, who ELSE would it be….?) decided the guts of a burrito would about equal a 400 calorie frozen crappy dinner. Zack was one happy camper.

When we got back to Muskegon, the boys dropped me off at the rig and then they went disk golfing. I woke up about 7 for heaven’s sake and the car was still gone. Then I remember the park’s margarita party was being held down at the water. I decided that I would pass seeing I had slept so long due to incoming bad weather. They came home about 10:30….Mr. Ziaja Jr. was practically dragging Mr. Ziaja Sr. Two 44 ounce margaritas with whoever knows how much Mexican tequila dumped in had done him in. Claiming he was fine…he landed in the front passenger seat of the rig and promptly fell asleep. Zack and I watched a movie. We both went to bed after the movie and both of us gave it a good try to wake the sleeping giant. We finally left him in the chair. If he falls and breaks his neck during the night he has no one to blame but hisself.

Saturday morning we sleep really, really late….11 am! Suzie had stopped by earlier, opened the door and quickly shut it and lit out for the grocery store. She said all she heard was snoring sounds and the rig looked like a tornado had ripped through it. Later when we were finally up, Amy and Casey stopped by to see Zack. We really didn’t do much the rest of the day. Paulie made some kinda chili which Zack said tasted ok. I’ll pass. Hangover cooking dishes have bitten me in the butt before…’nough said.

Zack and I decided to go see the Harry Potter movie, but Paulie passed. He’s not a Harry fan so he didn’t want to spend the $ for something he’d probably sleep through. It was a good movie, kinda dark themed but the special effects once again are stunning.
Sunday….

After a nice sleep-in and reading the paper, we decided to take a ride to the Health Hut for some unflavored protein so we could make smoothies at Suzie’s tonight…we are going there for gazpacho and BBQ…the gazpacho is so everyone can eat what Zack can eat.

During our “drive” Paulie made some smart-ass comment which honked me off. So, rather than play into his hands, I just didn’t speak to either of the boys until we got home. They were off to the beach. I declined, knowing I would continue the argument unless I could get over my pique alone for a while. I watched the Cubbies for awhile then I fell asleep…what else?
The guys woke me up, I changed and did my hair and we were off to Suzie’s.
Uncle Lar’s parents Tom and Mary were over and we had a great time. We talked and laughed and told stories til ten. Since Uncle Lar had a busy week, we said our goodnights and headed home. Watched a bit of TV and then hit the sack.

Monday

Although neither of the boys was very enthusiastic, I prevailed and we went to the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids. We all truly enjoyed it. There was a special exhibit about Terrorism in America. I don’t want to sound like a radical here, but our own history is riddled with acts of terrorism…surely nothing to be proud about. Very informative exhibit. The museum is quite different from others I‘ve seen…perhaps it is because he has such a short time in office, although he had a long career in Congress. I must say, it rankled me to see some of the stuff on Nixon, but again, it was such a long time ago…I admire Ford because he took us forward after a terrible national disgrace. It was interesting to read Ford’s handwritten notes during meetings, seeing the actual tools the men used to break into the Watergate room and all of the tapes and stuff. Perhaps not as impressive as say the Kennedy Museum, but surely worth the visit. One always learns something at places such as this.

We stayed in downtown Grand Rapids and had a early dinner/late lunch at XO Chinese Restaurant. We lucked out and got in on the lunch specials which were reasonably priced and delicious! Zack had egg drop soup and a few bits of Paulie’s chicken.

The weather was nasty rainy so we didn’t go to Meijer’s Gardens but I was feeling the effects of the rains so the boys took me home. They went to play miniature golf while I rested. When they got home, we watched a bit of TV and then both Zack and I got absorbed in our current reading selections while Paulie made some phone calls.

Tuesday…well, here we are, up to date. Paulie and I did a ton of laundry this morning…not only did we have a ton of stuff like beach towels, sheets and rugs, but we had Zack’s clothes in addition to ours. Whew. Took us two hours!

Paulie and Zack are packing up the stuff outside. We will be pulling out of here heading for Clinton early tomorrow morning. Before we leave, Paulie and I will do a fast clean up job on the rig. Just putting stuff away today, will do the vacuuming and floor cleaning tomorrow.

This evening is kinda a toss up. I’d like to just stick around and get stuff together, but who knows what the “ants in the pants” boys will be up to.

I will post some pictures of the Museum at White Pines Village and the Ford Museum in another post when I can get to wifi access. Can’t do it on the aircard…too slow.

Later…
dee

Ooopppsy....hit the publish before I got to post the pictures....read the message below and then look a the pix.....

dee

Friday...

I am sitting in the Coffe Grounds Cafe in Grand Haven, using free wifi in order to post. My Cingular aircard doesn't work really well in the valley at Elks Park. I get very frustrated, but considering the circumstances I guess I should shut my trap.

We do have free wifi at the Elks Lodge which is just down the road. It is nice and quiet usually, and then I can drink beer and write...hmmmm, that could be a dangerous situation if I am not carefull!

Wed....we just kinda hung around and Paulie did some vaccuuming and swiffered the floor. Zack's plane doesn't come in til 8:20 p.m. We finally went to Wally world to kill some time in the evening then went to the Elks Lodge to work on some banking stuff. Of course, I somehow deleted all my favorites and bookmarks when I deleted all AT&T software. I had to do that because we couldn't get paulie into yahoo at all....I stopped in at the AT&T store and found out that in order to use AT&T hotspots like at mcdonalds, barnes and noble and ups stores I have tp pay an additional 20 bucks per month on top of the 60 we are paying for the air card. This poor man at the store got my wrath for about 20 minutes. The idiots in Springpatch who sold me this freaking air card said that I could access all Cingular, AT&T and SBC hot spots. LIARS~!

We picked up Zack and as we were waiting for his duffel bag, this very nice gal comes up to me and introduces herself, telling me what great kid he was and I should be proud of him...she said he reflected a good upbringing...it really showed. I just laughed and asked who had invaded my son's body! She was serious! I thanked her and she left to look for her luggage. I have some pictures I will post at the end so you can see how he looks...he is not gonna cut his hair until he loses x amount of weight (I don't know how much....) but he did shave that curly beard of his and now just has the goatee. Looks much better...his hair is so curly...and RED in the sunshine...

Thursday we went to the sand dunes at Silver lake. Rent a jeep and let Zack give us the ride of our lives. I have a sore ass, back is out of wack and have bruises on my knees. I sat in the front. Poor Paulie was in the back...he got quite the surprise when after one really fast jump the seat belt buckle jammed up his butt, but then I think he had the other one on and he just got knocked over to the other side of the back seat. Then on the next jump he was flipped so high his forehead hit the roll bar. It was kinda an empty thump which confirmed several of my suspicions....Poor guy...he took a beating back there. Better him than me. We were out there for about an hour. After the dunes we went and had some soup with Zack for a late lunch. He is on a liquid diet until his surgery next Friday. After this we went back to find the public beach at Crystal Lake. Not impressive to me at all. We then headed to White Pines Village, a reconstruction of an 1890's Michigan logging town. Neither of the boys wanted to go see it but I "persevered" and we went thru the town. Really neat and I think they did enjoy themselves. We got there at 4 and they closed at five so they didn't have to humor me too much. After leaving the village we checked out a few more campgrounds and county camping parks. One is right on the lake and stunning views can be had from the first row of campsites. Of course, its a no reservation, first come first served dealy so I guess you hafta sit and wait for someone to leave and then go throw your body on the sight to save it for yourself.

We took the scenic drive back thru Pentwater and had a nice drive. We stopped at Perkins for Zack to have more soup. Poor kid...I read his rules and apparently Mr. Know-it-all Jr. hasn't had much to eat this last week. I stuffed a protein down his throat. He needs 3 to 5 proteins a day. Dumbsh*t. So, I will take care of him. I will also order more for myself and for him...it should be delivered when we take him home...or I can call Dawnie and have it delivered to her place.

Well, the guys are still out walking around and I need a coffee refill...so here are some pictures from yesterday.

hugs....
dee

Well, true to form, I have a lot of catching up to do. I just can’t seem to get a good signal here…it starts out ok then goes to low. Very frustrating and so I just turn the computer off. I’ll pick up from where I left off…

Thursday July 5

Not much going on here today. Some of the weekenders arrived for the holiday so there are more folks around. We pretty much just goofed around and went to the beach.

Friday…

We decided to go check out the sand dunes at Silver Lake and go to Luddington. What a neat town Luddington is. We were surprised to find out you had to pay to go to the state park so we did like a lot of other folks did…find a turn off and pull in. Just over a sand dune is the big lake aka Lake Michigan. We tooled around for a while. We hadn't put our chairs in the car so we couldn't’t go sit by the water and just people watch. So we started to explore the area farther north. We found Scottsville(I think that’s the name) and Crystal Lake. We found a nice campground with beach access not far from the big lake also. We then found a very nice county campground that seemed nice and quiet…not tons of screaming kids that are overtired from all the wind and water all day. It was about 5 miles out from the big lake. I am very surprised by the prices up here. There are no bargains anywhere and I mean that…like at Riverside Park or our Illinois state campgrounds, you can stay for as little as $12 per night with water and electric. Water and electric in a spot barely big enough to put out our awning runs anywhere from 30 to 60 bucks a night. At Silver Lake where the sand dunes are, one campground charged an additional 10 bucks for an extra person…that is totally ridiculous IMNSHO. At Silver Lake we checked out the dunes and the places to rent dune buggies and jeeps. I guess we will bring Zack here…I think we could have a great time dune jumping in a jeep. I’d better take a lot of meds or I will leave a part of my stomach in the dunes.

Silver Lakes reminds me of the Wisconsin Dells. Very touristy and commercial. A single dip ice cream cone is like $3.75. There are a bunch of campgrounds, both private and state that are chock full. Tons of kids and teens. Been there, done that…give me a 55+ park and I am happy. (BTW, I am NOT 55 yet…lol!) What an old fart I have turned into. I just hate kids running thru my campsite and the constant screaming, running and destruction that accompanies kids. Guess I haven’t aged very well. Good thing I have time until I can expect any grandkids.

We had been told that there was a great little fresh fish place to have lunch or buy fresh seafood between Luddington and Pentwater. Botrells its called. We found it and purchased a lunch to split. We had Icelandic which I guess is cod. It was good. We took our little picnic across the road to the city park that overlooks the big lake and city beach and really enjoyed watching the people and eating good food. After lunch we went thru Pentwater. Wow, there are lots of bucks in this town. We did see tons of summer cottages for sale. I guess the bad Michigan economy and high gas prices has negatively affected the tourist coming back. If you had some cash I bet you could buy one of these places for peanuts. By the time we got home, it was about 6, but I had such a body ache I laid down for a bit. We had fire roasted hot dogs for dinner at 9 p.m. We have such a goofy eating schedule. No wonder my pants and getting tight!

Saturday…once again we hit the farmer’s market. The cherries are plentiful. Cherries give me terrible um, you know…flatulence…so I eat them like there is no tomorrow. Poor Paul…well, he’s doing the same thing so I guess we deserve each other. However, even Snickers won’t sleep in the bedroom anymore. She lays on the couch with her face stuck to the screen for fresh air. We did go to the movies…the $2.50 show to see Spiderman 3. I thought it was OK…wouldn’t have paid full price for it tho!

Sunday…

We got up, had a late breakfast, read the paper and then packed up for the beach. It was the first time I had seen whitecaps on the big lake. It was like sitting Oceanside. The wind was blowing from the southwest so it was wonderfully refreshing to sit in the sun, get a tan and keep cool at the same time. I read a book and Paulie read the new Escapee’s magazine. We were invited to a spaghetti potluck…we brought the wine. We sat around with the group until dark. It was a nice weekend.

Monday….

A weather front is coming from the north and one from the south. I am in misery. I can’t wear my hearing aide my ears are so sensitive. I had purchased some fresh sour cherries to make a pie so I pitted them and make a one crust pie with a crunch top. I was by this time staggering around so the rest of the day is gonna be a disaster. I took some Valium and went back to bed. We stayed in and watched some TV…the rain finally hit early in the am. Thank goodness…I can’t stand that ear crap anymore.

I do have some pictures to add to the end of the blog today. I will be going to the Elks to use the wifi so I can upload them all.

Until next time….

Dee

Well, holy crap...I haven't written a word since June 28 and here it is Independence Day!



We've been keeping busy, laying on the beach, sleeping in, going to the movies and sampling local dining fare. I know, I know...such a boring life. Yeah. Deal with it, I know!



On Friday we took in the largest craft show in the world, I think, at the Muskegon Celebration. We also went to the art fair. I bought two tie-dyed dresses. I wasn't sure what size to buy...so there is this skinny little babe looking at the dresses too, and she already had a dress on...I asked her how they held up, fit, washed etc...and she said she normally just washes in cold water...they were comfortable, but ran small. Oh goodie...now what the h*ll size do I buy? Some larges are too big, some Xlarges too small. I held up all the sizes to see which one went around my butt. I went with the 2X(oh my gosh...I can barely type that number anymore....) The gal I was talking to said she wears like an 8 and takes a large. OK, so I am a 14...let see...get the 2x and be safe...or give in to my ego and just buy the xlarge(I am no ten either). The woman was right...they run really small. I guess I am equal to a 2xl chinawoman.

That aside, I also found a perfect birthday present for Suzie. A really neat birdhouse that had a copper like roof, an antique door handle plate for the house opening and the perch for the bird was a small crystal door knob. Really neat looking. She really liked it, at least she said she did. I told her if she didn't like it I would take it off her hands asap. No where to put the thing, but I'd carry it on my bed in the motorhome irregardless.

On Saturday, we went to the farmers market and then later in the day we just goofed around and then sat around the campfire visiting with our neighbors. Sunday was going to be a day at the beach. We had a nice leisurely breakfast, read the paper and packed our lunch and cooler. Paul pumped up one of the small blowup boats we've been carrying around forever. I had shamed him into buying me a beach umbrella...(I usually just cover up with towels when I get too much sun, but jeesh, that is hot on a warm day...) and we had purchased two cheapy chairs we could leave down at the water so we wouldn't have to lug ours down and up each time. By the time we got down to the beach it was 1 pm. The beach was empty....why? IT WAS 60 DEGREES on the water and the wind was blowing from the north like a gale...

I was so cold, I wrapped all three beach towels around myself. It was so cold, I couldn't even hold a drink! We actually stayed til 2:15. July 1 and it was too cold to sit on the beach. We went back to the rig, changed clothes are went to the movies. We saw "Knocked Up" and it was hysterically funny. We both laughed out loud. Nothing much else was going on, so when we got back to the Asylum, we just built a fire and sat outside till about 11.

Monday was another quiet day. We didn't do much, I was a bit under the weather....coming down with a cold. Perhaps it was the freezing cold sitting on the beach in 60 degree sunshine. Paul went to Meijers and got me a bunch of cold remedies including Zycam...the q-tips you stick up your nose? They work. Honest.
The call from Bonnie our bank rep at the closing came while Paul was out, and everything closed without a hitch. No more property taxes, grass cutting and all the other joys of homeownership. Of course, there also went any equity for the future. Actually we didn't have any after using most of it for college expenses, redoing the house, etc. etc. But, it is over and done with...we are homeless vagrants living in a trailer...yanno...trailer trash!

Tuesday Zack informs us that we have to re-do our credit info for SIUE...again. We head over to the Elks Lodge so we can use their wifi...I still hate this air card. Maybe with IPOD phones they will ratchet up the service from AT&T....well, one can HOPE right?

Well, not much going on this evening...fireworks are everywhere but we decided not to go anywhere. Paulie is tired and I need to hit the sack early...we have laundry to do tomorrow.

HAPPY JULY 4TH EVERYONE!

Well, I am finally caught up. Today was the Elks pancake breakfast and Paulie worked from 7 to 12:30. He said that after some people worked their shift they just left...there was only like three guys to clean up the place. And he was one of 'em. Figures. It is still cool out today. 65 at the campground...it is kinda damp as it rained fairly hard last night. After Paul got back we decided to go to the show...not much happening around here with the icky weather. After we left the campground and headed east...it was sunny and 75 degrees! We went to see the new Robin Williams movie, "License to Wed".


.

some pictures I had in the camera...haven't taken too many....sorry...


Sean Krause, Big Zack and Johnny Morgan













The Kraus', me & paulie and the Morgan's













The first sunset of the year here was not so good...then the others I didn't bring the camera...it was cloudy but I got the sun just before it hit the water...

Poor grandpa…he had no luck whatsoever with Delta on his return trip to McAllen on Tuesday. We left at 6 am to get to GR airport only to find out his flight was delayed due to crew timing out from delays yesterday. If he took the delayed flight, he would miss his connection. So they switched him to a 2:45 departure from here and catch a connection in Atlanta around 8. We had hoped he’d get to Texas before it was dark but I guess that went out the window. We left the airport and headed out to find a place for breakfast. We really weren’t hungry but we ended up at Perkins, me having tea and the guys having a muffin. Of course, nothing opens til 9 or 10 so we just drove around, finally winding up at Midway Motors, the place we purchased our rig on line several years ago. We looked at all the new and used rigs, and decided once again, we like ours and don’t want to pay a quarter of a million bucks for another. Who has that kinda money anyways? Not us that is for sure…that would be a nice legacy to leave our kid…a motorhome with a mortgage bigger than we ever had as homeowners and with no resale value!

Finally he decided he was tired and wanted us to drop him off at the airport so he could find a nice cozy spot and take a rest…er, nap. We did drop him off around 1 p.m. then just hit a couple of stores. Costco is one place we didn’t have in Springpatch. It was a huge store, and the stuff looked really nice, especially the meat. Don’t know if it is worth a $50 member fee for us…don’t know where Costco’s are all over. We still have our Sam’s Club so it would be either or. Sam’s is just about everywhere, but I am not so sure about Costco.

We headed back to Muskegon and went to Dicks’ sporting goods. They had cheapie chairs we could take down to the beach and just leave there and if they disappeared, we’d be out only a few bucks. It is worth that just not to haul the stuff down to the beach. Down is not too bad, it’s the UP that gets me. Geesh…going up hill in sugar sand is not as easy as it looks on TV,…honest! I almost fell on my face…next time I gotta take my cane…I have NO balance on uneven surfaces and sand is included in that as I can now attest. My sandals got all twisted up in the sand…thank goodness Paulie was there to grab my arm before I went over. I am not sure what a fall on soft sand would do to my gosh-awful stupid hip, but I don’t want to test it anyways.

We went to the Traverse City Pie Company for dinner. We split a sourdough blt and then got carmel pecan apple pie for dessert. We ate our half sandwich but had to take the pie home. Eyes bigger than our tummys again.

We watched the Cubs game and then I went to bed.

Wednesday….

Another day from purgatory…I awoke with a terrible ache in my back and the unending urge to pee…bladder infection…AGAIN. Fibro is the culprit and is one of the symptoms. I had a flare over the last week, so this shouldn’t have been a surpise. I hit my stash of AZO and antibiotics from Mexico…I spent most of the morning in the bathroom…then because of all the fruit, got the trots. Complete misery. I finally went to bed and slept until 5. Paul made delish burgers on the grill. We sat outside for a while just enjoying the weather and the quiet of the area. Not much was on TV, although the re-run of Big Love was on at 11. The flys seem to be the biting type so both of us were targets when dusk hit. I got on the computer to update the blog but the signal was low and I couldn’t get on, thus the double post today.

It’s Thursday and we are still trying to decide what to do. Paulie thought that the craft show from the Celebration started today, but it is starting tomorrow. I thought we could go to Grand Haven and perhaps rent a couple of bikes. Just to see if I can ride a two wheeler, like the big girls. I had a trike but hated it…it was hard to pedal and I felt like a dork. This way if we decide to get some bikes so we can do some of the trails we encounter, I won’t be without some practice and know that I can ride a freakn’ bike without falling on my keester.

Paul is at the managers office arranging for a honey wagon. For the non-campers out there, we need to have our black tank emptied…you must imagine yourself what goes in the black holding tank.

Well, I am going to try and post this on line now, if not I will have to try later. I can take my laptop with us as there are a number of places with free wifi including the Elks Lodge just down the street. It takes seconds with a full wifi signal of 54 mbps…I am getting 3.6 mbps on the air card from Cingular. And I complained at Rio Valley with 11 mbps! You never appreciate what you have until you lose it, right?

Take care, and I will try to post again to let you know how we do on the bikes.

Hugs

Dee