Where have we been?

We've been lazy, that's where.

Making a July 4th resolution to post more, so let me catch you up.

Connie's been undergoing her treatments every three weeks, and she's hanging in there.  She's not as mobile as she'd like to be, but we're hoping recent visits to the spine doctor, an epidural next week and PT to follow will be a help.

Pretty much a season and a half have come and gone since our last post.  We've relocated in Texas to Port Aransas (Pioneer RV Park) as a home base for the entire season, not just a couple of months in the fall.  Our Ohio base is still Timber Ridge Campground south of Vermilion.

Our grand daughter, Kingsley, is now two years old and cute as a button, just like her mother.

We lost Carmen in February of 2016 to cancer that got into her spine.  In June of 2016, we welcomed Tangy (Tan-jee, like "Olentangy") to our home.  She's ornery, very loving, and can be, well, batsh*t crazy at times, but she's a welcome addition.

I lost my Mom at age 91 this past January.  It was a pretty stressful time since I was in Texas and she was in Ohio.  She fell the day before Christmas Eve and I talked to her from the hospital.  She was upset that she fell, didn't really know how, and they were keeping her there because some enzymes weren't right on the tests.  She had actually suffered a heart attack, had another one shortly after I talked to her, and literally lost the will to live.  She passed away January 23rd, almost exactly a month later.  We had her ceremony on her birthday (May 24th) when we returned to Ohio.

That's pretty much the (real) short story.  I'm hoping to wean myself off posting everything on Facebook and putting things here where they belong.

Thanks for reading.

Couple of Days on the Road

We got on the road Monday (the 1st) about 9:30a.  Pretty uneventful ride, not much construction to deal with, little or no traffic through Cleveland and Columbus.  Got into Caesar Creek State Park around 3p.

Pretty quick set up since there's no water or sewage and we weren't going to set up the dish.  We got cleaned up and went into Wilmington (our hometown) to see Connie's Dad and his wife for dinner at Damon's.  (I'm dieting so I had a salad.  Hated smelling those ribs and that BBQ everywhere, but I found the strength.)  Had a wonderful time with Marion and Betty.

After dinner, we ran out to Kroger (diesel was $3.51/gallon) and Wal Mart before meeting my lifelong friend Rich and his wife Kim at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Great time catching up, beating Rich at trivia, and enjoying each other's company.

On the way back to the campground about 0.3 miles from the entrance I double thumped a skunk.  Here it is Wednesday morning and the truck still smells.

Overnight it rained hard.  Carmen didn't get much sleep, so we didn't either.  Waited out the morning rain and got on the road about 10:00a.  About 5 miles from our destination (Renfro Valley, KY) we see a sign that says left land closed 5 miles ahead.  Things started slowing down in about a mile to a crawl.  There was a truck with a fifth wheel still attached that had broken down in the left hand lane.  We're still crawling after we get by him.  About a mile past him, there's a sign that the RIGHT lane is closed in 1 mile.  Now, its a mess and as I look in the rear view mirror there's a storm coming.  Long story short, it took us about an hour to go that last 5 miles and just as we got in the storm lets loose.

We took the 35 mile run over to Somerset and Burnside.  We first started coming down here with Connie's parents when we were dating in the late 70's.  Its where we both fell in love with boating and camping.  From that first time till now the road in from I-75 has become marvelous.  What once was a twisty, turning, up and down two lane road is now a great ride with 3 and four lanes gently going over the landscape.

If someone would have wanted to prospect on property since the 80's, Somerset, Kentucky would have been a great choice.  We rode with amazement what used to be a two lane highway and is now a booming commerce center with 5 lanes.  Nothing (except the 'floating Arby's' and Sonny's BBQ) was like we remembered it.  It was amazing.

Dennis, Craig and Don will be sad to know that "the bus" gave way to corporate America and is now where a strip mall sits.

We crossed the bridge out of Somerset into Burnside and our hearts sank.  That poor little town has almost completely dried up.  As much as Somerset has prospered, Burnside has collapsed.  The 7 Gables hotel and restaurant where we first stayed was closed down.  The little grocery store sat vacant.  Was kind of sad.

Connie's Mom and Dad prospected on a lot in Burnside back in the early 70's.  They still own it.  My friend Craig and I once went down and cleared it off.  The whole development is still not developed.  The lot is all grown over again, and probably fewer people live in the allotment now than before.  Again, it was depressing.

General Burnside Island State Park was our boat ramp, our campground, our golf course.  So many memories.  Other than the pool shutting down, it was in great shape.  The golf course was closed during the season of 2007 and completely renovated by the spring of 2008.  It looked fantastic.  The boat ramp that launched so many memorable trips had been renovated.  That was great to see.

This morning we head to Chattanooga for a couple of days before we're on to Atlanta.

One week and 1618 miles: miles 916 - 1618

We arrived back to Bethany's Friday evening (mile 1329) to find out that she had a flat tire and we needed to have her car in to the shop by 7a Saturday morning.

Got that accomplished, then it was time to take Connie's parents back to SW Ohio while Connie stayed with Bethany and James.

Got the car hooked up and about the time we should have had lunch, we were going to be at my Mom's house (mile 1435) so we arranged to pick her up.  We went out to Edison's Depot, which was kind of fascinating.  Apparently, during Edison's time, the village decided to rename itself after the inventor.  He wasn't born there, didn't live there and didn't die there, but the little village just took it upon themselves to honor him.

Connie's parents decided to head on to Wilmington by themselves, I spent a little more time with my Mom, then headed back to Cleveland.  Got back to Cleveland (mile 1541) around 4p and we spent the evening with Bethany, James and the kids.

Pretty neat the way our two girls and Bethany and James' dog Tucker get along, play, romp, wear each other out.

We had dinner out at a local tavern (Stamper's) close to the kids house in Fairview Park.  Food was decent.

Afterward, we watched our first two episodes of Duck Dynasty.  Not sure what the buzz is about, but at least we can say we've seen it.  Spent the night in the spare bedroom (different bed #5), had some pancakes in the morning and off we went for Ashtabula.

Arrived back to the rig almost 7 days and 1 hour after we left (mile 1618).  Drove about one way to Billings, MT.  Everything was good here, took about an hour to unpack and we were back to semi normal.

Day 3 on the road back to Ohio

Spent a peaceful night at the Texarkana Elks Lodge last night.  Back to work traffic started outside early, and we're both having to work at sleeping through traffic noise after a few months not hearing it.

As soon as we were leaving the parking lot, I noticed the check engine light on.  I had two decisions, put the rig back at 8:00a and get things fixed in Texarkana or run the route and get things checked in Memphis, about 250 miles.  We chose B and I worried about that decision the whole way.

We found an O'Reilly's Auto Parts about 40 miles outside of West Memphis.  Couldn't get into their lot, so parked across the street at a Citgo.  They brought the tester out and said it was a glow plug gone bad, same thing as a couple months before.  Wouldn't hurt to run it, but might be tough starting if things got cold.  We decided to keep going.

As we came through Little Rock, we really started noticing all the rivers swollen, and a lot of standing water.  That really came to a head at the Mississippi which we knew was approaching flood stage, and the reason we couldn't make our planned stop at Tom Sawyer's in West Memphis.

When we were here last October, there was no water here.  Couldn't figure out why we were on a bridge over so much land.  Now we know.

We decided to bust the extra distance and go to a KOA about an hour West of Nashville.  Wish we could have gotten all the way to Nashville, but that was about an hour more than I had in me to drive.  

Worried I'm going to look like a pretzel tomorrow as I've already got the heating pad on the back right now.  Going to make myself not leave until noon tomorrow to cut back on the travel time.

Carmen wishes she didn't have to do this riding thing

An Amazing Weekend....

We had an amazing weekend.  Our daughter, Bethany, and son-in-law, James flew to Houston and drove down Thursday afternoon to Copano Bay RV Resort.  Connie had a radiation treatment at 8a on Thursday, then tired herself out helping me clean the rig.  She was up and going again by the time the kids got to town.

After a night of jabber and remembering how the sofa bed worked, we ran into Corpus again Friday morning for a brain radiation treatment and were back by 9a.  We did a spin with the kids around Rockport, then a late lunch at Moon Dogs.  The brisket nachos were outstanding, as were the shrimp nachos.  Came back home for a day of watching college basketball, and the Buckeyes winning their first round game, while we munched on snacks and Connie's beer dip.

Saturday, we headed out to Port Aransas for lunch at Virginia's and I introduced Bethany to munzee hunting.  The view at Virginia's was better than the food, but all in all a decent place.  Drove around the town, then drove the beach.  Made the circle into Corpus Christi, then ended up at Fajitaville for a cocktail.  Bethany had a Beerarita and we all enjoyed the atmosphere.  Had steaks at the rig for dinner and it was a pretty early evening while watching our brackets go up in flames.

A word about the rig.  It performed perfectly in our first weekend entertaining guests.  Hot water tank had plenty, air mattress was OK, and all in all we were all very happy.

Carmen and Sloopy helped Bethany and James with missing their dog.

Sunday, James rolled to Victoria to golf with one of his college roommates, while the rest of us watched the Buckeyes squeak one out against Iowa State.  Afterward, Connie and Bethany shopped the shops of Rockport for a few hours.  Pizza Hut cooked dinner as we watched the tournament deep into the night.

Connie was pretty much a fireball all weekend.  Not many times we had to slow down, she was able to have a couple of Landsharks here and again.  Made her very happy.


Monday was the day we dreaded, as Bethany and James headed back to Houston for their flights back to Ohio.  Hurts a little less knowing we'll see them again in a couple of months.

Monday afternoon, back to the grind of treatments.  Had tons of leftovers for meals.

This morning, Copano Bay RV Resort had an incredible breakfast prepared by one of the guests who cooks (or runs?) at a bed and breakfast.  Delish!  Treatment afterward and a meeting with the radiation oncologist who thinks things are going along very well.

Returning to the treatment trains

After a very enjoyable weekend of watching College Basketball, the Buckeyes win the Big Ten Tourney and a Monday of making sure everything is in place, we returned to the treatment train today.

This morning, we were in Corpus at 8a for a whole brain radiation treatment.  Used the same mask as the Cyber Knife, but a different more shot gun approach to the cancer that's in Connie's brain.  Whole treatment lasted about 20 minutes, then we consulted with Dr. Stewart for another 20 minutes.  There's concern about using Xeloda (chemo) to treat the body cancer at the same time as the radiation to treat the brain, but it's a risk we're OK with taking.

Tomorrow is going to be a tough one.  In at Corpus by 6:30a (talking about a 5:15a alarm!) for the installation of the mediport procedure, a 10:00a Herceptin treatment and a 2:45p whole brain radiation procedure.  I'll drop Connie off, take the girls to Bruno's for some daycare and kill the day here and there in Corpus working, walking the mall or deploying Munzees.  We'll try to get a lunch in at the Sirloin Stockade again between the Herceptin and the radiation.  We'll be dragging by evening (including Carmen and Sloopy).

The reward will be Thursday when our daughter (Bethany) and son in law (James) fly in from Cleveland after another 8a radiation treatment.

Got a big weekend planned if Connie's up to it.

You need to take your wife to the Emergency Room...

Today, Connie was scheduled to be in Corpus Christi at 8:30a for a brain MRI, a mammogram and a CT chest scan.  We have a follow up visit with Dr. Aponte, the oncologist, on Monday (the 25th).  The whole process was supposed to take about an hour and a half.

Nothing I could do, so I started driving around Corpus Christi playing Munzee, which is basically a 21st century scavenger hunt with a smart phone.  I thought it beat sitting in a waiting area for a couple of hours.  Connie had forwarded her cell phone to me, so all the business calls would come my way while she was being tested.

At about 9:45a, I got a call from Dr. Aponte wanting to tell me to take Connie to the Emergency Room at Christus Spohn Shoreline. I was pretty confused.  I was only about 10 minutes away from the imaging place.  Connie was inside waiting on them to make disks up to give to her and bring with her to the ER.  She said something on the brain MRI was troubling to the technician.

We went to the ER.  (Funny story, while we're waiting they called for "Guadalupe Something" four different times for four different Guadalupe's.)  Connie finally gets taken back, and we agreed that it was time to get the dogs taken care of since the admitting process would take a while.

I came back to Rockport and made arrangements for Carmen and Sloopy to be boarded at the Salty Dog here in Rockport.  They weren't quite used to having loose ends, but we got it worked out.  Whole process took about 2 hours.

By the time I got back, Connie was in a hallway and about to be transferred to a transitional area.  She had met with Dr. Aponte who said there was a mass on her brain that needed immediate treatment.  Connie was put on steroids (to shrink the swelling of the brain) and anti seizure meds right away.

We met that night with Dr. Gleason, who was a neurologist.  He showed us the pictures that had caused alarm and was going to recommend that Connie undergo Cyber Knife treatment for the large mass, and whole brain radiation for the additional small spots that were apparent.

I went home, and Connie was moved to a permanent room.

Our Super Bowl Party.....

We've always said watching sports outside is better than anywhere else.  Yesterday, we took it to another level with our first Super Bowl party in probably 10 years.  It was in New Orleans, so beads and Dixieland were the order of the day.  Even the girls were in the swing of things.

We had plenty of help with our friends Mike, Kris and Justin from "across the pond" bringing their food and their chiminea for heat.  Along with Ed and Loretta back from their cruise, the neighbors and their friends from next door it was a great night.

Baxter was our first guest of the day.  Took most of the afternoon to bring things out and back and forth from across the pond.  Because of the angle of our rig, the sunlight was an issue early and we had to go with the 24" Vizio until sunset when the projection unit took over.

Once the chiminea got really cooking, the sun was down, we had pretty good heat along with the winds being manageable.  Mike's ribs were wonderful, the guacamole was sensational, the beers were cold and flowing.

To make things even better, we won the park's squares for the 3rd quarter!

Our week in review....

Saturday, after watching the Buckeyes, we headed downtown for Discover Sycamore's Block Party.  The girls were entered in the Doggit Luau Parade, and Sloopy entered the shell game contest.  Then, back to the rig to watch MORE college football.

Sunday was filled with anticipation of the arrival of the in laws (Connie's Mom and Dad along with Bob's Mother) as they were coming to the Sycamore RV Resort for a couple of weeks.  We went to the MVP Sports Lounge to watch the first half of the Bengals/Browns while waiting for "the call" that the in laws had left I-39 and were heading into town.

On Monday, we headed out for a "show the town" day and a fill up with groceries.  Our evening was topped off with dinner at the Sycamore Parkway Restaurant for good eats.

Tuesday was a "show the area" day, as we drove over to Medinah Country Club (home of the 39th Ryder Cup) and did some shopping before we returned home to watch some baseball.

Always terrific to spend time again with our parents.  We really treasure the moments we can spend together.

Finally, the Bug to Raft Was Too Much

It was finally too hard to wait, with 70+ degrees and sunshine all day that we blew up the raft, fired up the engine and headed out on this water we've been seeing since the first of December.

A bit of a learning experience, as it's so shallow and has a ton of mossy like 'stuff' in it (almost overheated from the get go as I got some in the intake).  But, like always it seems, we had a good ride.

Was good first trial for Carmen, who seems to really like the water, but had never been in the raft.

As you can see from the video, started looking like we were going to get rained on so we cut it short.

There will be more!

Trip to the Beach

Finally!  We made it to Port Aransas Beach on the Gulf of Mexico.  We drove to the ferry (free, can't believe it!) and quickly were taken across to this great little beach town.

We went to I.B. Magee Park, which allows leashed dogs on the beach and you can drive on the sand.  (Very cool, but we got stuck in New Smyrna Beach on the sand, so we're hesitant.)

It was Carmen's first trip to the beach and she was curious, but frightened, of the surf as the video below will show.  Walked for a good half hour from the inlet to the fishing pier and back.  Had to be careful of Jelly Fish occasionally, but a great walk.

We were still in search of our "Toni and Joe's" from New Smyrna Beach, but no luck.  We did, however, find the Port Aransas Brewing Company, which had a great blonde ale on the menu and allowed us to sit outside on their patio with the pups.

Off to the Coast!

With all the tearing down to get the rig fixed, and cold, rainy weather forecast for Friday, we decided to roll a day early (actually our original plan) and head out from the Dallas Arlington KOA.

Pretty uneventful ride except for bumper to bumper traffic in Austin. Carmen and Sloopy are terrific to travel with, just curl up on the back seat and "let us know when it's time to get up."

Got about 5 hours down I-35 to a little north of San Antonio, where we'll stay in a Wal Mart overnight.  Up tomorrow, and our new home for six months:  Sea Breeze RV Resort.

Homeless (for about an hour)

Well, our first major "we've got to keep it overnight" repair happened to the rig yesterday.  As we changed the tire that blew on the way into Dallas, we noticed that the leaf spring was broken that supports the frame.  Not good.

We did a tear down on Sunday, but kept everything that normally rides in the truck on the site at the Dallas Arlington KOA.  We made reservations at the Candlewood Suites in Arlington because they were pet friendly, and had a full kitchen available in the suite.

Could have been one, two or three nights max, so we packed clothes accordingly.  Cleaned out the whole fridge and freezer, took a few kitchen essentials and headed out Monday morning for Dan's Auto Repair to drop the rig off.

We got Dan's info from the KOA's info flyer, and they were prompt to call back when we initially called.  About all you have to go on, other than internet reviews when you're in a different city.

After we dropped the rig off, we were suddenly homeless.  Room wouldn't be ready at the Candlewood Suites, and we were just driving around in the truck.  A truly weird feeling with no place to go.  Fortunately, the room was ready around 10a, they let us check in, and we didn't have to sit in the McDonald's parking lot too long after breakfast.

We weren't sure how Carmen and Sloopy would react in a hotel room.  They both chirped a few times (to our horror), but quickly got accustomed to their new surroundings.  We were able to work the rest of the afternoon from there, watched the Urban Meyer presser and Monday Night Football.

With good fortune, all parts were available, installation was successful and we were able to pick the rig up this morning (Tuesday).  Back to the Dallas Arlington KOA for a few more nights before heading to Corpus Christi and the Sea Breeze RV Resort for the rest of the winter.

OK with us if it's the last time, but now we know we can handle major repairs to the rig.

What a Saturday in Big D!

First, the bad news -- Buckeyes lose to Purdue by having an extra point blocked.  <sigh>.

Plenty of good news, though.  Dropped Sloopy off in the morning at the Richter Animal Hospital to be boarded for the weekend.  Carmen was there a day earlier to be spayed and they'll spend the rest of the weekend there.  When people talk about how pets "tie them down", we don't get it.  If you have somewhere to go, there are plenty of great boarding places wherever you are.  We once boarded Sloopy for 14 days in Tucson while we cruised to Hawai'i.

We travelled to the other side of Dallas to the Texas State Fairgrounds.  Saw the Cotton Bowl, and my she's showing her age.  Still want to do the Texas State Fair someday.

Our purpose for our visit, though, was to see the Zac Brown Band perform at the GEXA Pavillion.  We arrived around 3:30p local time and after our walk to the Cotton Bowl, back to the truck to tailgate, only we were pretty lonely.  We walked to the other side and saw that the partying had started on the other side, but our parking location was going to be so good, we decided not to leave -- a good decision.

Been awhile since we'd traditional tailgated, including charcoal.  Had bought a little portable guy at WalMart for $5 and it included a package of charcoal, which was terrible and wouldn't light.  So we through the bag of Match Light on there, and we suddenly had enough charcoal to cook a turkey.  Plenty for our couple of hamburgers.

The GEXA Pavillion is a nice venue, with a large lawn seating -- our preference.  Can't estimate the crowd, but it was pretty full and Zac Brown said it was the largest sale they had had on this tour, so let's just say 'big'.

Concert itself was a great value -- two opening acts took us to an hour and a half, and ZBB played another two and a half with a special appearance by Randy Travis.
Traffic getting out was as you would expect from an older venue, lots of one lanes, lots of cutting into traffic.

Today, we're on the road to Galveston (about 5 hours from the Dallas Arlington KOA) for the inaugural event of the Carnival Magic.  Will have plenty about it for the ride back!