(Well past) Time for another update ....

No posts since January.  <sigh>  I guess I hate writing just to be writing.  Blame my college professors and Sue Terrell.  (If you know who she is, thanks for your friendship for all these years!)

 The Porters and I walked the Harbor Bridge (on the left) in Corpus Christi the first weekend of February.  Was neat to say that you've done.  As slow as we did things, really wasn't that bad.  All told, I've done it.  Don't need to do it again.

Of course, after we finished, we went to North Beach for a celebratory beer.  Yes, I know it was 10:30 in the morning.  I have a problem.


February and so far in March have been incredibly rainy.  We've had more rain this "season" than the previous two years combined.  Last year was a lot of shut in time for cold.  This year has been warmer, but been shut in for rain.

Did get a visit from Bethany and James for a couple of days in early March.  Connie and Vickie were able to take her shopping for Baby Davis while I took James golfing.  On the right is James retrieving his drive on #18.

We've been able to meet with our Heartland friends about once a week for a meal and some good conversation.

This last week of March is when the Winter Texans will start flowing out of the Coastal Bend.  Always seems to happen around this time.  Then they all get home and whine about how cold it is there.  Duh.

We met with Connie's oncologist last week and started mapping out our exit strategy.  She's going to do on more treatment in March (next Tuesday the 24th), another in April (on the 14th) then a final one in Texas tentatively on the 5th of May.  Between the 14th of April and 5th of May she'll do the scans and tests and we'll have those results read on the 5th of May.  Whether or not those show progression of the disease will determine how we proceed.  From a health standpoint, she's been very tolerant of these treatments.  Lose the night of the treatment, but that's about it.  No nausea, her weight has held pretty steady and other than some balance issues, has been going about life great.

Speaking of going about life, we decided to take a last minute cruise on April 5th.  Life's too short.

After we hear what the oncologist has to say on the 5th of May, we'll start figuring out a run to South Dakota (have to spend at least one night there every five years), then on to Ohio.  Want to be loose and free with our plans, at least to South Dakota, so that we can play the volatile weather in the Plains during May.  Do hope to be back in Ohio by the Monday after Memorial Day.

That's about it for now.  Treasure every day and the people you spend it with.

Sugar Bowl, Bethany Visits, and it was cold.....

Had a couple of spectacular weeks following the Buckeyes to a National Championship.

It started on New Year's Eve as we drove to Baton Rogue, stopping to pick up our daughter in Houston at the airport.  Not conditioned for those long drives any more, it doesn't seem.

New Year's Day we drove into New Orleans.  Our first stop was at the Mid City Yacht Club, the official bar of the OSU Alumni from New Orleans, the Cajun Buckeyes.  Was a real throw back bar, in a neighborhood, surrounded by row houses.  Had a great time there.  Met Buck-I-Guy and Archie Griffin, had a few beers then headed downtown towards the Super Dome.

Parked in our spot a few blocks away from the Super Dome and hopped on local transit to the French Quarter.  Stopped for lunch at Crescent City Brewhouse.  Nice place, filled with Buckeyes and Bammers alike.

Next was on towards Manning's where ESPN had been broadcasting.  Got there just as they were striking the set.  <sigh>  Was still a good place to stop, rest, have a few beverages and watch some football.

Continued our walk to the SuperDome where there was a Fan Jam going on outside the stadium.  Met up with an old friend college, a Bama fan we had met on our cruise to Hawaii in 2011, my cousin from Orlando and our friends from Bellevue, who's brother I went to school with.  Was a really fun atmosphere, got super psyched for the game.

We got into the SuperDome in plenty of time to see all of pre game.  We didn't have an usher for our seat, we had sherpas.  They were up there, but still a great view of the game.  Needless to say, it was the desired outcome.

Drove back with Bethany to Rockport the next day, and spent the next two days recovering from the 3 day blitz.  By Monday, we had decided the price of tickets was going to be too high, the weather in Dallas was going to be too cold, and we bailed on taking the rig to Arlington opting instead fly Bethany back from Corpus Christi.

Spent the next week indoors most of the time.  Temp highs in the 40's will do that when you're in an RV.

Had a great tailgate party with the Porter's for the National Championship game, but that afternoon our furnace didn't fire.  Turns out the circuit board was bad.  Would be till Friday until we got the part, so I got a little portable heater.  As the temps didn't clear 55 for a week, it was cold in the rig.

Again, the National Championship game had a desired result.

Started a Euchre Night here at the park on Tuesdays, and we think its going to roll.  Played twice a week at Pioneer RV Resort in the fall and really wanted to keep playing.

Finally going to get to play golf this Monday as the temps are going back to their normal mid 60's for this time of year.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to read our doings.  Till the next time......

December and The Holidays

We've been at Copano Bay RV Resort since December 20th.  Had a Happy Hour most afternoons with our friends here.

Connie has had two treatments since our last blog.  She seems to be tolerating them very well.  Her oncologist sees most of the cancer being stable and not worthy of being too aggressive, so that's what we've done.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.  We had a snacks and carols on Christmas Eve, then an afternoon potluck Christmas dinner here at the park.  All very good food, fun to be a part of.

Christmas Day we had a FaceTime conversation with our daughter, Bethany, and her husband, James (and dogs).  With the announcement that she's expecting in June, we'll probably be doing a lot more of this in the coming months and years.

We took our Christmas decorations down yesterday, the day after Christmas which is earlier than either of us can remember..  Its amazing how much space we donate to our Christmas decorations, but its something both of us enjoy.

Weather has been terrific (until today where its rainy and in the 40's) with the highs in the 60's-70's and the lows in the 50's-60's.  Going to be a bit of a roller coaster for the next couple of weeks.

We'll be following the Buckeyes to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.  Meeting our daughter at the airport in Houston, then on to Baton Rouge for New Year's Eve, then NOLA for New Year's Day and the game vs. Alabama.  Shortly after we return (with Bethany) to Rockport, we'll head back with her to Dallas where she's working the National Championship game (and hopefully to continue to follow the Buckeyes!)

September - Where Does the Time Go?!

Once again, it has been a long layoff from posting.  We have had a lot going on in the month of September.

For starters, we made a visit to Wilmington on the 4th.  Nothing special, just checking in with my parents.  We spent time together enjoying the time together.

Sloopy offering her love and support.

As it turns out, that would be the last visit with Mom.  She unexpectedly passed away on September 13.  So, another trip to Wilmington.  We stayed a couple of days to help Dad with some of the paperwork stuff.    The Clinton County Senior Center had a wonderful potluck for us after the services. Was nice seeing friends and family - despite the circumstances.

Down on the farm.

During some down time, we had the opportunity to visit the farm where my maternal grandparents lived.  The dogs (Sloopy, Carmen & Tucker) really enjoyed running around and checking out all the new smells.









Back to Ashtabula.  The weather has certainly turned more to Fall.  We have had some nice afternoons that have allowed us to sit outside and watch some baseball and of course, college football.  A few visits from friends have made those afternoon and evenings very enjoyable.  All this gave us great excuses to use the new smoker grill.  Yum!


Sad time of year as we have taken the raft out of the water and put it in storage.  This year, we will leave it here since we have not made much use of it in Texas.

Yesterday, I had a followup brain MRI.  The good news is that the big tumor had not grown.  The bad news is that it had not shrunk,  either.  The doctor wants to take another check in 2-3 months, so we will have that done in Texas.  Next up is the followup spine MRI on Friday.

Folks here at Kister Marina are starting to pack up and head home for the winter.  We too, are starting to get organized for our trip south.  At this time, our departure date is scheduled for October 11.

Go Buckeyes!

Family Time!

We packed up and headed to Bethany and James' new house on Tuesday.  I was able to see it when they moved in.  This was Bob's first time seeing the place.  I was very impressed with what all they had done with the place.  Looks great.  We both were very happy with the house and the neighborhood.  Nice job guys - so very proud of you both!


We joined up with my parents and Bob's mother.  The "kids" had a house full with all of us and the dogs.  They fixed a wonderful steak dinner for us all.  So nice to relax and visit with everyone.  And, the dogs were enjoying the playtime too.




Wednesday was treatment day at the Cleveland Clinic.  As much as I love my doctor and the clinic, I have to say I was not excited to see them all again.  But, the clinic is such a gem.  Just another thing we take for granted up here!

A quick visit/goodbye after the clinic visit and we headed back to Ashtabula.  Was so nice to spend time with family.

The clinic stuff went very well.  And, we found out that we can now do all the treatments in Ashtabula from now on.

No side effects of note today, so I was able to enjoy the beautiful weather - after working, of course.  Neighbors came over for a very short "happy hour".   So nice to be able to be outside and meet people.

Hoping the weather holds out for the weekend!

Wilmington and Ashtabula

We spent all day Thursday and Friday in our hometown of Wilmington (OH), actually outside of it about 7 miles in Caesar Creek State Park.

Thursday, we spent most of the day with our parents.  Mowed the yard, my first time in about 3 years.  Don't miss it.  Big moment was we went to Verizon to get my Mom a new phone.  

Thursday evening, we met with many of our friends from High School at McD's Pub.  Great to see everyone.   Amazing how you can pick right up with people you haven't seen for 30 some years.

Friday, was a miserable, dreary day.  Welcome back to Ohio.  Spent most of the day just reminiscing with our parents, though sadly, we did go to one of our friends' father's calling hours.

Saturday was a travel day.  We cooked a pre-Mother's Day brunch at the campsite, then got on the road around 11a.  Lunch at the Flying J north of Columbus, then dropped my Mom off in Cardington.  Still had about 3 hours to go after that.

Got into Kister's Marina around 5:30p, and set up didn't take too long.  Our daughter Bethany came over, as did our friend Lenny.  We then went over to Lenny's to see his Mom, brother and girlfriend.  Carmen and Sloopy got to see 'Dessa and Sierra, two litter mate 11 year old German Shepherds.  Carmen had a little too much energy for those two.

Sunday, we went over to Pickle Bill's in Grand River for a Mother's Day luncheon with Bethany's husband and his parents.  Great time.  So nice to have Lake Erie perch again, and catch up with James and his parents.  Cold, though.

Today was a back to work day, but I did take some time to do some work on the site.  We inherited an old DirecTV dish on a pole that we decided to take down and make into a hanging plant post.  

Neighbors said on Sunday that there were steps that people have left over the years that we were welcome to, so we grabbed a set.  Needs some tweaking, but we'll make it work.

Finally, there's plumbing.  I still hate plumbing.  Had a small leak from the hose so I cut into the hose and replaced the male end.  When I did, I realized we needed a new hose.  Also wanted to fix the sewage so it was more permanent for when we come back, and got all the pieces/parts from the bone yard except for a couple of elbows, but the pipe was old that no one carries it any more, so it didn't fit the elbows.  Tried to make it work, but it doesn't look that way.

The mower

Tomorrow, we'll head over to Cleveland, meet with our parents who are going to be dropping off a mower for Bethany and James new house, then Connie will have her first treatments and appointments at the Cleveland Clinic.

Warming up.......

Starting to be more of Chamber of Commerce weather here in the Coastal Bend.  Was nice enough yesterday to watch the entire Falcons vs. 49ers game outside yesterday.  Sports (and football in particular) is just better when you watch it outside.

Thinking hard about a beach day this week, as we might get into the 80's by the end of the week.

Saturday night, another carry in and fireside dinner over at Mike and Baxter's here at Sea Breeze RV Park.  Ed and Loretta cooked up sausage plus liver & onions to perfection.  Smoky fire, though.  All clothes in the wash, plus had to wash the smoke smell out of our hair Sunday.  Bob was late to the dance watching the Buckeyes lose to Sparty.  <sigh>

Baxter is a great dog.  Shitzu by breed, but he's got a superb personality.  Here's a picture of him "getting walked".  Rules the roost.  Our girls treat him as a non dog.  His temperament is sensational for the RV lifestyle.

Put the finishing touches on our travels for the summer.  Once we leave the Coastal Bend, we'll be spending a month in Dallas, June in Denver and July in Salt Lake before taking on California from Sacramento to San Diego.  Buckeyes at Cal is the feature event, but looks like we'll be able to do some day games with the A's and the Giants plus Stanford, USC and UCLA home football games.  Stoked.  Once the NFL schedules come out, Chargers, Raiders and Niners might enter the mix.

We shouldn't whine about the weather......

When our daughter lived in Florida, and we were still in Ohio, we had a rule:  no gloating about how nice it is there.

Now we can winter wherever we like and she's in Ohio.  We try not to gloat, but our complaints about the crappy weather here kind of fall on deaf ears.  It's been awful since New Year's Day (in our terms).  40's and 50's with wind and rain.  Yuck.

Certainly haven't done much.  We did go meet with the Heartland Owners Group of the Coastal Bend for dinner at Pepito's here in Portland, TX.  Great group of folks.

Back into Chicago, Storms here again....

Thursday, we took a ride into Chicago to Navy Pier to hear the Dueling Pianos on the Pier and meet with a former student of Bob's who went to Loyola and has lived in Chicago for a few years.  Was fun catching up.

Not much drama traveling this time, just missed our first stop on the return ride, so a little bit of jogging to make the 9:40p Metra train back to Elburn.  Biggest drama was when we turned on the Garmin Nuvvi we got really bad news.  It must have gotten smacked when we put it away in the glove compartment and the result was a disaster as you can see.  Sent it in Friday to see if there's anything they can do.

Also Friday, we got our new Maxxi tires for the rig.  Hopefully will allieviate the Carlisle Tire blowout problems.  We made an appointment a the local Farm and Fleet to have them put on Monday, so we'll have a mini tear down and roll.

Friday night, Sycamore RV Resort was pretty electric with weekend campers and kids everywhere.  Probably trying to get that last run out before school starts.  Met a great couple (Scott and Leslie) in their new RV (moving in their daughter to NIU) staying here from Detroit.

Saturday, since we're moving on Monday for tires, we chalked off the first big "To Do" by finishing repairing the damage from the Iowa tire blow out.  Was a lot of work getting glue to hold, holes sealed, etc.  That Great Stuff expanding foam is good stuff but really messy.  We both threw away our work clothes at the end of the run.

Later we were going to go to the MooseFest here in town, but the Severe Thunderstorm Warnings came out around 3:00p and sure enough, around 3:30p we had sheets of rain, hard driving wind and lots of lightning and thunder.  Couple of the weekenders learned about their awnings in storms, and will be learning this week how expensive they are.

Scott and Leslie came over after dinner and 'the girls' made them feel right at home.  Night of Olympics watching after they left along with planning for the quasi move on Monday, and the weekend is pretty well over!

So hot.....

We chose Topeka, KS because last year we spent this same time frame in Oklahoma City, OK and we needed to get further north.
We're not there yet!  Time here started OK, with temps in the 80's and nights in the 50's.  This past week has turned brutally HOT!  Heat advisories everyday, temps in the 100+ degree mark.  Air conditioning can't keep up.  Been tough.

Wind, wind go away....

Man, it has been windy here at the Capital City KOA in Topeka!  Average winds 20 mph+ (gusts up to 40 mph) for the last three days, with temperatures in the 90's.  Have been almost locked in during this whole time with the A/C running and feeling the rocking and rolling of the rig.  First time in recent memory we're starting to get a little cabin fever.

Mother Nature Still Decides....

When we were boating, the wind and waves ultimately decided whether we'd stay in a certain port or make the run to our homeport of Ashtabula or our next destination.  It's the single biggest reason we're a "landyacht" instead of being liveaboards somewhere which was the original plan 10 some years ago.

So yesterday, we see on the news where they're predicting 'super cells' for Oklahoma City, our next destination yesterday and today (when we're supposed to roll).  They get pounded last night, as we did.  0.75" of rain around 3 a.m. with pea/nickel sized hail and a dog scared of thunder is not a pleasant way to try and sleep.  Nothing like OKC, though with the hail, winds and rain that really slapped them silly.

With the forecast the same today (decent through the day but building to nasty by evening), we'll pass on leaving.  The truck is packed, we're ready, but the Edmond (OK) Elks Lodge will have to wait another day.

An eventful night

Last night was just full of events.

Around 8:30p, we heard what sounded like a crash.  It was.  A jackedup pickup truck was in front of another pickup truck and both were about to turn left into the park.  A third car from behind attempted to pass both of them just as first truck turned left.  The fact it was a jackedup pickup probably saved some lives because the car slid under the truck, and didn't hit the driver broadside.  While there were a few injuries, it could have been much, much worse.

Then around 9:00p, little Maddison comes out of Fred and Vickie's rig and says there's something wrong with the television she was watching.  Actually, the National Weather Service had jumped in to alert us of an impending Severe Thunderstorm.  It was supposed to hit us around 9:35p.

While the rain and hail they had predicted went north of us, the winds certainly got howling.  Tree limbs down, power went out, things were strewn about the campground, people went to the clubhouse.

Finally, on the walk home, Bob stepped in a hole and rolled his ankle and scraped his knee.

Again, other than some damage here and there, everything passed without much ado other than a "story".

As close as we've been.....

You can see our YouTube video below of the massive rains we had early Monday morning.  8.5" of rain in 24 hours, which was more than they had here in Portland, TX ALL LAST YEAR!  There also was an F-1 Tornado touch down across town, which is as close as we've been to real danger.
Reality today as our golf course, NorthShore Country Club, is definitely closed today, probably tomorrow and might be open Thursday.  Our last three days here, and they're going to be closed.  Bummed.

Records!

Everywhere we've been this year, the weather has been record breaking! Starting with Baytown (TX), where we had record lows for a week, in Tucson, then on our return in Oklahoma City and now in Indianapolis we've had record highs!

It's us.  I know it's us!

Turn down the heat!

For the next five days: "The combination of temperatures in the 90s...and dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s...will produce dangerous heat index values of 105 to 110 degrees from late morning into early evening each day."

If I wanted to stay in Louisiana, I'd have stayed in Louisiana!

Tear Down Day

Today is the day before "Get Away Day" which is "Tear Down Day".   Each place we go, we like to have a familiarity of our setup -- two tables outside, solar ground lights, X pen for the dog, raft under the rig, etc.  Just makes us feel more at home.

Whereas we used to tear down the morning of Get Away Day,  now we seem to do things a bit more leisurely.  Of course, another record breaking heat day slowed us a bit, also.

Biggest thing is getting the scooter in the truck, which starts the whole process of loading.  Not sure if everyone has a packing list, but I need one for the order of everything that goes into the truck (to give us that Beverly Hillbillies look as we travel) and to make sure I don't forget anything.

We've never been one to be all hooked up and roll out of the park at the crack of dawn.  Our traditional time to be on the road is 10 a.m. We'll do breakfast, finish packing inside and out, take our showers when we're finished and dump the sewage last thing before we pull out.  Just makes us feel good on the road.

Will be blogging from the road the next two days.  Staying at the Springfield (MO) Elks tomorrow night, a Wal Mart to be determined, then pull into the Indianapolis KOA on Sunday.

Man has it been hot

About to wrap up our time here in Oklahoma City.  Just looked at wunderground for the almanac since we've been here.  Whew, it was a scorcher.

Average high was 99 degrees, average low was 73.  Maximum high of 106.  Almost like winter we were in the rig so much.  Pool helped, rafting on Lake Thunderbird helped, but it all seemed so temporary.   Very few nights sitting outside.

Liked the park, liked the people here, but I'm ready to see some lower highs.