A Whirlwind of Relatives and Friends

We drove to the lake on Saturday, arriving just about lunch time.  We had a sandwich with all that were there - Tim and Cindy, son Ron and Sarah plus Lily, Maddie and Morgan plus daughter Amy and Landon with sons Lucas and Graham.  A whole houseful with us there too.

We sat on the dock and Ed and Vicki  stopped by in their boat for a brief visit.  After they left, Karen, Ron, Terry and Lynn stopped by in their boat.  It was like Grand Central Station!  Landon grilled the steaks for dinner and we had quite a spread!  Afterwards Tim and Cindy took us on a very long boat ride on their boat.  They have sold their Indiana house and are moving to the lake in preparation for retirement the first of the year.

Here is Graham with Ted.  He likes sitting on his lap.  And Morgan, who they claim makes up with no one, never left my side.

Sunday was a huge breakfast and more swimming, tubing and boating.  After lunch a storm was brewing so everyone kicked into high gear to get things ready before the rain started.  We were about a minute behind and got wet running to the car.  We drove in rain back to the campground.

When we awoke on Monday morning the Connecticut cousins Jerry and Brenda were parked next to us.  They must have pulled in just as we went off to bed.  Their daughter Avery was going off to visit other cousins so we saw Jamie, Steve, Faith and baby Will when they picked her up.

Tuesday we attended the Creation Museum as planned with Steve and Marge followed by lunch at Skyline.  Tim and Cindy were moving things to the lake so I told them to stop here for dinner and invited Jerry and Brenda too.

Wednesday we had a bit of time during the day to catch our breath.  After work, niece Jill met us for dinner.  She had to work late so we got a late start and she has dogs at home so it was a short evening.

Steve and Marge invited us to their house for a swim and dinner on Thursday.  We passed on the swimming but did go for a visit and dinner.  Their daughter came too and we had not seen her in almost 40 years.  She was in elementary school when we left Cincinnati and never visited when her parents would meet us while camping.  She is a policeman and knew three of my relatives!

We had to eat and run, for which I apologized, but we had Sherry, John and Nancy coming by at 8 o’clock.  Sherry is a Hamilton County Park police and Nancy is our family travel agent relative.  Jerry and Brenda came over and it turned into a party.  Nancy brought snacks and wine and I got a bit worried about us being too noisy.  They left just before 11 o’clock and nothing was said about the loud talking and laughter so we must have sound sleepers on our other side.

Friday we met my half brother Kim (same mother).  We barely knew each other  growing up and have been making headway in correcting that.  We had a terrific dinner and visit.  We learned so much about what we both remember as children and then moved on to careers, likes and dislikes, etc.  I felt really good about our time together and hope to see them when we move on to Delaware, OH for the Shoot Ted and Dan are participating in.

Today we are picking up Karen and Ron for church and then will take them out for dinner.  We leave in the morning so it is our last chance this trip to be with them.  Our next two weeks should be a lot less hectic but I must admit I enjoyed every minute here seeing so many people important to us.

Our First Week 2020

We were just starting to get ready for the day on Saturday.  I had my clothes on and was just brushing my hair and the doorbell rang.  Ted was still not dressed and headed to the bedroom and closed the door.  I opened the front door to our neighbors from Cincinnati before we left in 1981!  Steve and Marge were really good friends and thanks to Facebook, Steve and I exchange travel and Texas comments.  It was great to see them and we are going to attend the Creation Museum with them next week.

We had to eventually excuse ourselves to get ready to pick up Dan for church.  We didn’t know what “rules” were in place and hoped for the best.  There was one door to enter.  Seating was every other pew, seating on opposite ends and when they were full, the door would be locked.  Afterwards we went to see Dan’s new house since we had never seen the inside.  Then we moved on to Kath and Mike’s for pizza and to play Horse Race.  Kevin and Barb joined us.  It was a fun night and Ted won the most money.

Sunday was the baby shower that was postponed until we could be here.  We got to see so many in the family and the two newest babies, both younger than CeCe but bigger!  It was at Twisted G Farm, my niece’s property.  The group of kids and their parents had fun visiting the horses, goats, pig, ducks, etc.

Right across from them was the campground we kept our second travel trailer in the late 70s before moving from OH to MI.  So when we left we rode through and it isn’t near as nice as it used to be.

Monday was Peg’s 71st birthday so we invited her and Dave to breakfast.  They are leaving for Florida this week so we had to move quickly.  Both Dan and Tom from Phoenix called her while we were still at the campground so we invited Dan to join us, which he did.  We had a nice meal and talked about their Hawaii trip scheduled for Christmas.

After coming home Ted put the wheel covers on since we will be here for two more weeks and then we went to Sam’s.  We wanted to stock up on our Cincinnati foods.  Frozen Skyline Chile, canned Skyline Chile, goetta and turtle soup!

Tuesday we invited Karen and Ron to lunch and to see our new toy!  We had a nice visit and they left for home with two servings of peach cobbler.

Wednesday we went shopping to find a Keurig coffee caddy.  We have one at home and I wanted one for the RV.  BB&B was closed permanently.  We checked a few other places but gave up.  We stopped at Humbert’s meats for brats, steaks for down the lake and pickle loaf for me!  We will go back Friday for ham, turkey and cheese for the lake too.  I came home, found a caddy on Amazon on sale for half price so it is on its way.

Kevin called and he and Barb came to visit in the evening.  They are leaving for California soon so we were glad they came to visit.  It was so nice sitting outside, just talking and sharing family news.  We appreciated them taking time to come.

Thursday evening our friends who were our Maid of Honor and Best Man, now married, picked us up  to go to Hidden Valley Lake across  the street for dinner.  The company was superb, the food not so much.  Judy had her knee replacement postponed because of the virus and it is now scheduled for August.  She is in a lot of pain and having trouble getting around.  But she was a trouper and made her way into the RV, not an easy feat for her.

Friday was really busy!  Donna picked me up and we met Cookie at a restaurant right on the Ohio River.  We sat outdoors under a canopy and it was so pleasant that we spent three hours together.  When we all arrived back at the campground, Tal and Cindy had arrived from Texas, passing through on their way to Maine.  Tal and Ted are shooting buddies.  We visited for awhile and once Donna and Cookie left we turned right around and went back to the same restaurant for dinner.  I had grilled chicken for lunch and grilled mahi for dinner!  Traveling, visiting and eating can be tough on the old waistline.  I brought my scale and so far so good in staying in the 4# spread I am allowed to stay at for free Lifetime status.

We head to Owenton, KY tomorrow for two days at the lake.

Good News and Trip

First off, both of our Echocardiograms were normal.  We had them done the day before we left and they called us by the end of the day.  So I guess my PVC is normal for me and looking back I remember in 2015 I had what they called borderline on my EKG before my hip surgery.  The doctor said it could be many things including being big busted and the leads should have been moved!

We left Tuesday as planned and drove to Texarkana, AR.  We were able to get our DISH to pick up Shreveport, LA channels for our local stations.  We stopped for fuel with no problem; however, the pricing portion of our EFS app which shows us best price is not working and hasn’t apparently for some weeks because we had received an email about it.  We are getting our discount but 1) we don’t know if it is the best diesel price in the area and 2) what the discount is.  When the withdrawal was posted to our checking account I determined we had paid $2.02 a gallon.

Wednesday our destination was Sikeston, MO.  We have chosen places we have been to so we knew what to expect as far as room in the sites.  Also a car will come get you and take you to Lambert’s, home of the “throwed” rolls and take you home.  Our other choice was to eat at home or disconnect the car.  The rolls, green beans and cucumbers were excellent but the chicken and dumplings should have been named dumplings because there was only one small piece of chicken in there.  Way too many carbs with no protein,  and Cracker Barrel dumplings are way better.  Ted had a burger and sweet potatoes.  The driver said I should have complained but I try not to do that so I just let it go.

We were still getting Shreveport local channels on Dish.  It was the same time zone so it worked.

Thursday we headed out for Terre Haute, IN.  Sites are always angled at campgrounds so there is a right way to enter never requiring less than a 90 degree angle.  Ted was led the wrong way and He told them so.  The young girl said she didn’t think he could come the right way!  He had to take the car off and do several three point turns to get the coach in.  Then he went to the office and told her don’t ever bring a big coach, especially one  pulling a car, the wrong way to approach a site.

We ate in and spent a nice time with the folks next to us from Virginia.  We tossed toys to their dogs who delighted in bringing them back to toss them again!  When we went in we tried to get the local channels and it kept saying we were in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  When I tried to fix it to Indiana it insisted we were in NM and we were getting the right channels.  The couple hour time difference made a big deal to what was on.  We finally had to call and have Dish people do it on their end.

Our last travel day was a short one with less than 200 miles to Cincinnati.  We stopped to fuel up and the pump wouldn’t work.  Looking around, Ted determined none of them were working and the truck drivers were getting irate!  So we left and went to the only truck stop between us and our next campground.   We have no idea what we paid because the app was still down and it might be Monday before the debit shows on our bank statement.  I hope they get the app working soon.

We pulled into Indian Springs and received a warm welcome.  We have been stopping here most every year for the last 16 years.  Ted unhitched the car while I paid Linda for our stay.  This was going to be Ted’s first back-in attempt, he did it perfectly!   With my direction of course.  We rested awhile, had some dinner and later took a ride around to see any changes.  The old Skyline has closed down and a huge new one was built down the road in a much more visible place.  We stopped at United Dairy Farmers for a dish of ice cream then drove to his brother Dan’s new house.  Ted decided he wasn’t home (?) so we headed back to the campground.

Then who should call but Dan!  He was home watching TV and on a fluke called to see if we had arrived in town.  Men!  We made plans to get together with the rest of the family for pizza at his sister Kathy’s Saturday night after church.  We will pick Dan up on the way!

Things Have Certainly Gone Downhill

We haven’t done much, still staying pretty close to home.  We did meet Tommy and Susan at a Mexican restaurant before they took off in their motorhome.  We continued watching Mass streamlined from our church and Ted did our grocery shopping.

We have been busy getting ready to leave.  A nice thing about the motorhome is that we can load it up  while in storage versus the trailer.  We were able to get most toiletries put in the medicine cabinet using the new trays.  Our hanging clothes have been put in our individual wardrobes.  The pantry stuff that we are taking is in place and the freezer is full.  Our refrigerator stuff will go out late Monday.

And in the meantime our country is being destroyed.  For the life of me I cannot figure out how you expect some to sympathize with you while you are destroying people, places and things.  I have read about police brutality and white privilege so I can see where we can certainly improve.  But painting entire groups with the same broad brush is fair to no one.  I did an interesting thing.  It was a video of young people who were playing sort of Simon Says.  If a statement pertained to you, you were able to take steps toward the finish line.  They were social, financial, family, etc. questions.  You know what I learned?  I not only had no white privilege but according to their yardstick, I was disadvantaged!

I have no answers but I know this chaos isn’t it.  The police union and prosecutor should answer for the 17 opportunities this officer’s actions came to their attention.  Even if half of them were not warranted that leaves a lot that should have been scrutinized.

And I cannot condone any personal injury, looting, burning, etc. by anyone against anyone.  Our schools have failed our children.  If they taught History they may have a better understanding of what went before, what was done, why it was done and how it worked long term.  My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones and those that have been injured.  How can one injustice, where the whole world was against the perpetrator, justify the injustices done to so many?

Enough!  On to happier things.

We both went for a yearly check up at the cardiologist.  Everything of Ted’s was fine.  He only goes because our PCP said anyone his age should have a cardiologist!  My EKG showed a PVC.  Here is the definition.

“A premature ventricular contraction (PVC) is a relatively common event where the heartbeat is initiated by Purkinje fibers in the ventricles rather than by the sinoatrial node. PVCs may cause no symptoms or may be perceived as a "skipped beat" or felt as palpitations in the chest. Single beat PVCs do not usually pose a danger.”

So I am scheduled for an Echocardiogram on Monday.  She threw Ted in too so he will get one as a baseline.  I have had no symptoms so here’s hoping it is no big deal.

We left there and proceeded to Irene’s.  The Peach Truck was distributing their goods about the time we were leaving the doctor and she and I were splitting a box.  She was back home and was unpacking the goods.  I took about 1/3 of them since we are leaving.  I made a fresh peach pie, froze enough for a cobbler and kept some just for eating.  If you ever see an ad to order peaches from the Peach Truck from Georgia, jump on it.  They are excellent.

We attended church in person this past weekend.  We had to make a reservation so they could seat us socially distanced, wear a mask and wait to be dismissed.  Then we met Terry and Carol for dinner before we leave.

Our poor kids are still locked down in MI.  The beauty shops won’t even open until 6/15.  Cece has been kept away from everyone but recently they have brought her to her Grammie’s who has missed her greatly.  She got wissy poos to keep the hair out of her eyes!  The second photo is her mother with her wissy poos!  

We have our reservations all worked out.  We will be in Cincinnati two weeks, Celina two weeks and a long weekend in Delaware OH where Ted and Dan will shoot in the Eagle’s Nest at Cardinal complex.  From there we will go to Michigan for two weeks and Sam’s graduation party.  

Hopefully we’ll do some exciting nothings to write about.  August is open and most sightseeing will be done then as we make our way back south.  

Have a great safe and healthy summer.  Continue to pray for our nation.  I think God is the only answer left.