Springfield, IL and Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN

Springfield, Illinois

After leaving Iowa we stopped over in Springfield, Illinois.  It was on our route to The Ark Encounter so decided to stop and visit some of the Lincoln things.  Originally, we were going to spend three nights so we had a couple of days to see the sights but due to poor traveling weather, we spent an extra day in Iowa waiting out storms.  We weren’t able to see all we had planned on but that was okay.  We found a very nice campground, the Double J, just south of Springfield and went to see the only home Lincoln ever owned along with all the old homes surrounding his that have all been restored.  We also had time to go through the Lincoln Museum.  These were all fun and interesting to see.  The have done a beautiful job restoring Lincoln’s home back to it’s original status.  They were even able to have the same wallpaper made and figured out the original color or the outside paint.  Many of the furnishings were also original including the stove in the kitchen.  All the beds had pots under them as there was no indoor plumbing.  The outhouse in the back yard had three seats in it!  LOL.  Not sure I can imagine sharing in one of those!  While going through the house I could only imagine how challenging it was to live in those times with all the amenities we have today.   We are definitely a spoiled society!  Springfield is definitely a place to visit.  I would recommend two days to see the sights. 

Brown County State Park

We spent three nights in Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN and just resting.  The drive here was bright and sunny – finally no rain!  For the most part, very uneventful.  All John was going to have to do when we arrived was plug in the power as there was no water or sewer at the sites.  What was supposed to be a quick hookup turned into a much longer ordeal.  After topping off our fresh water holding tank at a water station we backed into our spot which was not level.  Side to side we were good but front to back was WAY off.  John tried to build up blocks for us to back onto with what he had and we got the leveling jacks down.  BUT when we tried to push out one of the long slides it groaned and groaned.  It was the last of three slides to put out.  We finally realized that we had probably gotten the RV twisted and that meant pulling them all in and starting completely over if we wanted to drive off the blocks.  The RV won’t allow you to put it in gear if the slides are out.  UGH!  We were able to lift the back up high enough with the leveling jacks to pull the blocks out and get less of them under there evenly on both sides.  Then we raised the jacks and started over to relevel the until.  We prayed that when we left on Wednesday the slide would come in without problems and it did.  The joys of RVing!

 

This park is 16,000 acres and stunning.  There are several vistas looking out over miles of treed land.  The roads through the park are narrow and heavily treed.  There are miles of trails for bikes as well as hiking trails, a nature center, huge pool, cabins, lodge, restaurant, nature center, camp store and lots and lots of camping sites.  There are also two lakes in the park and one has a pretty waterfall.  Both lakes have a hiking trail all around them.  You could easily spend several days in this location. 

Visiting Maggie's Son in Lansing, Iowa

After leaving Branson we headed toward Lansing, Iowa with a one-night stop over in Canton, Missouri.  We absolutely loved our night in Canton at the City of Canton Mississippi River Park.  This is a tiny city park right at the edge of the river with 23 cement pads and full hookups.  They can all accommodate large rigs.  There are no amenities here but for $20 a night what would you expect?  But there really are amenities.  There is the peacefulness of the river flowing just feet away from your RV and it is located immediately outside Lock and Dam #20.  Some would think this would be very loud but it’s actually very quiet.  Numerous towboats with their barges went through in the few hours we were there.  It seemed to take about an hour for them as they all had to separate half of their barges to work their way through the lock.  It was so quiet you could hear some of the crew talking among themselves on the front of the barges when approaching the lock.  There was an area you could walk to right up by the lock to get a closer look.  The noisy part was the train that was on our back side – we were sandwiched between it and the river.  At least the trains didn’t honk their horns when they came by but I noticed that I woke up a bit each time one came through at night although I went right back to sleep.  We never heard any river traffic at all while sleeping.  We found this stop to be a special treat.

The following day we headed to Lansing and only about 45 minutes into the drive it started to rain and kept raining nearly the entire trip.  Until we got to the edge of the storm, it was just rain and no wind.  As we passed through Oelwein going north the rain let up but both of us noticed that it was quite windy yet we weren’t really feeling it in the motorhome, which seemed odd.  We then turned east and almost immediately we were slammed from the rear with very strong wind that started to unfurl our large awning.  John was able to pull onto the shoulder but when I opened the door to check the awning, the door was nearly whipped out of my hand.  I had all I could do to hang onto it with both hands and get it closed.  The awning seemed to be in but I just held my finger on the “in” button hoping that would work as we continued to get pounded by the wind.  We could see a small town just a quarter mile up the road so John very slowly crawled forward with the motorhome hoping to find a wind break from some of the buildings, which he did.  There was a long area to pull over just into town.  We have a vent on our roof that has a big cover over it to protect it from damage and the wind had somehow sucked that vent wide open as well and yet it didn’t pull that cover off it.  We ordered awning clamps and installed them while we were in Iowa.  They should stop the wind from pulling it out while driving.

We had a great visit with Maggie’s son, Chad while in Lansing, IA.  Besides visiting and playing games, we took some road trips to see the area.  Lansing is right on the Mississippi River so we drove along it through La Crosse, WI to head to Rochester, MN – Maggie’s hometown.  Chad was born there but never lived there so we were able to show him all the places his Mom lived and went to schoo

l.  The city has changed a lot since we were last here, especially the Mayo Clinic.  There are so many more large buildings there now that are all part of the Mayo complex.  We wondered what is in all of them. 

We also took a road trip to Wabasha, MN.  This beautiful small town is only 45 miles from Rochester and also right on the Mississippi.  While growing up, Maggie’s family had a houseboat and ski boat that they kept at a marina in Wabash and spent many weekends anchored on sand beaches along the river there.  The town has changed quite a bit.  There are beautiful homes built right along the river and the old downtown has been kept up very nicely.  After checking out the town we headed across the river to the Wisconsin side and followed it down where we could cross back into Winona, MN.  There were several small river towns along the way and the town of Alma was really quaint and kept up.  In Winona we stopped to eat at the Ground Round so Maggie could get some batter fried walleye.  She couldn’t come this far north and not eat walleye.  This is not a fish we can find in Oklahoma.  Then we drove back down to Lansing along the river.  The Mississippi is really beautiful this far north.  It’s expansive with acres and acres of backwater which I’m sure is great for fishing.  John was dreaming of having a airboat to cruise around all those backwaters in.  Back in Lansing John found a veteran’s park on top of a large bluff that overlooks the Mississippi.  You could see for miles.  One thing we noticed while up north was the wonderful, green, soft grass.  Everybody keeps their yards mowed, even in the country where the yards are extremely large.  They mow it all and it is so pretty to look at while driving.  John said he could easily spend summers here. 

Summer Travels Have Begun

We rolled into June and completely skipped Spring here in Oklahoma.  After having the 2^nd coldest April on record and the 2^nd hottest May on record and a feel like temp of 115 deg on June 2nd we looked forward to finally hitting the road and heading north.  We are very excited about being able to travel again.

On June 7^th we headed for Branson, MO to spend time with friends we haven’t seen in over a year.  We met them during our first winter in Rockport, TX.  It was a long day on the road.  We ran into significant storms as we approached Seminole, OK and had to wait them out a bit before heading east on I-40.  Poor April hit the trifecta of terror – storms with wind and very loud thunder, riding in the RV and the windshield wipers were running.  She was a wreck but with some Lorazapam, Zen treats and noise cancelling ear muffs she finally settled down.  Once we were out of the storms life greatly improved for her.  We also encountered about 60 miles of very curvy and hilly driving on highway 412 in Arkansas. 

While we have been in Branson we saw Samson at the Sight and Sound Theater and loved it.  Their special effects are amazing and they presented the gospel.  Then we connected with our friends and enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Branson Belle.  The boat, food and entertainment was lots of fun and we had great seats.  We also checked out the College of the Ozarks.  This is a small 4-year college where the students attend for free.  They work all over the campus to pay for their tuition and in the summer they have the ability to work off their room and board as well.  There is a wonderful museum there that is a must see.  They even have the original car used for the filming of the Beverly Hillbillies.  The campus chapel is like a magnificent cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows.  They also have a restaurant, bakery and creamery but didn’t get to experience them.  There was much more to see then we had time for so we have something to return to on our next visit.  Then we enjoyed a Christian musician leading a gospel singing at the Treasure Lake RV Park on our last evening with our friends.  We spent our last day relaxing and taking in the movie, Solo.  A great visit and we look forward to returning.

 

God has blessed us beyond measure while we’ve had to sit tight in Oklahoma the past 10-11 months.  Everything from providing us with a new doctor that specializes in John’s type of cancer to some new treatments for it as well as getting all the repairs and maintenance done on the RV which included insurance agreeing to pay for a very expensive windshield.  John’s insurance changed and has a very high deductible and yet a company stepped in an agreed to cover our out of pocket expenses for his high-priced injections which nearly eliminated our portion of our total out of pocket expense.  We joined a church and have made some wonderful new friends who are great prayer warriors.  Also, doors were opened to allow us to pay it forward to others in a variety of ways.  It was certainly a time to refresh both physically and spiritually.

At the end of May John underwent a series of scans to see if his injections are doing what they are supposed to and they are.  There are no new carcinoid tumors and the large one in his liver has decreased in size.  Praise the Lord! 

Tomorrow we head to Iowa to see Maggie’s son, Chad and plan to spend a week at the Red Barn Resort in Lansing, IA.  Keep us in your prayers as we travel for the summer and we wish all of you a wonderful and safe summer as well.

Spring was Blooming and We Thought Winter Was Behind Us

Sunrise on Goose Lake -
A short walk from our place in Sulphur

April came in like a lion with Easter temps in the low 40’s.  Burrrrr.  After using the AC in the RV on April 6^th we woke up to freezing temps and snow as well as a 4.6 earthquake!  Flowers and trees have been budding and blooming for a few weeks now and they must be wondering what is going on.  Always expect the unexpected in Oklahoma where nature is concerned.  We are surviving our 6^th winter in Oklahoma in our motorhome and am yearning for spring temps to kick in and hold on.  We had very little in the way of snow, ice or rain this year but we did have several very cold days and nights.    

Sunset on Lake Arbuckle - A mile
down the road from our place

In November 2e spent three weeks at our 2^nd home in Jenks, OK (our friend, Priscilla’s) to enjoy Thanksgiving with her and her family (our adopted family) and take care of her and her pets while she recovered from surgery and again over Christmas while she visited family.  We get to spoil her critters while she is away and keep them from being boarded.  When one of her dogs sees us show up, you can see it in his face and body language that he knows Momma is leaving.  He perks up pretty fast though.  Most of the winter was spent making multiple trips to Oklahoma City for John’s health.  Scans, getting referred to a new doctor that specializes in his type of cancer and starting a new monthly treatment of injections that must be administered at the infusion center.  John is doing well and tolerating the injections well.  They make him a bit sick at his stomach the first day but nothing he needs medicine for.  It’s the other end that is causing him to take daily medications! 

Until March 2018, we hadn’t heard from John’s attorney on the legal case that was filed close to a year ago by a former patient for months.  Although this was a really large blip in our lives when it first came up, it’s now like an irritating fly buzzing around.  Who knows how long this thing will go on, but we are not going to let this stop us from moving forward with any plans. 

In March we returned to our 2^nd home in Jenks to house and pet sit again for several days while our friend finally took a fun trip!!  We were also at a point where we could now focus on getting the motorhome windshield replaced and other maintenance issues done that we had put off for months  while several detours occurred in our lives.  While in Jenks, we took the RV in to get work started.  The first windshield didn’t fit and there was a question of possible structural issues, but the glass folks insisted it was a bad windshield and they were right!  The second one fit perfectly.  The ice maker than was repaired and we were finally able to get our ‘home’ back. 

Sunset on Lake Arbuckle

The day we picked the RV up we drove straight to a tire center for an alignment and four new rear tires.  Thank goodness we have a tire budget to allow for replacements every 5 years.  They are expensive!  We then parked at the A-AAA RV Park where we lived for five years just outside Oklahoma City to see friends and take care of repairing our combo washer/dryer and replacing batteries in the RV.  John and I were able to pull the washer/dryer out ourselves and get it into the jeep to deliver to a repair place.  We’ll stay where we are until that gets fixed.

Since John gets injections every 4-6 weeks we aren’t going to be able to travel for 2-3 months at a time, so we must plan our summer trips a bit differently.  We hope to head to Iowa to see Maggie’s son, Chad, as well as friends in Branson and the Ark in Williamstown, KY.  We will then pass through Oklahoma for an injection and head west to Colorado, New Mexico and meet up with some family in Albuquerque. 

It is such a blessing to have so many friends and family that keep us in their prayers.  God has answered one prayer after another this past year.  He guided us home from Glacier when John was having health problems and to all the right places for medical help as well as a very affordable co-pay for extremely expensive injections.  Most recently, while in the middle of the windshield install, we were encouraged to try to get insurance to pay and they did – a few thousand dollars!  All thanks to a rock chip.  Insurance wouldn’t cover the original problem, so another prayer answered by a rock.  We still have some hurdles ahead of us as John changes insurance companies in May for a few months before going on Medicare next year.  We are praying for doors to open so we can continue to afford the injections and that the scans will show the injections are doing their job.

Thank you for your prayers and friendships. 

It's Been a While

I know it’s been months since I’ve posted.  This year has been challenging for us.  Although, as I see all the losses people have suffered from the various hurricane, fire, and earthquake events as well as the Las Vegas shooting it makes our challenges look small.  But the fact is that we have had and are continuing to have challenges that are stressful and costly. 

As you know, John retired in the Fall of 2016 and we spent our first winter in Rockport, TX and fell in love with the place.  Now they are recovering from massive destruction following Hurricane Harvey, so we are going to spend yet another winter in Oklahoma.  Since our decision not to go south we’ve had other issues come up that would have kept us from heading that way anyway. 

We have had to deal with lots of RV problems.  The refrigerator had to have new doors after trying two sets of gaskets, and then the cooling unit died.  We were out of our RV for over a month getting that fixed.  Thank goodness for a wonderful friend who takes us in.  The battery to the RV engine died.  A hydraulic line for the stabilizer jacks broke.  The gasket around the giant windshield is coming off and we don’t know why so we still have that to get fixed and it could be structural issues.  Recently, one of the large slide-outs quit working this fall and it has finally been repaired.  It’s always something and we are thankful for our extended service warranty although most of the repair folks don’t like working with the company ours is from.  It has saved us hundreds of dollars.  The windshield repair, though, will likely cost us hundreds of dollars.

I know some folks wonder why we live this way, but we love it.  Our base is located in the woods in a large RV community where we have a great place to stay.  There is a 200 sq. ft. add-on room, with a canopy over the RV and car as well as a large covered patio and a storm shelter.  What more do we need?  We can either travel in the RV or in our jeep and we don’t have a house that needs maintaining.  It’s a great life.

This summer we had a 10-week trip planned to the northwest to see Glacier and Olympic National Parks as well as the coast of Oregon and my Aunt in Medford, OR.  As we headed out on this long-planned trip we received word that John and his former employer were being sued by a former patient.  Patients sue providers all the time but in John’s 35 years of practice this had never happened to him and now eight months into retirement this happens.  After spending three weeks in Glacier we had to return home to deal with issues related to the lawsuit and never made it to the west coast.  This was a bit of a blow, but we realize that we can head that way again sometime in the future.  Since we’ve been home, John has had his scans checking for any return of his cancer and after being cancer free for five years, the scans have picked up on something.  His case was presented to the tumor board at OU Physicians and a decision has been made to try some different tests in January and see what they show.  The type of tumors he gets grow very slowly and must get to at least 2 cm to even consider trying to remove them.  Because they grow so slowly they don’t respond to chemo or radiation treatments.  This spot is in his liver where they’ve already removed two tumors in 2012.  John is doing well, and we are just trusting in the Lord for a good outcome.

In the meantime, we plan to take a short trip down the Talimena Drive to see the fall colors on November 1^st.  I found a cute B&B in Mena, AR called the Sassafras Inn that allows dogs, so we have a reservation for a night there.  From there we will head to Jenks, OK to see a friend and attend a school play that one of her family members is staring in.  Should be a fun time.  She has a beautiful home and takes us and our dogs in whenever we want to visit.  We also plan to spend Thanksgiving at her home with her and her family and will then stay on to help her out for a few weeks as she is having her knee replaced.  She has two big dogs and a cat, so we will take care of them, her house and her until she is able to handle things on her own.

This Fall has been beautiful so far with sunny warm days and cool mornings and evenings.  We are surrounded by the Chickasaw National Recreation Area and they have a large herd of bison.  Yesterday we took the girls and went for a walk on one of their many trails.  Yesterday’s walk was around the very large area the bison are in and we didn’t get a peek at them at all while circling their area.  That tells you that their area is quite large and yes, our walk was long!  The dogs loved it and came home and slept.

John has made four of his suncatcher windchimes since we’ve been back home, and they are beautiful.  He makes every piece of them from scratch!  He made one with a cross and another with a hummingbird and they both have new owners now.  We still have a dolphin and a macaw which are gorgeous and for sale. 

We’ve never spent winter at our place in this park, but we have spent five winters in our RV.  All of them were at a park near Oklahoma City.  We think we have everything set so we shouldn’t run into any freezing problems.  Our sewer pipes are wrapped as is our water pipe.  The motorhome is fully enclosed and heated so we’ve never had problems with anything freezing in it. 

Well this update catches you up on us, so I guess I can wait until after Christmas before signing on again.  I wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas.

April's Fight With Horrible Anxiety

April is a 7 lb. morkie and is a nervous little dog.  A while back her issues started to compound on each other.  Initially, it was thunder storms and riding in the motorhome which is common with dogs.  Then it was the windshield wipers and in the motorhome, those are very large.  When we had to turn them on Bailey would chase them up on the dash while driving down the highway and April would cower and start panting, shivering and breathing heavy.  Then it was the fire in our propane fire pit and then she was bombed by a June Bug and so it was bugs which then turned into flies.  She had gotten to the point where she wouldn’t go out onto the patio in the evenings.

We tried a thunder shirt and pheromone collars but they didn’t work very well.  We did

purchase a set of noise canceling doggy ear muffs and these do seem to help with thunderstorms.  She will actually settle down in my lap with these on and go to sleep during the storms.  So at least one success.

After visiting with the vet, we put her on a course of Prozac for about 3 months as we thought she was going to lose her mind.  The medication takes about a month to really take effect and during this course we noticed that her appetite really decreased which concerned us.  We finally weaned her off the medication and amazingly it seemed like she had a bit of a brain reset.  She was now cautiously coming out on the patio in the evenings and able to look at the fire pit.  Over the course of time she seemed to get more confident.  During June Bug season, however, we don’t sit outside.  Even I hate them.  The wipers don’t seem to bother her much anymore and the valium alone works well for when we are traveling.

All was good with April for some time and then suddenly she has recently become terrified of the indoor flies.  This has progressed to the point that when there are no flies she’s still terrified there might be some.  She’s anxious about being anxious.  We are full-timers in our motorhome and that is all she has known as her home and this was her safe place.  Now she doesn’t even want to be in it.  She retreats to the bedroom or under the dashboard where it’s dark and she can’t see them.  The worst area for her is the living room area and this is where she loved to sit between John’s legs on the recliner.  She normally could spend hours there and won’t have anything to do with this area.  She mainly just wants to be outside.  Here’s the kicker, outside she lays on the ground and the flies land on her and it doesn’t faze her.  Does any of this make sense?

There is very little information out there for dogs being terrified of flies.  How do you desensitize a dog to them?  They are everywhere.  I started her back on the Prozac and initially had to use some of the Valium to get the panting, shaking and shivering under control.  Now we are down to just the Prozac and yes, her appetite has decreased.  I’m boiling chicken breasts which she seems to eat, thank goodness.  My plan is to run this course for a couple of months and see what happens.  After nearly 1 ½ weeks she finally sat in John’s lap two days in a row for about 30 minutes each time – baby steps.  She gets a lot of breaks by going outside when it’s cool enough to just relax or go for walks and we try to take her with us on errands when possible. 

It's great that we have a veterinarian clinic that works with us on this.  Schrag Animal Clinic in south Oklahoma City is awesome.  Of note, when a dog is on these types of medications it’s important that they have some blood studies every month to be sure the meds aren’t having a negative effect.  I plan to report on her progress in a few weeks and pray that it’s good news.

Breakfast at the Historic Izaak Walton Inn

 Yesterday I enjoyed the cool morning in the woods before the heat set in the afternoon.  The afternoons have been getting into the 90's so looking forward to some cooler temps in a few days.  I woke up to the shower being full of water.  Yuk!  Apparently, the gray tank didn’t get left open and it was full.  So, I started my morning out cleaning the shower.  It was a great excuse to head a few miles up the road to this wonderful old, historic hotel called the Izaak Walton Inn for breakfast.  This hotel was originally built in the 1930s to provide housing for the men building the railroad.  There is a switch yard at this location in Essex, MT.  In fact, our RV park is right next to the tracks and there are lots of freight trains that pass through here. Twice a day the Amtrak comes through.  It stops at East and West Glacier as well as at this hotel in Essex.  Apparently they always have two engines running in this yard to assist trains up the climbs in the mountains.

The hotel has been maintained very well.  We had breakfast in their

small restaurant and wished we had thought to eat out on the front porch.  Oh well, we were by a nice window that looked out.  I had French toast which was slices of huckleberry bread pudding that had been dipped in egg and fried like French toast.  Rich, but yummy.  Our waiter was another of the many young folks that come from overseas for the summer.  He was from Romania. 

What’s really unique about this place is that they not only have

rooms in the hotel and cabins but they have several old train cars -  cabooses, a locomotive and other cars – that they have set around the property and turned into cabins.  Some even have nice decks.  They have full kitchens in them as well.  What a great idea and a unique experience.  The prices are quite reasonable as well.  They are open year-round so if any of you need a getaway you can either drive or take the train and come and experience a few nights in a train car.