Sweet Home Alabama

We are in northeastern Alabama, at Mountain Lakes Resort, with a view of Lake Guntersville. Fortunately we are away from the Gulf Coast that had a whole bunch of rain dumped on it. It could have been worse, but a storm is a storm.

We are just getting a lot of rain (it rained all night), which is expected to move on to the east tonight. The wind has picked up too, but it isn't really bad.

This area is just plain beautiful, still full of autumn's colors. Thickly wooded small mountains running along the lake and the Tennessee River. We'll be here a week, enjoying the scenery once the rain moves on.

Our Nation's Capitol, my 100th post

We had a couple of days to tour D.C., and here are some of the more memorable photos. I like this one of the Washington Monument in the late afternoon.

The inside of the monument is pretty amazing, especially seeing some of the dedications (by states, groups, etc.) of slabs visible from the elevator.

Perhaps one of the most interesting war memorials was that dedicated for the Korean War. Several realistic sculptures of soldiers moving across a level area presumably to resemble a rice paddy. Along one side of this area is a marble wall with hundreds of images (GIs, aircraft, jeeps, etc) etched in the wall---some a couple of inches high, some up to 7 or 8 inches.

The Capitol Building sits on the east end of the mall. It is astounding how many government buildings there are. I doubt our founding fathers ever imagined something like this would happen. It used to be legislators were only 'part time', needing to return to their home states to take care of their farm or business.

That's me in front of the White House. It is amazing how many people are being tourists just like us.

Arlington Cemetery is a very sobering experience.

We saw so many interesting things and buildings. A week was not enough. (of course it was really only a couple of days, as we were both recovering from the flu.) We hope to return sometime soon for an extended visit!

Rainy Mount Vernon

Trying to catch up here...I haven't posted for over 2 weeks, and we have done a lot of stuff. After we left Gettysburg, the we and the Sarvers traveled down to the Washington D.C. area, staying actually in Dumfries VA. This park is next to the Prince George National Forest--a beautiful park, with very short sites. We had to park at a diagonal to fit, then had to park our F-450 a block away in overflow parking. Not a big thing, just inconvenient.

The weather was iffy, but we decided to at least go to Mount Vernon on a Friday. It rained ALL day. Chilly and wet, we still thoroughly enjoyed this historic site. Check out the photo of Ellen and you will note that we had the audio tour, which was nice. Even through the rain, you could tell George and Martha had a wonderful view of the Potomac.

The buildings were really in great shape, and we learned a lot, as there is a nice museum on the grounds.

Probably the worst thing is the following day I got really sick with the intestinal flu, chills and fever....a lot of other nasty business that I will not go into here. Suffice to say Ellen had to take me to the emergency room, where I got shots, abdominal xrays, and bags of saline as I was dehydrated as well. It took over 3 days to get my bearings.

I will try to continue our travelogue in the D.C. area as soon as possible.

Ellen enjoying the steady rain

GETTYSBURG

We have been in a campground in Gettysburg, PA this week, and have had a chance to spend a day at the Visitors Center and Museum. The exterior of the structure is kind of hodge podge, but the museum is simply awesome.

Inside is a cyclorama of the battle. Cycloramas were very popular in the 1890s, and basically were huge paintings in the round, so the viewer would stand in the middle of a circular room, with the painting on the wall. The viewer can turn around 360 degrees and see the continuous art work.

The Gettysburg Cyclorama is 42 feet high and over 350 feet in circumference! Longer than a football field!!!! It was originally displayed in boston, MA. The restoration of this magnificent painting was completed in 2008. Just below the circular viewing platform are actual artifacts, (cannons, rifles, etc.) and landforms to aid in the 3 dimensional effect. By the way, the painting is amazing in its 3D illusion.

We did an audio tour of the battlefield yesterday, which took in most of the 25 square miles of the ground around the town. Here one of the Confederate Napoleon cannons on Seminary Ridge.

This is the magnificent Pennsylvania Monument, which lists every one of the 34,000 plus Pennsylvania soldiers that fought here.

The Virginia Monument features Robert E. Lee on his steed Traveler, and is located on Seminary Ridge, where the ill advised Pickett's Charge was begun.

There are monuments everywhere, for individual officers, states, brigades, divisions, and on and on.

This is a humbling experience, walking the ground where thousands of men were killed or wounded.

HAIL, HAIL ROCK AND ROLL

We made a day trip to Cleveland to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on the shores of Lake Erie. Wow, what a trip back into time. All those albums I once owned, played so many many times, and lost along the way were there, in word, artifact, photo, video and sound.

The building is sort of weird looking with those angled wings. This is the best view I think with the gigantic atrium featured.

Inside view of the atrium features huge things, like these British autos suspended. Not sure, I think these are from a U2 video. Roger Watter's (Pink Floyd) Wall is also there. ("teacher, leave those kids alone!")

Some interesting artifacts include John Lennon's outfit from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album cover, Mick Jagger's Union Jack/American flag cape, and Jim Morrison's cub scout uniform. By the way he was a model child!

There was so much in the museum, we have to definitely return on our next swing though Ohio. One feature I really enjoyed was the Hall of Fame Jukebox. It was a listening station with headphones like at Best Buy, only you could access any member's total musical output, sorted by album, song or year. Ellen had to almost tear me away. One area of the museum had installations by 'era'--Grunge, British invasion, etc., full of video and photos, along with posters and rock historical objects. There also was an excellent exhibit about the roots of R & R--hillbilly, blues, etc.

There were several guitars in the entry area, decorated for theme or specific artist.

This is a must see attraction for anyone interested in music!!!!

REUNION AND A RALLY

Yesterday was a sweet reunion with Don and Connie Sarver, fellow full timers from NW Ohio. Our rendezvous was supposed to be at a Wal-Mart in Van Wert Ohio. They were coming from the north, but couldn't find it, and they asked some guy in a pick up truck about the store's location, and he was nice enough to lead them to it on the north side of Van Wert. We followed our GPS from a store listing on line, and were led to what is now a Pik'N'Save on the city's southwest side! A cell phone conversation got us up to where they were waiting.

We then drove to Celina for the Eastern Gypsy Journal rally, at the Mercer County Fairgrounds. This is a beautiful fairgrounds, compared to the several we have seen or camped at. Lots of mature trees, nicely maintained buildings, and paved roadways. This is our 2nd Gypsy Rally, and we are looking forward to learning some RV stuff and meeting new folks, as well as enjoying spending time exploring Celina.

Nice to catch up with our good friends, sharing what has been happening with our families and our respective RV's. We both have Excels, theirs being a 2009 version of our 2008 LMKO.

Fall has fell

On this first day of fall we motored down highway 4 in central Iowa, totally enjoying the changing fields of corn and soybeans. What beautiful colors! Bean fields ran the gamut from green to bright yellow, to rust and finally a dull brown. Corn fields showed changes vertically, as the plants dry out, there is a variety of greens to dull yellows on each stalk.

We then turned west on highway 44 heading to Guthrie Center, where we have a service appointment at Bob and Jo's RV for a list of warranty work. The scenery is awesome with rolling hills and changing foliage. We know it will get better as time goes on, but the start of the changing leaf colors is exciting.

Our list is a big one, as things have piled up. Most important is the toilet issue, as I have been manually flushing our stool for quite some time. Ugh! Jason, our tech here, has the part coming in and we will have a real, functioning toilet tomorrow!

Other big issues are replacing our blown microwave convection oven and replacing our water pump. Several little things are being addressed as well.

We still love this life, even when we seem to be under a dark cloud for periods like these past few weeks. We are so lucky to be able to move around and see and do things, almost at will...someone said last week that it is like you are on a permanent vacation. Well said, but the vacation will be much more fun with that flushing commode.

RV Woes

Well, Full time RVing is really a lot of fun.....usually. Not so this weekend, as Saturday, I discovered that when I depressed the foot pedal toilet flusher, all that happened was the water ran into the bowl! Yes, picture this---the ball (that allows the stuff to go down the soil pipe) did not move.

After looking at things while lying on the floor, I deduced that something broke inside the flushing mechanism. The ball was not stuck. So now I am manually reaching in there with a rubber glove on and manually moving the ball to the side to allow the bowl contents to drain down the soil pipe. Yuck.

It is a 3 day weekend, and we will not be able to contact anyone until Tuesday morning.... :-(

Great Check up for Ellen

Labor Day Weekend...hmmmm....I haven't worked for three years now, but I still get the day off. Retirement sure has hastened the speed with which time flies. I hope all get to enjoy the last taste of summer.

We are in Rochester, MN, where Ellen has gotten another great check up! Hooray!!!! She is still being monitored for repercussions from a thyroidectomy about 5 years ago. The check up was so good that now she has to report back only once a year instead of twice a year. This is great news! We don't return until September of 2010, so this should loosen up our travel schedule. But the best part is that Ellen's blood and mineral levels are doing fine, as is her bone density. We are ecstatic!

I still have my check up in Jacksonville every 6 months, :( but we have decided to have me fly solo from wherever we are for a day or two. We are fortunate to have good friends in Jacksonville, John and Cindy Dahl. John will actually pick me up at the JAX airport, let me use one of their cars to go to my appointment, and then drop me off at the airport!!! Wow, that is simply awesome. This should cut the cost of a trip to JAX by about two-thirds. THANK YOU John and Cindy!

Florida

The past 2 weeks have been a blur. Some notable things have passed, the least of which was my 63rd birthday, August 22nd. We were in a rental car heading for Jacksonville, Florida for my 6 month prostate cancer check up. No cake, no candles, and that's ok. We did celebrate with a late dinner at a Bob Evans in Paducah KY...and a totally unecessary strawberry shortcake. We really like Bob Evans--it's kind of like home cooking (I had their pot roast, Ellen had their fantastic chicken pot pie).

The check up went fine--my PSA has continued to drop, now it is at .6, down from a high of 4.3 and a 1.0 at the 3 month mark. I've gained some pounds (thanks Bob Evans), but my blood pressure, which had been kind of high, was much much better. So good news is great to get. The Proton Institute seemed so different from when we left in February. Missing of course were all the folks we got to know during my treatments. Our nurse and doctor were there, but past that, only a few staff were recognized. One of my favorite techs, Kim from Yulee FL, came up and talked with us for several minutes. That was nice.

We are now in a beautiful condo/timeshare on Daytona Beach. We decided to make the trip a little more worthwhile with a mini vacation. Very very nice to spend a couple of days on the beach!

National Eagle Center

Well, this is not the latest adventure for us, but I am trying to catch up!  

We were RVing at Treasure Island Casino, and having daughter Erin's family staying at the Casino Hotel.  We all drove down the Mississippi River to Wabasha, the home of the National Eagle Center.  What a great place to visit!

Harriet and her handler

There were plenty of exhibits and hands on activities for the kids, free binoculars and sighting telescopes, an observation deck, and eagles!  They have 5 'reclaimed' birds that through accident or whatever are unable to fly.  We saw a great program where the docent explained about the birds of prey, while handling Harriet a beautiful golden eagle.  Harriet was then fed...a few mice, chunks of fish...yum.  It was awesome to see how Harriet used her talons to hold and rip apart the food.

The center is located here because the confluence of the Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers cause turbulent waters that prevents the river from freezing in the winter...so there are lots and lots of eagles that gather here at that time, but not any to see this summer day.

It was a great afternoon, seeing these regal birds, the river and the scenery.  We drove back to Red Wing on the Wisconsin side, having a picnic at Pepin's City Park.

Everybody but Ellen on the observation deck

Our Anniversary

Wow, two posts in one day!!!!!!

I realized after I posted earlier that this day marks our 2nd anniversary of full timing!  Two full years of living in less than 400 square feet.  Two full years of going where we want to (mostly) and when we want to (mostly).  There have been some places we HAD to go (Jacksonville for cancer treatment, and some service centers to get things fixed)...and that goes hand in hand with not really choosing WHEN we went.

But all in all, it has been an awesome journey, allowing us to see so many historic and interesting and beautiful places. This is an amazing way to see the U.S., and we are so fortunate to have been able to do so. I hope to continue this blog to share some of the places we travel to.

We also have met so many neat people from all over America and Canada, keeping in touch with a lot of them, and making plans to reconnect with them down the road.  

We also have been able to keep in touch with our Iowa friends, as we swing through Iowa and Minnesota to visit our 3 daughters' families, although the toughest thing is not seeing the grandchildren as much as we'd like. 

One of the more interesting developments has been the necessity of yours truly to learn about this house on wheels and how to keep things working.  I am also working on how to (try and) fix them when things break or malfunction.  I am not yet a qualified RV Technician, but I sure am more savvy than I used to be.  There is tons yet to learn.

Hopefully we can continue this lifestyle for quite some time.  We have survived horrendous fuel prices, some very nasty weather, inability to get satellite tv, some problems caused by operator error (that's me)....... but my greatest achievement was tolerating the neighbor's dog barking all day while they were gone.

Wish us Luck

We are flirting with disaster.  We're staying at a casino RV park for well over a week.  We are just north of Red Wing Minnesota, at Treasure island Resort and Casino (and rv park...they don't have that on the big sign).

So far so good.  I am down $40 and Ellen is UP $40!  I was doing pretty ok until I had a fling at the Texas Hold'em table.  I had too many teasing hands...just had to stay in and see the flop...then I just HAD to see the turn...then I was committed to see the river.  I just hope her luck continues.  We are definitely not high stakes gamblers as you can tell.

This area is beautiful, with lots of bluffs and hills, and of course, the Mississippi River.  The casino is pretty big, and just what you would expect a casino to be.  Erin's family is going to come up Monday for a few days, and that will be great.

I had quite a long spell with no blog entries, so starting next time I hope to post some pictures and info from the past months.

Here's Ellen when we were in Nashville, with the King and then at the Grand Ol Opry.

Ah, what a view!

                                    Our view of culverts, chain link fence and 55 gal. barrels

We are spending over a week in the beautiful City of Gowrie RV Park.  The ambience is scintillating, right up to the stray cats, and the city municipal storage area out our back windows.  Piles of dirt and gravel, culverts, chain link fence rolls and gates, and 55 gallon drums (hopefully empty).  The view pretty much sucks, but it is cheap, ($10 a night) and close to daughter Erin's house ...actually only 3 blocks.  Oh, I forgot to mention that one edge of the park butts up to the railroad tracks so we are about 80 feet from the thundering iron horse lugging ethanol tank cars!!!

Visiting Erin's family is a lot of excitement and fun.  Never a dull moment with 4 kids, 3 cats and 3 dogs in the house.  We have introduced them to Settlers of Catan, and that has spawned some really late night gaming.  It has been great to see the grandkids again.

We have had really nasty weather here, with hot and humid days, lots of rain and severe thunderstorms.  We bailed out of the RV one night after midnite for the possible safety of Erin's basement.  80% chance of rain today too.  Lots of little lakes at the RV park.

We are getting close to Matt's arrival from Colombia South America!  He is flying up here in 8 days.  Excited to see him, and we have planned an Alaskan cruise with him and his girlfriend Nohora also from Medellin, Colombia.  We are pumped, as we have not done a cruise for several years, and it should be great fun with Matt and Nohora.

                                A fellow "RVer" (somewhat permanent) at the Gowrie RV Park

Where's Waldo? and what is his PSA?

No, really it is Where's Tim and Ellen!  I can't believe a month and a half has passed since my last post.  It's been like a vacation I didn't want to take.   We are currently in Fort Dodge, enjoying the Pendry RV Park...

Beautiful weather, sunshine, good friends.  We have had good times with our great friends and fellow fulltimers Don and Connie Sarver, and Jim and Judie Ives.  All six of us were at the Excel Family Reunion in Smith Center Kansas.  310 Excel RVs camped out around the SC High School!  It was very cool.  We had a great time with seminars, group get-togethers, a sock hop, great food and a final night concert by acapella group Marcoux Corner from Minneapolis followed by fireworks.

We then went to Guthrie Center and had some warranty work done on the coach, finallymaking our way up to FD.

I will try to be more diligent on this blog thing, and maybe catch readers up on some other things that happened during my silence.

The best news is that I got my results on my three month PSA Test (which indicated likely prostate cancer)---when I was diagnosed it was 4.3, when I finished treatment it was 2.1, and my 3 month PSA was 1.0 !!!!!!  Huzzah!  We are so happy about this I cannot describe it.

Two Months Out

We've been traveling the past two days, so I haven't been able to celebrate my two month anniversary.  It was two months ago (Feb. 10) when I received my last radiation treatment at the Proton Institute in Jacksonville, FL.  I find that incredible!  Amazing how time flies.  

So, two months of no problems.  Hooray, thank God, and thanks to the team at UFPTI.  And thanks again to Pat McNamara for leading us to this cancer treatment.  The side effects were so minimal it was unbelievable.  Plus we got to meet and spend time with all kinds of interesting folks who were in the same boat as we were.

We are in Crossville, TN, at a beautiful hidden away RV Park 6 miles off I-40.  Deer Run RV Park nestles in woods and has a small manmade lake.  So quiet.  We head for Nashville Wednesday.

Colonial Williamsburg

We just spent two fun and fact-filled days at Colonial Williamsburg, VA.  If any of you have not been here, we highly recommend it!  We hope to return and catch sites and events we did not have time for.

Throughout the historical area there are guides, interpreters and actors in colonial period garb, sharing all kinds of tidbits and stories of the period.  They are fantastic.  Getting around the area is easy and inexpensive, as there are shuttle buses running constantly.  Shuttles are free with an admission ticket.  For seniors, it is $41 or $42 for a two day pass.

Ellen in front of the Governor's Palace

Williamsburg was Virginia's first colonial capitol.  British Governors ran things until the Revolution, when Patrick Henry became Governor, followed by Thomas Jefferson, who moved the Capitol to Richmond.  Some of the buildings are reconstructed, some are original.  All are interesting and magnificent.

John D. Rockefeller footed the bill for the creation and reconstruction of this historic town, starting in the late 1920's, and finishing in the mid-30s.  Not only are there government buildings (Capitol, Courthouse, Governor's Palace), but houses of wealthy Virginians, taverns, and shops, both retail and artisan.

The Palace was truly opulent, considering the average colonist might have had a house 12 by 8 or 10 feet with a dirt floor and no glass windows.  The entrance walls had over 600 swords and muskets displayed on the beautifully detailed walls. The grounds were beautifully manicured, including expansive gardens behind the palace, walls, gates, a hedge maze and the flowers were just starting to bloom. 
                                                           The gardens behind the Palace

Wealthy colonist homes also had more than they needed, both in terms of space and furniture, imported wallpaper and fancy wood trim.  One house was that of Peyton Randolph who may have become our first president had he not died just before independence was won.  He was the president of the early government. His funeral was witnessed by over 20,000.

His widow, Elizabeth, stuggled to keep things going, as the war complicated things for her.  Some of her servants/slaves left to serve in the British Military with the promise of freedom.  Elizabeth did not remarry, however, as to do so would let  her property go to her new husband. 

The house itself is huge and rambling, and painted a distinctive crimson red, a sign of royal richness.  The paint had to be imported. 

Throughout the skits and tours, the underlying issue of slavery bubbled and festered.  While these famous patriots exclaimed the need for freedom, most had servants and slaves who were not free.  We're not just talking about a tax on tea here.  Even a tavern owner had 20 slaves!

Bruton Parish Episcopal Church was open to the public, and this building was exceptional, complete with the pews with closing doors (for heat-bring your own hot coals-- and comfort) and the 400 year old baptismal font.

There is so much to see, we hope to return with a full week's ticket!

Yorktown

The Yorktown Battlefield from the British viewpoint

We are in the triangle of history here in eastern Virginia (Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown). We are staying at a condo in Williamsburg, enjoying a beautiful area of historical sites, architecture, and the birth of the United States.

Our first venture was to visit Yorktown, getting a history lesson on how Washington was able to get Cornwallis to surrender.  Washington laid siege pounding the dug in British for 8 or 9 days.  I am sure many of you know (I didn't) that the French Navy was victorious over the British warships in the Battle of the Capes, and England's fleet returned to New York for repairs.  This left Cornwallis no sea support, nor a means of escape.  He tried to escape across the York River in small boats, but a storm wrecked several of them and stopped this possibility.  Dug in on high ground with the river at his back, he had no choice but to surrender. 

The Yorktown Victory Center has a really nice museum and working 1780's farm, plus a simulated military encampment.  Lots of historical information, artifacts, plus interaction with the 'soldiers' and 'farmers'.

We also saw the Yorktown Victory Memorial, officially approved in 1788, but not erected and completed until 1884!   A tall, beautifully decorated column, with a gorgeous sculpture of 'Victory' on top.  All this resting on a base with inscriptions on four sides, acknowledging the French contributions, and a listing of those who paid the supreme sacrifice during the siege of Yorktown.

That's Ellen at the base of the Memorial This sculpture had to be replaced when it hit by lightning

Cough, gasp, a virus has us

What happened to Con-Ficker????  Well, we were able to contract a virus on our own, and our Toshiba is incapacitated.  What a mess.  While we were at Best Buy, we were browsing the computers, and were entranced with a Mac.  We are now a 2 laptop family.  Sorry Phil, the new addition is a Mac!  But we are enjoying it a lot, and finding it very user friendly.  Our Toshiba is resting....

However, we do not have our verizon broadband card capability, as we need to update to a verizon USB card/stick.  Meantime, we are stuck with whatever Wi-Fi we can find.  Our plan is to do the upgrade to use the Mac for Internet, and use the Toshiba for word processing, games, spreadsheet.

We are now in Edenton, NC, a quaint harbor town with tons of beautiful historic houses.  We are leaving tomorrow for Williamsburg....

Wait a minute, that wasn't a cemetery!

We spent the last week on Edisto Island, SC, at a Wyndham Resort. Yeah, we got into the time share points thing, and now we are trying to use our points before we lose them. We had a nice quiet week, not doing too much of anything, partly because the weather was chilly and/or windy.

Edisto Beach was nice, and we did some walking around. Had a great dinner at the Dockside Restaurant, and did an island history bus tour. That was where I found out that we were not in a cemetery at St. Simons Island in Georgia as I reported in my previous entry! Our guide let us know while we were at a church on Edisto, the grave markers were not a cemetery, but rather a graveyard. Cemeteries are at a distance from the church, while graveyards are are in the churchyard.

We are now at a beautiful county park at St. James Island, just south of Charleston, SC. The park is a bit pricey, but has it all, including WiFi, full hookups, and a shuttle (for a price) to downtown Charleston. We will use that as I am not sure I want to park the big truck downtown. More on our Charleston adventure as it unfolds.

St. Simons Island, GA

We are in front of the beautiful Christ Church Setting

We had a great day on this island with good friends Marshall and Lucy Kendall. This is one of the richest areas in the country, with one neighboring island, Sea Island, is closed to the public! Lots of famous stars go there because of its privacy.

As we are 'normal folks', we settled for the trolley tour, narrated by Bunny (born on Easter), a grand lady of the South. She gave a heckuva tour, full of history, facts, tidbits, and jokes. Stopping spots included Christ Church, where the Wesleys prayed and preached. This church has seen several Presidents attend worship service, including Carter, Bush Sr., and Wilson. On two sides of the church lies a beautiful cemetery, with many historic family plots.

We later spent time at the church and cemetery, as well as at Fort Frederica, where the British under Oglethorpe created a bastion in 1736 to prevent the Spanish from advancing up the Atlantic Coast. At its peak, the settlement had a population of over 1000. It was surrounded by a wall/moat, and was guarded by the fort which overlooked the waterway.

The National Site is peaceful and well kept, with many of the shops and buildings' foundations intact. The walls are not there, but there are many plaques with info on the structures, as well as some of the artifacts found at each site. Parts of the fort are there too, but it is eerie to know that hundreds of years ago this settlement was thriving, and now there is hardly anything remaining.

Here we are by part of the fort remains.
The trolley near the St. Simons Lighthouse

A Little "catch-up"

I'm going to try and catch up a bit while we are at Edisto Island, SC. We are 'sitting still' at a Wyndham Condo, and the weather isn't going to be too nice the next day or so...so here goes-

We left Florida for Kingsland, GA and spent 5 days there. Kingsland is right off I-95 halfway between Jacksonville and Brunswick, GA. Our first full day there we took care of maintenance issues onthe coach, sort of got organized, and I did some woodcarving. I'm working on some Father Christmas carvings. The next day we headed for the Okeefenokee Swamp.

Tim standing by the Chesser House

We enjoyed the National Park Center there, catching up on some history of the "Swampers"--those brave self-reliant folks who made do in a tough environment. They battled insects, snakes, alligators, not to mention the hot humid summers, and scrabbled out a living. The Chesser House still stands hidden among a bunch of pine trees and palmettos and is open to the public. Built in 1928, it is in good shape, although one can see the sand below the house through the spaces between the floorboards. The whole white sand yard is raked continuously to aid in the spotting of approaching snakes!

We also did a swamp tour, enjoying the banter of a 7th generation Swamper. We saw countless alligators, turtles, water birds, but thankfully no snakes. It was a quiet and still area, punctuated only by bird calls. A lot of the tour was through a canal dug by a company bent on harvesting the cedar forest in the swamp. The work was done by prisoners mostly, and the project ended when the lumber company went belly up.

A gator slithering through some swamp plant life

Late that afternoon, we met up with Lucy and Marshall Kendall in Brunswick. Marshall was also a Proton Therapy patient, just graduating Monday. Marshall is an amateur woodworker, and he is changing the lucite lenses used in beam treatment into bowls. He is turning them on a lathe and then attaching the bowl to a turned wooden base. They are beautiful, and he making them as a fund raising project to assist proton patients needing assistance in housing during their 8 week treatment regimen. He now has one of my lenses, and we are excited to see the finished product.

Next...St. Simons Island, GA, a must-see in this neck of the woods.

A Day at the Beach

We are finally getting some nice weather here on the Florida panhandle. We took advantage by spending the afternoon on the "Emerald Coast" (so-called for the color of the water), finding a quiet spot on Blue Mountain Beach. We honestly have not seen any mountains in Florida...there is a medium sized hill near this beach, not sure if it called Blue Mountain or not.

The breeze was light, the skies were sunny and the waves were mesmerizing. The sands along this part Florida's Gulf Coast are amazingly white and fine. The sand squeaks when you walk along. And the sand is so soft, it takes quite a bit of effort to make headway.

The weatherman is calling for an even nicer day tomorrow, so we plan to return on our last full day in these parts. Sunday we are making our way into southern Georgia.

The only negative about our stay in DeFuniak Springs has been poor internet and phone service. We have 'the network', but there isn't a crowd following that Verizon Geek anywhere around here. When we get our next laptop we hope to upgrade our broadband card--ours is an oldie that doesn't have an aerial assist, nor a port for a remote antenna.

Thought for today: I have such a great memory, I can remember some things that never happened.

The Florida Panhandle

Well, we are near DeFuniak Springs, FL, in an area that has spotty internet service...so I am hoping I can stay connected long enough to get this post in.

Larry and Nancy Broers stopped in the area on their way to Dallas from Naples, FL. It was a nice reunion, visiting while sitting by the Destin Harbor in the warm Florida sun. I managed to doze off a couple of times (must be the post-radiation effects...maybe--sorry, Larry and Nancy). We had a local dining experience at Dewey's Destin Seafood place...rustic, and at the end of a bumpy gravel drive, but tasty food.

I appreciate those who have indicated they have been reading my blog. If you post a comment, it has to be okayed by me for publication onto the site, so that comment might not show up for a while, especially with my internet uncertainties. So feel free to let me know you're out there!

I am now out of cancer treatment for 3 weeks. Amazing how the time goes by so quickly. Still doing pretty darn good. I truly appreciate all those who have shared their support and concern.

Tim, Larry and Nancy at Dewy's in Destin

Stephen Foster Museum and Park

We are on our last day at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Camp near Live Oak, FL. We drove over to White Springs, about 15 miles northeast, to visit the Stephen Foster Park. This is Ellen in front of the main building that houses the museum.

Inside were 10 dioramas depicting some of the composers most famous works. The dioramas were about 7 feet wide and 5 feet high, with great detail and moving parts (racing horses galloping along a track for "Camptown Races".

There were lots of pianos and period furniture, along with some old photos and descriptions of Foster's life, as well as manuscripts of his work. He died very young, when at 38, he had fever and chills, and passed out while at a washstand. He fell breaking the washbowl and cutting himself badly. He later died from loss of blood and the illness. Another tidbit about his life was he never went 'way down upon de Swanee Ribber"...he was in Pennsylvania and asked his brother to help complete a new song. He asked his brother for a two syllable name of a Southern River. His brother looked in an atlas and found the Suwannee.

Foster had over 200 songs published in his 20 year career as a songwriter. It is still a puzzle to me why these folks made this big museum and center for a guy who never showed up down here. Oh well, the grounds are beautiful and it is very peaceful. There is also a huge carillon tower that gongs out Foster music at the top of the hour.

Here is Ellen at the banks of the Suwannee, on one of the hiking trails at our park. This park is over 800 acres, with all sorts of trails, and lots of horse trails and stables. Sister Patty would like this.

Facebook

I am getting hooked on Facebook, after joining my high school group. We are having our 45th reunion this summer, but Ellen and I won't be able to go. Su Stern-Bitenc has put in lots of work on the reunion and she has started the class group on Facebook. It is somewhat addictive, finding out about friends from the past, seeing what they are doing now, and reminiscing a bit too.

Way down upon the Suwannee River...

And that's where we are, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in rural Live Oak Florida. We have yet to see the famous river, but it is at the end of a couple of hiking trails. Before we do that (maybe tomorrow), we had to get some house stuff taken care of, like cleaning and sorting out our storage. I also took time to do some woodcarving, working on a Santa figure that I started before we got to Jacksonville.

This park has live music Tuesday and Friday (for free), and a $10 band on Saturday night. All this sounds great, as we just dusted off our dancing shoes Saturday at Flamingo Lake. Had a great time at the dance (thank you Marshall and Lucy for coming out our way). Dinner with the Kendall's was also mighty fine, and we really enjoyed visiting with our friends from NH. It is nice to know we have a place to stay in Freedom NH!!

The Spirit of Suwanee Music Park is huge with hundreds of hookups and a ton of land. Loads of trees with Spanish Moss hanging all over the place. Aside from all this, the biggest difference from Flamingo Lake is the absolutely LOW noise level. It is so quiet...after being next to I-295 it is like dead silence! I slept like a baby.

Love is in the air...

Anybody out there reading this, I want to remind you it is Valentine's Day...So do something romantic!!! We are having a nice quiet morning here. Actually, it kind of feels like Valentine's Day every day. Love is in the air....

We will be going to a Valentines dance tonight here at the RV Park. It is good to occasionally dust off the dancing shoes and try to remember some steps we learned from Harold at the Eagles Club in Fort Dodge. Good ol' swivel hips Harold. Cha cha is still a bugger for me, and the two step is my favorite.

Had a nice call last night from Matt, Ellen's son teaching in Colombia. He called to congratulate me on getting through the proton treatment. It is always fun to visit with Matt, maybe because he laughs at my jokes. No seriously, he is a great guy with a free spirit, and fascinating interests like scuba diving and parachuting.

We were finally able to see an Oscar movie yesterday, Slumdog Millionaire. The good guy wins in the end, but throughout, it was tough visual voyage through the slums and ugliness of Mumbai, India. We are so cleanly removed from that kind of squalor. It kind of puts a new perspective on the 'terrible' and 'horrible' financial crisis our country is going through. I don't have a clue what doing without means, and what kind of miserable life I have never come close to. I understand there are a lot of Americans hurting, out of work, and unsure what will happen next....and my heart goes out to them. I have been out of work and unsure of what might happen next, but I cannot imagine being one of millions without food, begging, barefoot, without family.

Hey, if anyone is reading this, I sure would like to know. Please leave a comment, or if you like, email me and let me know. I appreciate it. I am having a good time writing this blog, and I hear from time to time from others reading it, but I am interested to find out who and how many there are looking at this. Thanks!

Fini

Yahoo!!! I am now finished with my proton beam radiation treatment! After 2 months and 39 treatments, it is hard to believe I am done. My treatment was scheduled for 2 pm Tuesday, but upon arriving at the UFPTI my gantry was running 25 minutes late. Then within a couple of minutes it was 45 minutes late...

Waiting in the lobby at the proton institute is never a difficult or trying task. There is always somebody to visit with. Ellen and I fell into a conversation with 2 couples, one from PA, one thinking seriously about RVing fulltime. So that wait time turned into a nice conversation. One of the best side effects of the proton treatment is that we have made some great friends while waiting for my 15 ounces of water to make its way to my bladder so I would be 'ready' for treatment.

One couple, Marshall and Lucy Kendall from Freedom, NH, is having us over for dinner tonight. Marshall's hooby is woodworking, notably lathe work, and when the Kendall's traveled to Jacksonville, he brought along a bunch of his woodshop equipment, including a table lathe! He has turned some bowls and chalices in the garage of his condo. Lucy does floral and decorative painting on Marshall's creations, so she brought her paints and brushes.

I finally finished my treatment at almost 4 pm, so that was actually an hour and a half delay, but no big thing, the main thing is we can now do whatever we want from day to day. It was a sad/fond farewell to the great folks on my gantry crew, hugging them all, with them wishing us the best. We also parted ways with Marquita, the sweet receptionist who always met us with a big smile. We will be back in August, for a 6 month checkup...so hopefully we can see some of these great people again.

Last night we had dinner with Jon Dahl, former teacher we knew from Fort Dodge. He was fixing to fly to Colorado to see his first granddaughter. Had a great visit with him (Cindy was already in CO) at a Longhorn Steakhouse near the JAX Airport. We're pretty sure we will have a place to stay when we come down for future check ups. Thanks John for the invite!

Time flies when you're having fun...and company!

Well, I have not posted for a week and a half...time is indeed flying. Between counting my proton treatments down and hosting friends and relatives, time is indeed flying!

After Don and Connie Sarver hooked up and traveled west, friends from Ames, Barb Peterson and Jere Maddux arrived for four days of fun. The weather was not good, with rain, fog and chilly temps...but the friendship was sunny. We visited a lot, played some bridge, and our guests spent most of a day at the Florida Proton Therapy Institute, including the weekly lunch and a tour of the facility.

The day before they left, daughter Erin and her kids plus family friend Babbs Dawster flew in from Iowa. We surprised them at the airport, and that was an exciting time! It ws fantastic to see Erin, Jaiden, Mason and Ethan again, and getting to meet and know Babbs.


The weather was uncooperative most of the week. We did manage one day at Jacksonville Beach, although it was pretty chilly. The hearty northerners were still able to get in the water...actually they were the only ones in the water besides some surfers with wetsuits! brrrrrr!!!







We also made it to St Augustine, and the kids really enjoyed the historic fort, complete with the cannon firing and the walls made of cochina (sea shells + mortar). On the 4th, the kids organized a surprise birthday party for Ellen on Wednesday...complete with cake, gifts and flowers! Ellen was really tickled.


the family at the zoo, Tim, Jaiden, Erin, Mason, Ethan and Ellen

We spent one day at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, having a great time at a great zoo. The zoo is laid out very well with loops stringing out from a main walkway. It is not huge, so that you can do the whole thing easily in one day. Note the name was Zoo and Gardens. The plantings are fabulous and the whole thing was like a lush rain forest or Florida swamp. The most fun was feeding the Giraffes and watching the black jaguar trying to catch a fish in the pool.

The last full day of the visit we all went to a Children's Museum on the south side of Jacksonville, where there were all kinds of stations, like the fire truck, the post office, the puppet theater. Lots of fun opportunities for creative play. We really enjoyed the visit from the kids Erin and Babbs...we are thankful they all were able to come down.

I am down to two treatments at Proton...It is amazing that so many treatments have passed by so quickly!

Fernandina Beach

We had a fun day yesterday, traveling to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island with Bob and Bonny Herman. Fernandina Beach is a very historic town, as it was the beginning point of the first east-west trans Florida Railroad in the 1850s. Fernandina Beach had a very natural harbor, and apparently this was a boon for the area, as this port was booming in the 1800s. There were at least 2 forts guarding the waterway, Amelia River, into Fernandina Beach.

There is a great walking tour (we drove for part of the route) of historic homes, and there are a ton of them... Doctors, tug fleet owners, ship chandlery owners, and yes, even saloon keepers built magnificent mansions. Lots of gingerbread and wrap around porches. And those great painted lady color schemes.

The photo above shows us in the rear courtyard of the Florida House, Florida's oldest hotel that is now a B & B and a bar/restaurant. Lots of galleries and unique shops throughout the pleasant downtown area. We also had a lunch at the wharf area on the Amelia River. Had to get a shot of this painted hippie van.

Earlier in the day we went through Fort Clinch State Park also on the island, checking out the camping amenities. It looks like we will try to stay there a few days before leaving the area. One RV loop is right by the dunes of the Atlantic, and it looks great.
Afterwards we ate at Sonny's BBQ, and learned how to play Farkle at the Herman's trailer. Today we had a "catch up day" at the trailer. It was the first day in quite a while that we had 'to ourselves', and we got a lot of work, cleaning and sorting done at home.

Thought for today: No man is ever too busy to tell you how busy he is.

Full day

This was indeed a full day. We had breakfast this morning with Don and Connie Sarver, and then saw them off at about 11 am. It was so nice they were able to visit for a week. We truly enjoyed our time with the Sarvers. They are on their way west now--safe travels!


We then met with Bob and Bonny Herman to visit the Kingsley Plantation, a National Parks System Historic Site. The plantation is on Fort George Island, east of Jacksonville and bordering the Atlantic. The plantation was a trip back into history, seeing the remnants of the slave quarters, set in an arch near the gates to the compound. The main house is under restoration, but the grounds were simply beautiful and well kept. The house faces the Fort George River, and is amid gorgeous palms and mossy oaks.

Tim stands near the ring of slave cabins, made of tabby (cochina shells + mixture, covered with a plaster)

Zephaniah Kingsley moved to Fort George Island in 1814 with his young freedwomen wife from Senegal (he freed her and married her in 1811 when she was 13). The plantation produced Sea Island Cotton, sugar cane and Indigo, and had 80-100 slaves at its peak. As Florida became a state, its legislature made laws more stringent for slaves. This irked Kingsley, as his view was that slaves were part of the plantation 'family'. He ended up moving to Haiti where he could function without such repressive (for his family) rulings.



We had a picnic on the grounds, thanks to Bonny for packing some dynamite chicken salad sandwiches, tea, cherries and chips.

After touring the plantation, we went on to the Herman's campsite at Little Talbot State Park, touring the park and part of the seashore. Bonny fed us once again with spaghetti and snacks. It was a very full day.

A view of the main house looking towards the Fort George River

Sticky Fingers, friends, and protons

left to right: Bonnie Herman, Connie Sarver, Ellen, Tim, Don Sarver, and Bob Herman

Earlier in the week we had a lunch out with the Sarvers and the Hermans at Sticky Fingers, a great BBQ Rib Restaurant just north of here. Wow, the food was very tasty, extremely tender ribs and a choice of 5 different bbq sauces. A great part of the dining experience is the blues music piped through the speakers. Awesome!

We have been having a great time with Don and Connie, as we share, talk, play games and poke around the Jacksonville area. With the cold snap we haven't been to the shore yet, maybe Sunday. Don did most of the work on getting the jack replaced. I think I could do the procedure if I had to, now that I saw what went where. Maybe not, I don't have all the tools Don had to do the job.

Bob and Bonnie left for a state park near the ocean, as Bob has less than 2 weeks left in his treatment. We really miss their little silver bullet Airstream and their caring and loving company. We still see them at the Proton Center, and plan on doing something with them next week.

Treatments are going well....16 to go. I lose count pretty easily, but I think that is accurate. Each treatment goes by so quickly, and time, since starting the treatments, have literally flown by! My gantry crew is awesome, it is obvious they really care and are always so amiable, nice and genuinely smiling. They are always interested in what is going on in my life.

Two of my 'usual' and very nice gantry crew, Kim and Ashley

The lobby at the PTI is like a round table of nice folks all in the same boat, but enjoying the time we have together. Not unusual to have 10 chairs or more pulled into a circle of sharing and talking. What a pleasant experience.

Thought for today: A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.