60,000 Miles (09-02-13)

It’s hard to believe the truck has 60,000 miles on it, but it does, and it was time to buy a new set of tires.  That’s just one of quite a few chores we’ve been taking care of in Michigan.  It’s one of the more expensive chores though. Ouch.  Paul is pretty happy with the new Michelins, so that’s a consolation, I suppose..

The guy who runs the storage lot where we store our jet boat called us a couple of months ago to tell us there is a hole in the shrink wrap, so we drove over, patched the hole, and headed on our way. One of these days we’d love to figure out a way to get the boat to Arizona, or somewhere else where we could use it!

Our next stop was our storage unit where we keep our household goods.  We passed by our old house on the way there.  It’s a nice house, but we sure don’t miss all the “stuff” that goes along with house ownership!








 

Digging into our storage unit usually requires us to toss a bunch of stuff into the hallway.  We always hope no one will need to get past us while we are there.

I know most of our full timing friends sold all of their household goods, and every year Paul and I reassess whether it’s worth paying for another year of storage, and every year the answer is yes, so I guess this works for us at this point.

The RV Park we’re staying in had a yard sale on Saturday, and everyone could put stuff out that they wanted to sell.  We took advantage and grabbed a bunch of stuff from storage to sell off.  Some of it is our daughter’s stuff, and she was happy to make a few dollars (without having to do the work!)  We did ok- the most important thing being that we got rid of stuff that we don’t need or want anymore. 

Paul is using some of the “down time” to make some changes to the valances on the windows.  Me, I just make sure I’m close by to hold up the other end for him. 

In between chores, we’ve managed to spend time with friends!  There’s never enough time to see everyone, and I hardly ever remember to get the camera out, so I have very few pictures. Mason was very happy to have his picture taken in between his attempts to entertain the cat though.  I was still working with his mom, Pennie, when she became pregnant with him, but we were gone before he was born. We've seen him several times since then though!

The next few days will be full of other "stuff" that needs to get done before we leave here (hopefully) on Friday. 

Winding down in Michigan (10-8-11)

        As they say, all good things must come to an end.  We are entering our last few days of our 5 week stay in Michigan. Since the wedding we've spent a little time with the kids , but more time with friends.  We had a great time last Sunday- we went for a 15 mile bike ride with Rick and Karen, then went to a pub to watch the Lions win against the Cowboys! We've had dinner with some friends and lunch with others. 
      As usual, Paul's been busy modifying things.  Since he has access to more tools here he is taking advantage of it. Friends of ours gave the kids a dining room table and chairs, but the table was really too big, so Paul cut it down for them. And of course he did it in such a way that they can still add the leaf in when they have guests!  He swapped out our shower set up and installed the new Delta  (pretty nifty) set up that we paid big bucks for.  We can control temperature and water pressure separately now, which makes a huge improvement! Since we have the sewing machine, he cut down the comforter from a king to a queen and modified the bottom sheet to be able to add a bungee cord (to keep it tighter). The last time I used a sewing machine, I was 14, so I sure am glad he likes to sew! 
       Now that we’ve  taken care of the last of the doctor appointments and both got a clean bill of health, we will take the final steps to become Texas residents by switching our health insurance and our official address with Ford Motor Company.  Then the only thing left to do will be to get my driver’s license, once we get to TX.
      Yesterday we met a couple who are interested in buying a new Mobile Suites.  They live in the area, so I had invited them over to take a look at ours, in a more relaxing environment than an RV dealership with a salesman standing over you.  We spent two hours showing them around and just chatting. It was actually fun for us.  They are still in the “note taking” stage, one that I remember too well, and have yet to tour the factories, so they aren’t quite ready to make a final decision.
     In the next few days we’ll try to see Jess and David  a couple of times before we leave, and we’ll go through the trailer to make sure everything we want back in storage made its way there.    From here we head to the DRV factory to get more work done on the trailer, and if we can get out of there fast enough, we hope to meet up with some friends in Branson MO.  After that, we may head to Hill Country in TX, or, we may go the other way and head to New Orleans again.  We’ll see!  I look forward to being back on the road with no plans whatsoever, but I know that i will really miss my daughter.  I got used to having her around!

wedding photos

A wedding weekend

    The wedding day has come and gone and the whirlwind of activity has given way to sighs of exhaustion.
In the weeks leading up to the our daughter’s wedding, the fullness of our days was stretched to the maximum.  With Paul and I in Michigan with the bride-to-be and her fiancé, we were all working our personal lists of things to do. The high level of activity and occasional times of heightened stress were well worth it when the “day of the rehearsal” dawned and our to-do list was mostly a “done” list.
    Paul and I had one last minute (actually, 2 hours) of panic however, just to make life interesting.  After moving the trailer onsite to Waldenwoods, we tried to open the slides and the bed slide wouldn’t open.  The design of our trailer is such that we have no way of opening the bedroom door without first opening the slide.  After a few minutes of trying, we started calling DRV, the trailer manufacturer, and Lippert, the manufacturer of the slide mechanism.  We couldn’t see if anything was blocking the slide and I was starting to think in terms of taking a saw to the bedroom door.  The bride’s wedding dress was inside, on the bed.  In the end, Lippert walked Paul through a swap of the controller that works the slide mechanism, swapping the vanity slide controller over to the bed slide.  That did the trick and the slide was opened (and a new controller was shipped out to us that day).
That was the last of the glitches, and the following 4 days pretty much ran without many issues at all, certainly nothing major.  We all started to relax and enjoy the festivities!
Rather than try to post pictures here and making this a very long post, I am posting a photo album on the blog page.  Its easier to caption the photos if I use Picasa, rather than inserting the pictures into a post.
Thursday evening was the rehearsal at Waldenwoods, followed by a casual dinner at the trailer for all those who were able to attend, which included my brothers, sister, and sister-in-law, who all flew in from Boston Thursday afternoon. 
Friday morning we were able to start the day slow before heading to the airport to pick up my son.  Afterwards, we headed out to dinner with my family and the bride and groom.
    Saturday was a busy day that started with many of the bridesmaids, my sisters and I, and the bride,  having lunch at Panera and then getting our nails done at a nearby salon.  We made it back to the trailer with just enough time to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Several of the bridesmaids came with us to the trailer to get ready, so I am sure the guys felt overrun!
Sunday morning we were up bright and early and headed to the hair salon to get hair and make-up done for the day.   Back at Waldenwoods, Jess headed for the bridal room to meet up with her bridesmaids so they could get dressed together.  I got ready myself, then brought her dress over there for her. The weather forecast was for rain all day, but I am guessing that hanging the rosary beads out the window saved the day, since the sun was out all throughout the afternoon, well past the ceremony time.
After an awesome ceremony and reception, and a very late night, we were up early on Monday, hosting a breakfast for our out of town guests, after which we retired to the trailer to relax before heading out to bring my son to the airport.  One more dinner out, with my family and then today we moved the trailer back to the RV park we had been in before the wedding.  we are both pretty exhausted and trying to recuperate!

A brief update (New Hudson, MI 9-19-11)

To say that life has gotten hectic would be quite an understatement.  We are in the final few days before our out of town guests arrive.  Once that happens, I’d like to be able to kick back and relax and enjoy!  Well, at least slow down a little bit.  Most of my family will arrive on Thursday, and my son will fly in on Friday afternoon.  I haven’t seen him since June, so I am looking forward to his arrival! 
       Thursday the festivities begin with the rehearsal at Waldenwoods.  This is just the rehearsal itself, so we’ll be having food for the participants back at our trailer.  Thursday morning we will move about 30 miles up the road to be onsite in the trailer at Waldenwoods for the 5 days surrounding the wedding.  It should make things much easier on us.   Friday evening we’ll have dinner with my family and then Paul and I have volunteered to be designated drivers so that Jess and the other “young people” can go out and have a good time at the local country bar.
     The last few days have gotten busier.  It seems that for every item that gets crossed off   the “to do” list, another gets added!  Jess and David have an apartment now, so we are helping them get their stuff moved in to it.  That entailed a trip to Wisconsin with our truck, to pick up a bed, sofas and bureaus from David’s parents house.  A very long day,  especially for Paul, who had to drive for 11.5 hours.  David has been painting their living room, which now looks awesome! Tomorrow we are taking them “shopping” in our storage unit, to see  what we have that they can use.  There are several things that Paul and I want to get out for ourselves as well.  It’s 30 ft long, and 10 ft wide and we hope to “dig in” as far back as we can, so we’ll need all 4 of us.
   The trailer is definitely shrinking as we work on projects such as centerpieces, cupcake towers etc.  Paul, being the most creative as well as the most “mechanically” talented member of  the family, is in high demand.


 









hmmmm, not everyone seems quite as busy as Paul…..















Dozer does try to help as much as possible, of course.
Anyway, I am sure the the next few days will be incredibly busy, so the next time I post, my daughter will be Jessica McClone!

Two weeks of recovery done....

I had my 2nd post-op doctor's visit this morning.  Every time we see him he seems to change the gameplan a little.  Originally he said I had to stay put for a month, and then I could leave for a couple of weeks. Last week he said I could leave for a couple of weeks after today.  Today he said I need to come in again in 2 days and again next week- then I can leave for 3-4 weeks.  No big deal but we have to keep adjusting our plans. So now we are going to stay here for another 3 days and then leave for the other Rv park that's not too far away.
      Overall though, the surgery went awesome and my recovery is going very well. The muscles in my foot seem tense, as if they aren't working quite right.  He said that's because I haven't had much range of motion in that joint for so many years, the muscles haven't really done much work in a long time, and now they are.
        So, Paul is finishing some projects and possibly starting another one.  He may build in an electric heater into the wall so we won't have to use the portable one we have.  We have a furnace with a full heating system but many times we just need a small electric one to take the chill out of the air.
The weather has been great, although its getting a little cold at night.  Last night it was in the mid 30s. Today its in the high 50s and the sun is out.

Dinners!

Last night we went out to dinner with friends and had a great time.  Tonight we went out to dinner with friends and had a great time. Tomorrow night we are going out to dinner with friends, and I am sure we'll have a great time!  I'll have to go on a diet, but it's worth it.
   Originally we were going to leave here this weekend and drive to an RV park about an hour from here for a couple of weeks, but we are going to stay here until my doctor's appointment on Tuesday instead.  Paul has been on a buying frenzy, buying "stuff" for the trailer while he has time order it, get it shipped and install it all. So far he has installed a water softener, but he wants to secure it better, so he has that project to finish.  He bought a heating element for one of our air conditioners so it can be used as a heat source, and he has that installed.  He ordered a part to install on  the awning to our largest slide so that water won't puddle in it, but it hasn't arrived yet.
In general he's been getting a lot done while waiting to be able to get on the road again.

One week of recovery done...

One week down, a few more to go....I had my first follow up visit yesterday and was very happy to hear that I will probably only have to stay in Michigan for another 3 weeks instead of 5 weeks.  Because this surgery was less invasive than the one originally planned, the recovery is faster. He did say that once the damage builds back up again (hopefully 5-10 years), my only option will be joint replacement.   I still have to wear the Cam Walker for another week, but that's ok, I really don't want to smash my foot at this point anyway.  I can walk around as much as I want as long as I don't overdo, so we are checking out wedding venues and making plans to go out to dinner with friends before we leave here this weekend (headed about 45 minutes south).  I think we may head to the West Virginia area for a couple of weeks before coming back to Indiana for Thanksgiving.

the view from my lounger

Post Surgery

Just a quick note to let everyone know I am out of surgery and back at the trailer. Everything went fine, although he couldn’t do everything he planned to do.
The original idea was to move the joint between my toe and my foot back a bit and rebuild it, so I would be able to flex my foot when walking, which  I couldn't do because of arthritis and bone spurs.
     There was too much cartilage damage to be able do that, so he just reshaped the bone, and removed the spurs, and he feels that I should have full range of motion and it should keep me for the next 5-10 years, at which time I will have to completely replace the joint.
The good part is that the recovery from this should be quicker…

Thanks for the good thoughts!

Michigan

Well, I am sure it wouldn't surprise anyone at Valassis to hear that I have a sore throat.  I went to visit my former co-workers and friends, and talked non-stop for about 3 hours.  It was so great to make the rounds and see everyone, although there we a few people I missed. I am hoping to see people again before we leave.
   We are at Haas Lake Park again- we arrived here after spending a couple of days in Muncie with Jess and her new fiance. I've discovered that I don't take any pictures when I am visiting people.  The only pictures I took in Muncie were of Jess trying on wedding gowns, and I can't post any of them!  Tomorrow we are checking out a couple of potential wedding venues for Jess since its the last day I'll be able to do anything for a while.  I had a doctor's appointment this morning, going over the details of my foot surgery that is scheduled for Wednesday.  I was pretty much assuming I would get crutches and be able to hop around as much as I want, as long as I put no pressure on my foot, but he tells me I need to pretty much stay home for  two weeks and keep walking to a minimum.  Ugh. 
Anyway, since I will be recuperating, and not exploring, there won't be too many blog posts in the next few weeks.

old friends and new friends

Mason!

Pennie, Mason and Maria

Now that the medical portion of our trip is taken care of, for now, we have begun the socializing portion of our visit. Several of my good friends from work came over for dinner the other night. The evening went by so fast! It almost makes me glad we'll be here for a month in October, so I can take more time to see people!   It was really awesome for me that Paul got to meet people that I have talked about for a long time, and I got to spend time with some friends and their families.

    Yesterday I was lucky enough to get my hair cut by my favorite hairdresser in Ann Arbor.  It was nice to have it cut by someone I know and trust.  In the afternoon, it was Dozer's turn for the doctor.  We took him to a local vet to get his shots and make sure he is healthy.

 

      Last night was  the time for new friends.  Paul and I are members of a group called " Escapees".  They are, in general, people who live in an RV and travel full time.  Last night we met two couples, fellow escapees, for dinner in Brighton MI.  Karla and Eric are from Michigan as well, and have been here most of the summer.  Mary and Paul were living in CA when they decided to go on the road full time  last year.  We all "went full time" within months of each other, so we had a lot in common.  We had a great dinner and an awesome time with these two couples, comparing stories, and future plans. Hopefully we'll meet up with them again soon, maybe for the holidays in Arizona.