August 31, 2009

We arrived back in sunny Florida on Saturday for a couple of weeks so Char can see her Doctor. She is progressing very well so this should be an easy Doctor’s visit. If there are no additional concerns, we will be back on the road-driving north to escape this hot weather.

We seemed to have forgotten about the heat and humidity in the south. I think the temperature was around 185-190 or perhaps higher yesterday and the humidity must have been over 100 percent. I did a little RV maintenance and it only took a few minutes for my t-shirt to look like I had been in the pool. Char enjoys the warmer temperatures and did some trimming along our fence. She also thought it was extremely hot. Did the cool summer we experienced while traveling spoils us? I don’t think so. We need to remember we are back in Florida earlier than usual. It should be in the 80’s and more comfortable in October when we return for the winter.

August 17, 2009

We had some repairs made on our car today in Lexington. We left early and drove the 35 miles on Tates Creek Road instead of the interstate. This required a ride on the Valley View Ferry across the Kentucky River.

This is the oldest continuous business in the State of Kentucky. It stated in 1785 and for years was owned by Claude Howard, Mutt’s brother. It is now owned and operated by surrounding Madison, Fayette and Jessamine counties. There is no longer a fee for the crossing and the wait times have greatly increased. The ferry can carry three cars or small trucks each way. Mornings and evenings when people are going to or returning from work are the busiest times. We were told you sometimes need to watch three or four crossing before your turn during this rush hour. We missed the busy time both times we crossed today.

This is looking up river from the ferry at the early morning fog as we crossed on our way to Lexington. There are many beautiful places in rural America and Kentucky certainly has its share to visit.

August 16, 2009

When I called Mutt Howard the other day, he asked if I could call back in an hour or so. He was checking Betty out of the hospital and was going over home care instructions with a nurse. He didn’t have time to explain anything and we prayed that Betty would be okay. Two hours later we called and he told us to stop by the house for a while. We then learned our best friend just had a mastectomy. Her Doctors assured her they removed all the cancer and she will not need chemotherapy.

Even though she was still heavily medicated, she still had her beautiful smile for us. She is truly an amazing person. We stayed a short time and left knowing that she was going to be fine.

Mutt and Betty were long time next-door neighbors. They are more family than friends. We watched each other’s families grow up and even took some of our vacations together. Betty and Charlotte worked together at the Southern Middle School Cafeteria. They grew so close that at times one would think they were sisters. Mutt tried to teach me how to be a bass fisherman. I would spend most of my time untangling the line on the reel instead of fishing. I never did master the thumb finesse needed to operate the casting reel.

When we stopped to visit with them today, their son Danny and his youngest daughter, Brooke, was there to check on Betty. We had heard some wonderful stories about Brooke and now we had the opportunity to meet her. We were very happy to see them both.

Left to right: Danny, Brooke, Betty and Mutt.

Please remember Betty in your prayers as she continues her recovery.

August 15, 2009

Today we had another great day meeting with friends we haven’t seen in many years. We visited this afternoon and evening with Ed and Tommie Baylous. Ed and I both worked at Sears in Lexington. As a senior Division Manager, Ed was one of my mentors in the early days of my Sears career. He and I also worked together in the Retail Inventory Management Office during the transition to computerized ordering of merchandise to improve in-stock conditions at the store level. It was a good feeling to be part of a team of pioneers who implemented the beginning of computerized records for inventory control.

Tommie and Char both worked at the Southern Middle School Cafeteria for several years. They had various duties while getting a healthy lunch prepared for hundreds of students each day. It was a lot of hard work but both enjoyed the challenge.

While we were visiting, their son John came in. John works on one of the local horse farms. It was nice to have the opportunity to see him also.

Left to right: John, Tommie and Ed.

Ed told us that his next-door neighbors were Tommy and Becky Webber. This was a great surprise for us. We met Tommy and Becky when we first moved to Kentucky in the ‘70’s. We wanted to look them up also but thought they lived in nearby Danville, Kentucky. It was a very happy moment for all of us when they stopped in after spending the day at their antique business.

Left to right: Becky, Tommy, Granddaughter, Lily Grace and daughter, Dacia.

Tommie and Ed invited Becky, Tommy, Char and I to stay for a wonderful supper with them. We had a great time reminiscing, wonderful food and learned what has happened to each other’s families.

Thank you Tommie and Ed for an excellent day and also for arranging Becky and Tommy joining us for the evening. Today we accomplished two of the things on our list of goals we established four years ago. We met with Tommie and Ed Baylous and Becky and Tommy Webber. We love retirement, traveling around this great country and seeing friends from the past. Hopefully we will be able to travel many more years as we have lots more things and people we want to see.

August 14, 2009

I carry a small camera with me everywhere I go so I can capture images that are important to Char and I or for pictures to use on our blog. I carry it in my front pocket so it is handy all the time. So I don’t miss anything because of a dead battery I carry an extra battery in my pocket also. I have a digital camera with a large memory card that can store hundreds of pictures so I usually take lots of pictures. It often takes several tries for me to attempt to capture the beauty around us. I don’t always succeed but the pictures do help jog our memories of the places and people we have seen. Both Charlotte and I find great pleasure in reliving our journeys through pictures while setting in the warmth of Florida during the winter months. This is enough about always having a camera and being ready for anything.

As you have probably heard, often a person’s memory declines as he ages. As I get older, I am experiencing some of this memory difficulty. I occasionally have every intention of doing something and then get involved with people or projects and forget what I was supposed to do. Once again this happened to me yesterday.

We are in Kentucky to see friends we haven’t seen for a while. Yesterday we had a very relaxing afternoon with Linc and Donna Fisch, our son-in-law Karl’s parents. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant and then returned to their home for more visiting. We shared stories of health, family, travels and more. It was nice to have the opportunity to see them again.

By now you may be wondering, what do camera, memory and friends in this story have in common? I forgot to use my camera to take pictures of our dear friends for our blog or future viewing. So I am sorry to say that there will not be a current picture of them until our next visit.

Thanks Donna and Linc for a wonderful afternoon.

August 12, 2009

It is hard to explain the feeling of exhilaration we had yesterday when we visited with Curt and Judy Roper. While we have communicated occasionally by email and Christmas cards over the years, we had not seen one another since sometime in the 1980s. That’s more than a few years and though it may be hard to believe, we have changed somewhat since then. Well maybe Curt and I changed more than Charlotte and Judy. While a little older, our wives are still as beautiful as they were at our last meeting.

We enjoyed giving Curt and Judy a tour of our home. I think like most people, they were impressed by the roominess inside our motor home. Though they seemed interested in our wandering lifestyle, I don’t think they are ready to give up their beautiful, spacious home for a life on wheels at this time.

Here are four very happy smiles.

Curt and Judy’s daughter, Sherry.

It was a marvelous day and hopefully we won’t wait as long till our next visit.

August 10, 2009

We just completed a great weekend in Ohio visiting with some of our friends from Ponderosa RV Park where we spend the winters. Bill & Lyndell Martin and Bear drove their motor home from Romeo, Michigan and stayed in the same KOA Kampground. Ron & Anna Hall and Harley live in Huber Heights, Ohio and were our hosts. (Bear and Harley are their dogs and also great friends of ours)

On Saturday, we went to the National Museum of the United States Air Force with Ron and Anna as our tour guides. We started with a tour of the Presidential Planes of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. While these were comfortable, state of the art planes then, they are small and technologically light years away from the current Air Force One used by President Obama.

Here are a few pictures:

Ron worked on a plane like this while he was in the Air Force.

Ron loaded bombs on a B-52 like this one in Vietnam.

Ran gave us lots of details of various planes he maintained during his military years.

Astronaut Bill Martin.

I believe astronaut Lyndell Martin was enjoying her day.

There is a lot to see so allow plenty of time if you plan to visit here.

After a long day we all were a little exhausted even though according to Lyndell we only took around 7,000 steps on our tour.

August 5, 2009

Thanks to my brother, Roger, we went to see the 2009 Drum Corps International Open Class World Championship Quarterfinals in Michigan City last night. These young people are fantastic and we watched a terrific competition. If you like Drum and Bugle Corps, Drum Corps International is the organization to watch. The groups were from Oregon, California, Ohio, New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Texas and Georgia. DCI started competitions in June and the events will end this weekend in Indianapolis with the final championships.

Left to right: Char, Jeanette, the twins Ashley and Alyssa, Bill and my brother, Roger.
This is Teal Sound from Jacksonville, Florida performing.

Because of a cool breeze coming off of Lake Michigan, Char and I left prior to the end of the competition. We had a great time.