Week Two ~ Skp Acre April 23-May 2, 2011

Wow, what a rally! It is hard to believe that the Eastern Multi Chapter Rally known as SKP ACRE (All Chapters Rally East) was more fun this year than it was last year, but it was! There were lots of varied activities and fun for everyone. Final tally was 100 rigs and 180 people attending this year.

Meet your friendly registration crew and pick up your SKP ACRE shirts and pins.

Wednesday started out with registration and then we proceeded right into the Pet Lover’s BOF Pet Parade. The weather held for the parade and fun was had by all. Betty Bear and Oscar (in his tuxedo) made an encore appearance after the Escapade in Goshen. Several other pets were also well dressed.

 

After lunch Mark Nemeth presented the first chapter of his seminar series with, ‘Water, Water Everywhere’. Everyone learned the basics of safe water management for their RV.

Wednesday evening was the first catered meal. Countryside BBQ served up some delicious smoked chicken. Wednesday evening, Dan Brown, former director of the Blue Ridge Parkway, offered insights about the area. This was a valuable presentation for everyone. This was Dan’s second time presenting a program for us, and we really appreciate his time and effort.

Thursday morning finished registration and then went right into a great seminar of Geocaching with Joe and Nancy Liston. They had set up some geocaching challenges around the park and area and after the seminar one person was able to find all of the geocache sites. Super! After lunch crafters met to tackle making paper beads to form necklaces and bracelets. There was a lot of giggling goin’ on! Thanks to Patty Mulhall for sharing her creativity. She also did a paper embroidery class on Friday afternoon.

                          Patty, we do WHAT with paper and sticks?

Thursday afternoon was Mark Nemeth’s second seminar on ‘RV Systems, Q &A’. There was lots of information for us to learn from Mark about our RV systems. Following the Social Hour we had a wonderful Pot Luck Dinner. Feeding 180 people in a short time is certainly a challenge. Before we were finished eating, Terry H. McKinney was there with a band to entertain us with some fine traditional country music, and entertain us they did!

This group played from 7:30 P.M. until 10:00 P.M., nonstop and finished the evening with a very memorable rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’.

Friday it was off to tour the Biltmore Estate. This is the second year that this tour has been offered, but since we had a lot of first time attendees, there were still many people who wanted to make this trip. Spring is a wonderful time of year to visit this beautiful home.

The evening began with a presentation by Steve Masterson about DOVES after which everyone was invited to another Pot Luck dinner, sponsored by the DOVES. Around 7:00 PM the McKinney Washtub Two entertained us. Judy and Whitt are full time Escapees who make their living by entertaining on the road. They were also rally participants. It was a treat to have them with us.

Saturday breakfast was prepared by Betty Bear and her crew. She was up very early to make sure there was plenty of her famous Bear Sausage and Gravy for everyone. It was delicious.

Come on and have seconds, if you’d like……………….

Several local chapters held their business meetings on Saturday morning. In the afternoon there was a Picasa workshop on Managing Digital Photos as well as Mark Nemeth’s presentation on the Smart Weigh Program. The day closed with a Soup Cook Off for CARE, ice cream and finally a great bon fire put on for us by Tom Johnson. There was some wonderful music and fellowship taking place.

Vendors that were present at the rally were Sky Med, Amsoil, The Gardens RV Resort in Tennessee, and Mark Nemeth with the Smart Weigh program.

There are also many fine places to shop and many people spent time touring the local shops, restaurants and tourist attractions.

Tickets were sold throughout the week for a chance to take a whack at the Escapees Piñata and win a $50 gift certificate. There were many swings taken before it was finally conquered by J.C. Webber 111. Proceeds from the piñata also went to CARE.

Omelets in a bag were a first time experience for a lot of people Sunday morning. Everyone was patient waiting for their breakfast to cook because it gave them time for some more sharing with their rally friends. The morning was filled with RV Discussions and the afternoon had a computer workshop on Easy Website Building, Using Weebly. The quilters also found time to meet and discuss projects a couple of times.

 

Sunday evening there was a second catered dinner of Pot Roast followed by the closing ceremony. A DVD presentation of The Many Faces of Old Glory left everyone very moved. There is something about standing together with fellow SKPS and singing our National Anthem together that stirs the heart.

Monday morning was the Hitch up Breakfast with lots of SKP HUGS to share. Many people kept Mark and his crew busy as they were being weighed on the way out.

Some wonderful things happened that the committee is very proud of:

*After a meeting with Bryan Rose and several VCRs, a group of enthusiastic people elected officers and decided to reactive Chapter 26, the Carolina Rovers. Plans are underway for their next rally.

*There were several activities geared to raise money for CARE. There was the Bear Gravy breakfast, the Soup Cook Off, the Escapee’s Piñata, a donation from the Solos, a beautiful afghan was crocheted and donated for a raffle by Dixie Peterson, and a donation from the Skp Acre. The final amount presented to Mark Nemeth for CARE was $1000.

*We had visitors from as far away as Australia! Les and Denese Nicholson are SKPS from New South Wales, Australia. They came to the rally and did not know a soul, but they made many friends before the rally was over.

*Our VCR’s Tom and Debbie Abernathy signed up two new couples to ESCAPEES.

*There were several VCRs attending the rally: Bryan and Jane Rose, Tom and Debbie Abernathy, Betty Bear, Vic and Taree Schrubb, Jeanne and Bill Parrish, Keith and Shirley Murphy, Carole and Bernie Patton, and Cindy and Phil Devonshire.

*There were almost 20 SOLOS. The SOLOS were a major contributor to CARE. They held their own fund raiser for CARE and donated about $250 toward the total $1000 collected.

*Mark Nemeth was there from Livingston to present several seminars and then to weigh thirty or more rigs with the new Escapees Smart Weigh Program.

*Crafts, quilting and computer activities were available.

*Chapter 42 had a large group attending.

Planning has already begun for next year’s SKP ACRE. Evaluation forms were looked over carefully so that positive changes can be made. This event is growing and it takes the cooperation of many people to make it a success. The biggest asset of the Escapee’s Club is the members who are so willing to share their time and talent. The SKP ACRE committee would like to thank the many volunteers who helped throughout the rally to make it a success.

Mark your calendar and start making plans to attend next year’s SKP ACRE. It will be held again in Marion NC at Tom Johnson’s Rally Park. The dates are April 17-22, 2012. We’ll keep a space open for you!

Bryan Rose presents a $1000 check to Mark Nemeth for CARE.

Week 1 April 19-25 2011

We left home on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 on our trip to Alaska. Of course, we were taking the direct route, by traveling south first! On Tuesday we left home and made our way south to Bryan’s (our youngest son) home in King of Prussia, PA. We traveled well; the only downside of the whole day was paying the toll for the RV and the truck. That was a total of almost $23. Talk about sticker shock!

We had a good visit with Bryan and family, pizza for supper, always a favorite. The kids are getting big, active in Karate, T-ball and Little League. Their activities keep everyone busy. We left shortly after they did on Wednesday morning, heading to Chesapeake VA to see Craig and family.

We had to do some searching to find a campground near Craig and Denise. After several on line searches I was able to locate a park near their home. We were delighted to find one that was 1.8 miles from their home! When we pulled in I tried calling Craig only to find that he and the kids were pulling into the campground right behind us! They had just decided to take a short ride to see if we were there yet. Denise was working, so it was only Craig and the kids. We had a chance to visit and the kids quickly found some other children to play with and headed for the park’s playground. We stayed there for three days, visiting and doing some errands. There was a Sam’s Club nearby, only took several tries for us to get there. We drove around in circles for a while, but eventually got our errands done and some needed items purchased. They have a very lovely home and had a great visit. Craig and the kids were all on Spring break. Denise worked three days 7 to 7. We were able to visit with her later in the day after she had gotten some sleep. While we were there, we watched The King’s Speech with Craig. It is an excellent movie.

We left on Saturday and traveled to Marion NC. We had thought about stopping part way, but we were traveling well and so we made it all the way to Marion NC in one day. That gave us a chance to set up and visit with Bryan and Jane Rose before the SKP ACRE Rally began. As part of our Easter Sunday celebration we went out to the Countryside Bar-B-Que restaurant for their Easter buffet. It was a good feed. For my Week 2 Report I will post the magazine report that I wrote for the Escapee’s Magazine. Phil was in charge of the Parking Crew and they parked 100 rigs. I helped with registration and also gave two computer workshops, one on using Picasa for digital photo management. The other workshop was on using Weebly to create a simple website or blog. I had a good crowd at both workshops. Phil also helped Mark Nemeth with his Smart Weigh program. The last two days of the rally they weighed over 30 rigs. When our rig was weighed we were only slightly over on the rear axles. We had a pretty full water tank and Phil and Mark seemed to think that made the difference. So, we will not be traveling with a real full water tank any more. Our friends, Cathy and Larry Amroski drove in for the rally. They were there from Wednesday through Saturday. What a treat for us. Cathy and Phil climbed through several RVs and I think Cathy was bitten by the RV bug! Good luck shopping! Larry and I held down the fort at our RV while they were out exploring.

Multi Chapter Rally ~ Marion NC

Multi Chapter Rally Report   April 28-May 2

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that the first Multi Chapter Rally was a huge success. Bryan and Jane Rose and Larry and Marilyn Forbes did a fine job of organizing the rally, arraigning tours, gathering door prizes, and setting up catered dinners. We are all thankful for their many, many hours of work.

Final tally was 85 rigs in attendance with 156 Escapees attending. Some members drove in while their rigs were being serviced, a few just drove in, some members bought NEW rigs, many shopped at Tom Johnson’s RV store with a 10% Skp discount, while others just browsed through the many RV’s on display. Chapters 3, 6, 15, 16, 20, 26, 27, 29, 36, 41, 42, and 51 were represented. Many members from the Solo’s and the Boomers were also there.
We had some new Escapee’s sign up as well as new members to local chapters. Chapter 20 had 15 rigs and 30 members present! Way to go!
Chapter Directors Denny and Susie Orr attended the rally and we were also fortunate to have many club VCR’s in attendance. The VCR’s present were: Bryan and Jane Rose, Larry and Marilyn Forbes, Bob and Betty Bear, Stan and Betty Bober, Tom and Mary Ann O’Bryant, Bob and Molly Pinner, Keith and Shirley Murphy, and John and Janie Sloane.

The Rally Park at Tom Johnson’s Camping Center was more than adequate for our needs. We all enjoyed having a full hook up, a very nice pavilion, super clean rest rooms, and a great little restaurant nearby. The Tom Johnson Café served many of us a great breakfast and at lunch time the onion rings were said to be legendary. The prices were very reasonable.
Chapter 20 was responsible for the parking. Phil Devonshire was in charge and he wants to thank Rudy Mager, Bob Iles, Ira Hanks, John Strasbaugh and Jack Mulhall for their assistance.

The weather for most of the week was outstanding, Sunrise over the campground was beautiful to see, if you were awake to view it!
Early arrivals had a good time catching up on news and going out to eat. Is that a surprise? The Biltmore Estate in Ashville was toured by a large group on Friday. The azalea and other flowers in bloom this time of year really added to the beauty of this day.
A Behind the Scenes tour was also available at the Biltmore Estate and got great reports by all. The spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway was visited by many as well. Friday evening Chapter 20 hosted a Pot Luck Dinner. There was a total of over 50 hungry Skps that attended. Saturday and Sunday evenings were highlighted with catered dinners and Tom Johnson supplied wonderful bon fires for us on both evenings as well. Happy Hours were well attended every evening. A 50/50 drawing for CARE was held during Saturday’s Happy Hour. Paul Reed won the 50/50 and donated his winnings back to CARE.  CARE’s share of the 50/50 was $164, so the total sent to CARE from the 50/50 was $328. A couple of sun catchers were sold for $8, so the total check sent to CARE was $336.

Crafters were not to be denied. A small group of quilters managed to find each other and work on some cutting and stitching. Sue Spahn taught a class on One Stroke Painting and everyone left with a completed project, either a wine holder or a visor. Patty Mulhall instructed an eager group on pin prick card making while Phil Devonshire shared his knowledge of making aluminum can spinners. A fun time was had by all.
There was also a presentation on Thursday evening about the Blue Ridge Parkway. Dan Brown, a former top executive of the National Park Service, supplied us with driving tips, places of interest, and some wonderful history of the parkway. Vendors from MASA, Magna Shade and Fantasy Tours were on site as well.

Monday arrived with some VERY HEAVY rain, our only bad weather day. Most everyone was able to find an umbrella or two in their rig and make it to the pavilion for coffee, doughnuts and hitch up hugs. Many people left as scheduled but there was a fair number that decided that departure could wait for a sunnier day.
On Sunday afternoon anyone interested in continuing the Multi Chapter Rally next year had a preliminary meeting. It was decided that there was enough interest to continue planning for next year. So on Sunday evening committees were formed, officers were elected and serious planning began. Janie Sloane coined the acronym of Skip ACRE (All Chapter Rally East). So, the Tom Johnson Rally park, Marion, NC. has been reserved for next year 2011. The same time frame too, being April 28 - May 2, 2011. Rumor has it that the Bear's (Betty and Bob) are going to do their famous Sausage Gravy and Biscuits next year at this Rally.....Oh boy, we can't wait!!! BEAR GRAVY!!! Should be a great time for sure!!! Stan Bober, webmaster has already been busy updating the Rally Info Site and adding pictures of this year’s rally. There will be more to come I am sure, so keep checking the website at: http://sites.google.com/site/rallyinfosite/ .
As with all Escapee events, it was the fellowship, the caring and sharing, the willing volunteers, and the Skip hugs that made this a special event. Every Skp that attended made the rally special in some way. Thanks to all that planned, contributed and attended. See you next year!

Pictures contributed by Bob and Molly Pinner, Jack Mulhall, and Phil Devonshire

February~March ~April

  Good friends, lots of eating, bluegrass music, crafts and more. We had a super time and we were very busy. We stayed at the Escapee’s Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale Alabama until March 20, 2010. We heard bluegrass music at the Plantation, at Wales West Campground, at The Biscuit King and at the Gulf Shores United Methodist Church. We thoroughly enjoyed each performance. We also went to an excellent stage production in Gulf Shores called Red Hot Hollywood. This featured song and dance from the early days of movies to the present. What a great show that was. Staying at the Plantation is so much fun because we have made so many good friends that travel through the park during the winter.

   Of course we went out to eat often, enjoying the seafood that the area offers. We also made a couple of visits down to Billy’s Seafood and bought shrimp that was freshly caught. What a treat. They boil it and ice it for you right here.

   Bryan’s son Matthew had a school project that he shared with us. We were asked to take Matthew’s shadow, Flat Matthew to a few places with us. We were asked to take a few pictures, write a short journal and send Flat Matthew back to school. What fun we had with that! After Flat Matthew had been to the train, the beach, the bayou (to see an alligator), a scooter ride, a visit with Flat Tony Stewart, a ride on the trolley, and finally to the Mississippi River bank in Natchez MS, we sent him back. We enjoyed that assignment.

   I continued to do beading projects, I also learned to do pin prick card embroidery, and silk ribbon embroidery. I will have to keep practicing these crafts at home so that I don’t forget how to do them. It is wonderful that everyone is willing to share their talents with others. While I kept busy Phil kept us with his walking every day. He has walked at least 450 miles this winter.

   Phil and I went to the computer group on Thursday morning of each week. We have fun with this group and usually learn a lot. Toward the end of our stay I was asked to do a presentation on using Picasa. Wow! I quickly brushed up on my Picasa skills and got permission to use a handout that I had gotten at a computer workshop earlier this year. I had fun presenting this workshop to over 30 people. The fact that the Park had bought a projector this year really made the presentation easier.

   My Tennessee friends, Pat and Nancy, were vacationing in Natchez and then over toward Tallahassee Florida. We met them in Mobile Alabama. We had a great lunch and then we toured Fairhope Alabama with them. It was great to see familiar faces.

   On March 20 we said good bye to all of our Alabama RV friends. Then traveled to the Chapter 26 Rally in Hattiesburg Mississippi. Here we spent a wonderful week with lots of music, campfires, games, crafts, and good eating. A fun time was had by all.

   Toward the end of March we headed toward Natchez Mississippi. This is the third spring that we have visited this beautiful city. We toured the antebellum homes of Melrose and Elms Court. Next we traveled up to Vicksburg and toured the museum, the battlefield and the city. This is also a lovely city and we had a good day.

   Finally in early April, spring seemed to be here at last! The azalea and the red bud trees have been late to blossom. We left Natchez and continued up the Natchez Trace Parkway until we reached Pat’s in Tennessee. The spring flowers and trees are beautiful and we enjoyed the Easter weekend here.

 

   We were planning on staying out until early May, but I felt my home calling to me. So, we will be leaving tomorrow for home. We have had a wonderful winter, although cool. We will be taking several trips to RV rallies throughout the spring and summer, but it is time for us to be home to see family and friends there.

  I am not sure when the next entry will be. Probably after our trip down to Marion NC the end of the month to the Eastern Multi Chapter Rally. Until then, stay safe and healthy. God bless you all.

Good Friends, Beading and Bears

Sorry to be so late with news. I have not posted because we really have had a pretty quiet winter. A good deal of the time we have been snuggled up in the RV, trying to keep warm. The first two weeks in northern GA were quite cold, as they were everywhere. We were running heat a lot. We did get out in the wonderful sunshine, when it was there. While we were trying to keep warm, I taught myself how to make the quilted Christmas ornaments. They were a challenge.

We visited with friends, went out to eat, saw a couple of movies, and so on....We saw AVATAR in 3-D. It was all that the media said it was. We also went to see SHERLOCK HOLMES and we were not as impressed with that flick. Our friends, Cathy and Larry, came down from South Carolina to visit on a weekend and we had a great time while they were there. Phil and 'the guys' went shopping at the tool stores a couple of days, so naturally 'the girls' went to lunch and shopping as well. Country Oaks remains one of our favorite places to be in the winter.

In February we headed to Alabama and back to the Escapee's Park in Summerdale Alabama. This is always like coming home because we have made so many wonderful RV friends here. Phil was busy for a while helping our friends Jon and Pat La Pointe insulate and sheetrock the ceiling of their shed. I was busy beading and building a teddy bear. He is sewn together by hand and his head, arms and legs are jointed.

Every year I try to learn something new here. There are always craft classes going on. I have worked with some people on their computers and we have gone out to eat A LOT. Of course, then there is always someplace to go to listen to Bluegrass Music as well. Last Sunday we were invited to go to the Gulf Shores UMC to hear Stained Glass Bluegrass. When we arrived (an hour before the performance) there was already a very large gathering waiting for the doors to open. They are able to seat about 750 people and Sunday was the fourth night that this event was sold out. Quite impressive. We really enjoyed the performance. Yesterday we traveled down to BILLY'S SEAFOOD and bought two pounds of jumbo shrimp, right off the boat. They even cook it for you. We came home and our friends Jean and Tom shared their Italian Pasta Salad with us while we all peeled and ate shrimp. It was a treat.
Spring comes early in this part of the country. We are eagerly looking forward to the wonderful displays of azalea and red bud trees. The good news is that there is no drought wherever we travel!
Phil is still walking about 5 miles each day. I am feeling fine and hope to stay that way! Next update will come toward the end of March, we will be on the road again at that time. We hope that this finds everyone well. God Bless until next time.
Cindy and Phil

December - January 2010

Well, we enjoyed our Christmas and New Year’s Eve at Bushnell FL. This is our table for Christmas dinner.

During the month we played cards often with Dave, Karen, Jean, and Tom. We got a bit rowdy quite often. We also had a great movie night and watched Australia.
We took off on a couple of afternoons and went to the Rails to Trails Of The Withlacoochee. This was a great trail that was paved over the railroad.

Dave and Jean were the walkers, Tom and Phil rode their bicycles and I took my scooter. The scenery was great and we did over a mile each day, that is two miles because of the return trip! Of course, afterwards we had to go to lunch, which kind of made it all a wash…
The biggest news of December 2009 and our best Christmas present of all was the news that our son, Craig was now home from his second tour in Afghanistan. He will be on terminal leave as of the end of March 2010, so he will not have to be away from his family again. Denise and the kids are really excited to have him home again.


On December 31st we were delighted to have Jim and Dottie McIntyre, friends from Rainbow Plantation, pull in. It was great to see them and do a quick catch up on their family news. Hopefully, they will get to the Plantation later this year.
 
On January 1 everyone got up early to wish us Godspeed on our way.

Karen and Dave Long


Tom and Jean Forney
We traveled through some very heavy rain as we traveled north to Kingsland GA. Shortly after we left Bushnell, we got off of the interstate to wait for about 30 minutes before the rain let up enough for us to travel on our way. We arrived at Country Oaks around 3:00 in the afternoon. We set up quickly and we were happy to see many of our friends from past years. At about five we traveled down a few sites to join everyone at Sid and Jeff’s Pub. It was great to see everyone again and to catch up on recent happenings.
We have been to the movies twice. The first time it was to see Avatar in 3-D. It was great, everything that the ads have said it would be. The second time we saw Sherlock Holmes. This movie was good as well, but not as outstanding as Avatar. We had beer and pizza afterwards, which made it all seem worthwhile!
It has been very cool here, as it is in most of the south. We have had several nights that were below freezing, but it the sun comes out it warms up nicely during the day. Here is a picture of some ice that has built up from the sprinkler system down the road from us, a real happening around here!

Phil is still walking every morning, he does about five miles each day. I get out and do a little bit each day, sometimes it is through Wal-Mart to do grocery shopping!
Other than that, things are pretty quiet. We are keeping busy and keeping warm. I’ll let you know soon when something exciting happens.

December 19th

Well, we were at the Skp Resort in Wauchula until Thursday December 17th. We enjoyed our time there and were happy to be able to visit with our Chapter 20 RV buddies, Joe and Monica Behun. We will not be seeing them again until July because they are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary by treating themselves with a trip back to England in the spring. We wish them safe travels and a wonderful time.

We were also able to visit with Lynn and Mary Lord and it was a pleasure to get to know them and their new puppy. The Resort is certainly a lovely park and very well maintained. We enjoyed watching new cement driveways being poured and trees being trimmed. They have a heated pool, shuffleboard and other ways to entertain yourself.

On Thursday we traveled back up to Sumter Oaks which is in Bushnell Florida. We met up with friends Dave and Karen Long and also Tom and Jean Forney. They are fun people and we enjoy visiting and playing cards with them. When we arrived at the park Dave and Tom were installing a new awning and of course Phil needed to lend a helping hand. There are donkeys next door and cranes that walk and fly around the park. They both have a very distinct call.

Well, yesterday we spent cleaning and decorating the rig for Christmas.

Today Phil loaded our CD changer with Christmas music and we are enjoying that as well.

We went up to the clubhouse to sing Christmas Carols around the bonfire Thursday evening and there will be a Yankee Gift Swap on Christmas Eve. That can get pretty lively. Then there is Christmas dinner on Friday and a Pot Luck Leftover dinner on Saturday.


Just an update on my health escapade in November. I have been monitoring both my Medicare and HOPS Insurance sites. SO FAR the cost is up to about $83,500 for the five day stay in the hospital with MANY tests. Part of that was a $15,600 flight in the helicopter! I am sure that there will be more bills coming in as well. So far, (said with fingers crossed) the costs for most everything seems to be covered by Medicare and my supplemental insurance. I will keep you posted on this! Phil has said that my ‘uplifting’ ride in the helicopter was my Christmas present!
Well, enough for now. I’ll post again when I have something interesting to report.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!!

November-December 2009

Here is a short version of our travels so far. When I have more time, I will add more detail.
 
After I was discharged from the hospital we made our way to Tennessee for a short visit with my friend Pat.
                  
She was heading north to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with her son Peter and family and we were heading south. We had a great visit and we were amazed at the work she has had done with her kitchen remodeling. She now has a cathedral ceiling which really makes  her  kitchen seem larger. The floor in the kitchen and the dining room have now  been reinforced and it is all lovely.

  



From there we took a slow drive down to South Carolina to visit with Cathy and Larry for Thanksgiving.

We took some nice day trips to the beach and also to the bead store, so I could shop! We had a fun afternoon making jewelry.

Wendy had a good time! She made her earrings and necklace.

 They have added a screen house to the back of their house and they are really happy with it.

Cathy and Larry are heading for a cruise in December. Enjoy!  

 
   


The next stop on our way was at the Escapee's Rainbow Park at  Bushnell  Florida.  We stayed here for a few days and Phil was able to wash the RV and repair my washer. Then we were good to go south again to Wauchula Florida to the Skp Resort. We met friends Monica and Joe Behun here as well as Lynn and Mary Lord.

 


We drove down to Englewood  to visit with our good friend and former neighbor, George Graham. We had not seen him for a couple of years and it was great to catch up on family news.


We left the RV in Wauchula and traveled  down  through the Florida Keys to Key West. We  stayed  there for three days  and did a lot of the typical tourist things. We had super weather and we had a great time and I posted about 150 photos on my Picasa Web album if you have time to look through them. We had to stop here, we cannot go any further south!

 
We were glad to get home to the RV. A couple of days in a motel and using public restrooms a lot reminds us why we like to travel with our home on wheels. We will be heading back to Bushnell Florida for the holidays before going just a bit north to Kingsland Georgia for the month of January.

I am feeling fine, but I did feel like I had been hit by a truck for a while. We are taking things slowly and we are stopping for me to get out and stretch my legs often while we are traveling. Phil put in quite a week as well. We have both been catching up on our rest.  Craig arrived home this morning, we are relieved knowing that he is out of Afghanistan for good.
If you want to check out the Picasa albums this is the link Picasa.

Merry Christmas to all. Have a safe, healthy, and wonderful New Year. 


November 18, 2009



We left home on Thursday and had a good trip to Bryan's. We enjoyed our trip to see John and Barb McDonnell on Friday and then the birthday party for Matthew and Emily on Saturday. 

On Sunday we headed merrily on our way south. We stopped for the night in Staunton VA at Camp Wal Mart.
.
After some fun people watching in the parking lot we had a light supper things went downhill FAST. I started having difficulty catching my breath, I tried lying down, but that did not work. Within less than an hour I realized I was in trouble. Phil took me to the closest ER but I was really breathing hard and gasping for breath by the time we were there. Phil said that my lips and hands and feet were blue by the time we were there. They were suspicious of a pulmonary embolism but they did a CAT scan and did not find one.

So.....they airlifted me by helicopter to University of Virginia Hospital CCC Unit. Since being here I have had ultrasounds, cardiac cath, multiple X-Rays, TONS of blood and urine tests......

They have NOT been able to make a definitive diagnosis. They have ruled out the pulmonary embolism, major heart attack. etc....They were thinking it was coronary arterial spasm, which is what I had 15 years ago. Problem is no one has an answer as to why this happened either then or now. They don't understand why this came on so quickly and also how I recovered so quickly. I am out of bed today and feeling and breathing better. However, I do kind of feel like I have been hit by a truck.

They poked and prodded me until Friday. They still do not have any answers. I was discharged with no changes in medication or restrictions. I will see my own doctor when we return home.

I will thank you all ahead of time for your prayers and your concerns. I will let you know when there is more news. Hopefully the next installment will be on a happier note! Both Phil and I send our love to all.