WINTER ROAD TRIP

"GRANNY THE GREAT"

Well, we hit the road again on December 23, headed for cold country. We made it into north Georgia (I was determined to get through Atlanta before anybody got out of bed) before stopping for the night. We went to bed about 2:30 A.M.; correction, I went to bed, Becky and the boys went back to bed. They had gone to bed after supper, about 9:00 P.M.

We got up around 8:00 A.M. and made it on into Knoxville before lunch time. We had a great Christmas eve with Becky's family. My sister and her granddaughter joined us, too.

Little Sis and Vonna

When I got up Christmas morning, I knew I was not in Florida anymore. It was 46 degrees in the motor home. I decided to turn up the heat to knock the chill out, but guess what! The furnace decided not to work. I crawled back under the blankets and took Rocket with me. His little teeth were chattering he was so cold. I think he is now appreciating the fact that he is a Florida dog.

I checked gas bottles, breakers, fuses, switches, and everything else I could think of. Then I got the electric heater out of the storage bay. We have an appointment at Camping World in St. Augustine at 10:00 A.M. Monday morning. When I talked to their service people on the telephone they said I had already done everything they could think of except change the thermostat. I guess that is where they will start.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all four of us to each and every one of you!!!! The boys are freshly groomed and we are off to the cold country for Christmas. Makes sense, doesn't it. Cut all their hair off and take them up north in the cold.

There Was Plenty to be Thankful for on Thanksgiving

ME, NANNY, AND THE KIDS

It was Thanksgiving, and time for another road trip. We loaded the boys in the motor home on Thanksgiving morning and headed for our Florida daughter's house. Our oldest son and his family and our oldest daughter and her youngsters made the trip down, too. Eight of our ten grandchildren were there.

We arrived just in time to see the last part of the neighborhood "Thanksgiving Day Parade." We had a great day of family mingling, eating, and watching football.

On Friday morning, we again fired up the motor home and travelled down the highway a bit to the KOA at Starke, FL. (Yes, that is right down the road from the penitentiary where Florida carries out their executions.) We met Becky's oldest brother and sister-in-law there and enjoyed the rest of the weekend catching up. They live in Ft. Walton Beach and we don't get to see them often. They have recently purchased an Airstream, the Cadillac of tow-behinds, and have been spending a lot of time making short trips with it in preparation for next summer. They have a thirty-day road trip planned and I would really like to be accompanying them.

Picking Up Their Rig

Ron was a Master Chief when he retired from the Air Force. He has worked for a defense contractor since then, but is getting ready to retire again. Jennifer says she is retired but Ron keeps telling her she has to have a regular income to be considered retired. He says she is just unemployed.

We had a great time visiting with them. There was no left-over turkey and dressing, either. We had steak and asparagus with Bernaise sauce one night and Jennifer fixed a "Beer-Butt" chicken on the grill on Saturday. We sampled a little wine, a little of "The Gentleman" from the hollow in Lynchburg, TN, and some strange and exotic stuff in a white bottle that smelled strangely like rum and coconuts.

We pulled out around 10:00 AM Sunday morning with intentions of stopping over in Daytona at Becky's favorite flea market. The closer we got to home, the worse the weather looked. I am extremely glad she decided to forgo the shopping so that we could get home before the worst of the storm hit.

By the time we got the motor home backed in the driveway and hooked up and settled down, we were under a tornado watch!!! We had a hale of a rainstorm, but the only tornado touched down about 45 miles south of us. I finally managed to get the motor home washed and Becky just bought a great big red bow to go on the front for our trip to Tennessee for Christmas. I have already called and told them to turn up the heat.

I Screwed Up Big Time

I have been remiss. I have been fussed at. I admit it. I have all but abandoned my blog. My apologies to those of you who expected to see something much sooner.

I got all primed for a beautiful night launch of Endeavour back on November 14. Our Florida daughter and her family made plans to join us for the launch. Becky and I took the motor home and snagged a wonderful parking place right on the banks of the Indian River, directly across from the Assembly Building where NASA mates the shuttle to the boosters and fuel tank. The shuttle itself was visible through the haze directly over the sail boat in the photo.

We had a great time visiting with neighbors and making new friends with others who had come to witness the launch. Many of them were from out-of-state and had never had the opportunity to experience this type of excitement. There was one especially nice couple from Lakeland who were accompanied by their son and daughter-in-law (or was it daughter and son-in-law? That is what I get for waiting so long to write this). At any rate, they live in the metropolitan D.C. area.

It was a beautiful night for a launch. Even the full moon came to watch!

I was all set to capture some award-winning photos. But this is where I screwed up. I forgot to take my nice expensive camera from the automatic settings. I got a few decent shots, but was really disappointed in the overall results. Hopefully I will get another chance before they shut the program down. The next launch is scheduled for February 12, 2009 but I don't think the time has been set yet. Here are a couple of the better ones I wound up with that night.

No, it isn't upside down. The shuttle has climbed above the moon.

Here the moon is reflecting in the Indian River. The bright spot in the middle is the result of my not setting the camera correctly.

As you can tell, the sequence starts from the bottom!

ANOTHER ROAD TRIP WEEKEND

It was hard to do, but we were finally able to schedule a weekend with our North Florida daughter's family when we would be able to attend both of the younger children's football games.

L. B. plays flag football on Saturday mornings, and his younger sister, K. B., is a cheerleader for another team in the local recreational league. On Saturday, October 11, his game was at 10:00 A.M. and hers at 1:30 P.M., allowing us time to take in both games.

L. B. had a super game. He plays center on offense most of the time, and on defense he usually plays end. He managed two "sacks" on the opposing quarterback in his team's first win of the season.

Get him, L. B.!!!

Little sister's cheering surely helped. Her team also won their game with K. B. and seven of her little friends cheering at the top of their lungs.

K. B. is the one in the middle

We got back to the house just in time to watch the Tennessee/Georgia game(No further comments warranted), then the Florida/Auburn game later that evening.

We must have kept the boys up late Saturday night, because they both slept on the couch with momma all the way home.

Whose Birthday Was It???????

Well, I hope Becky had a nice birthday. If she did, it was no thanks to me. I picked a rotten time to get rotten.

Her employees were good to her. They gave her some nice things, she got some beautiful flowers from both daughters, and of course we did manage to get her birthday present a little early. It seems he enjoyed her birthday balloons as much or more than she did.

DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS.........

Well, despite the best efforts of some members of the medical profession, I am still alive and kicking, just not too high yet.

I got a little ill on Friday, September 5. It was very inconsiderate of me considering it was Becky's birthday. No matter. We had planned to have a night out on Saturday to celebrate. But Saturday was no better. My trips to the potty room had increased in numbers. Becky even threatened to take me to the hospital on Saturday evening if I didn't slow down, especially since I now appeared to be passing blood.

On Sunday morning, around 6:30 a.m., I made a return trip to the little room. I tried to get to my recliner afterward but lost control of my motor functions. Becky knew when I asked her if she would mind to get up and take me to the hospital that I was really low by now.

I was admitted to Parrish Hospital in Titusville shortly after 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The next five days are a little fuzzy. I had numerous tests run, was maintained on a liquid diet, and fed constant doses of Dilaudid. (Might that account for some of the "fuzzy"?)

At one point it was Colitis, then E-Coli, then a blocked intestine, etc. Finally, after one of the specialists refused my Florida daughter's request that a CT Scan by done, my primary physician stepped in. He ordered the scan, which probably saved my life. The scan showed that my gall bladder was shot.

Now a new problem arose. The surgeon that was chosen to remove my gall bladder asked me how long I had suffered from a very rare blood disease that kept my blood from clotting. It seems that I had been diagnosed last year as having a "K Factor Deficiency". The thing that got me was that I had never been advised of the diagnosis.

Parrish Hospital had no means to deal with this problem, so they decided on Friday, September 12, to ship me off by ambulance to Florida Hospital South in Orlando. More doctors, more tests, and more decisions. It was decided that I did in deed have a dead gall bladder. There were signs of gangrene. Now I had the choice of surgery and bleeding to death or continuing the downward spiral with gangrene.

The Orlando medics spent the weekend pumping junk into my blood. By Monday, they decided it was safe enough and started poking holes in my mid section. God bless them each and every one. By Wednesday evening, I was ready to hit the road for home. I had my first real solid food in almost two weeks. I am not ready for the golf course or swimming pool just yet, but I am walking around the block with the boys and Becky.

Thank God for people (and dogs) that love you and some good medical professionals.