We have been quite busy for two weeks and I didn’t have time to write. We built shelves in two of Deb’s closets and sorted through a multitude of boxes while organizing her closets. It was good to be able to help her. We did spend one day in Franklin, Tennessee shopping in the stores and looking around. One evening we had the Sammon’s over and spent time in the pool and then had a spaghetti dinner. The kids had a great time in the water and we really enjoyed having them.
We visited my sister Mavis (near Dayton, Ohio) for the weekend. We got to see most of her family as well. It was a great visit. On Monday we moved on to Indiana and stayed with Coleen’s dad for the week. We visited our storage unit and added some additional items to it in order to make room for passengers in the van. We are still walking each morning and have increased our distance to over a mile. Coleen’s ankle is still sore and she still has pain each morning in her back and down her leg but there seems to be a little more improvement. We met Coleen’s brother, Lloyd (and Nick & Alec) for lunch in Anderson. We went to a birthday luncheon for June birthday’s, played euchre, got our special breaded tenderloins at Nick’s Kitchen and went to Ivanhoe’s in Upland.
Friday was a travel day. We drove from Warren, Indiana to St Louis. Bob checked into a hotel and Coleen went to the airport for a Southwest flight to Dallas. We drove through storms a number of times during the day and the flights were delayed. Coleen reached Dallas about 9:30 p.m. and was met by Phil, Susan, and James. There was a lot of travel and not much sleep. Friday night was very short because Coleen and James had a 7:00 a.m. flight back to St. Louis. James enjoyed seeing the “arch” as we were landing. They were at Bob’s hotel door at 9:00 a.m. Then we drove from St Louis to Branson. We checked into another timeshare and have two bedrooms but it is really two lock-off units since both have kitchens. James has one whole side to himself. I will write later after our two weeks here in Branson.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Berkshires #2 & Lots of riding!!!
Oh my, we checked into a resort at the top of the mountain. It had a switchback road up to the top. It is directly across from Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Massachusetts. It is about 4 miles from the New York border. Bob had to carry our things from the van, across a path, up two flights of stairs and then down to the very end of the hallway. He was rather exhausted. I sure hope he doesn’t have to do that too often. I continued to go to physical therapy for 3 days. We also worked on listening to another book tape. We had trouble with the temperature in the unit. They had a programmable thermostat and we sure couldn’t get it to work properly. We did enjoy a gas fire place and it was cool enough to use it. We needed light jackets most of the time. It also was rainy for most of the week.
I did some learning about my pain. It hurts more in the morning because there is no oxygen going to the muscle while I am sleeping. It tightens up and must have a nerve attached. My routine has become to put a heating pad on before I get out of bed, do my exercises and then take a hot shower. At night I do the exercises and then put on the heating pad. I have been doing this now for 3 weeks and am beginning to see some improvement. They said not to compare one day to the next but one week to the next. I also am still trying to walk very carefully and correctly so as not to favor my ankle with the torn ligament, which is still sore.
I baked some delicious whole wheat bread, banana bread, orange poppy seed cake and chocolate chip cookies. We took the bread with us to Bob’s brother’s house on Saturday May 24 in Northwood, New Hampshire. We stayed with Clif and Ann and Liz for 3 nights. Jared, Ally and Landon came on Sunday and we were treated to lobster and corn on the cob. The weather cooperated and we spent most of the time out on the deck for two days. It was a great visit and a good time to catch up.
We made an earlier trip back to Nashville because we got word from Deb that her house was broken into on Friday the 23rd. Not a fun time. Again the computer, camera, MP3 and this time all of her jewelry. We drove from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania (Barry’s) which was 450 miles on May 27th. The trip on Wednesday from Pennsylvania to Abingdon, Virginia was about 490 miles. On Thursday we drove from Abingdon to Deb’s in Antioch, Tennessee which was only 310 miles. I surely didn’t want back into the van again.
It was great to be back at Deb’s and give her some help. We stayed with her for two nights and then checked into the Wyndham Nashville on Saturday. The first anniversary card that we received was from my Dad. Thanks, Daddy. Debby had given us strict orders about Saturday night. We were to be cleaned up, dressed and ready to leave at 6 p.m. THEN, she added a little quirk and said that we might have company by 4:30. So we hurried. We were surprised by Coleen’s sister Mavis and her husband DeVon along with daughter-in-law Tina and granddaughter Alana. Deb took all of us to a lovely restaurant for our 40th wedding anniversary. We were joined there by three of Deb’s good friends and the Sammons – Mickey & Joan and Marc, Susannah & Ethan. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ellendales. We were truly surprised and feel very blessed to have everyone there. It is unbelievable that we have been married for 40 years. It has gone so quickly.
We did miss the rest of our family but Phil, Susan & James are in the middle of moving. They called on Sunday, June 1 which is our actual anniversary date. We also received a call from Coleen’s brother Eric. Thank you everyone. We attended church with Deb and actually took afternoon naps. We spent the evening at Marc & Susannah’s. Thank you, Lord, for good friends who actually seem like family.
I did some learning about my pain. It hurts more in the morning because there is no oxygen going to the muscle while I am sleeping. It tightens up and must have a nerve attached. My routine has become to put a heating pad on before I get out of bed, do my exercises and then take a hot shower. At night I do the exercises and then put on the heating pad. I have been doing this now for 3 weeks and am beginning to see some improvement. They said not to compare one day to the next but one week to the next. I also am still trying to walk very carefully and correctly so as not to favor my ankle with the torn ligament, which is still sore.
I baked some delicious whole wheat bread, banana bread, orange poppy seed cake and chocolate chip cookies. We took the bread with us to Bob’s brother’s house on Saturday May 24 in Northwood, New Hampshire. We stayed with Clif and Ann and Liz for 3 nights. Jared, Ally and Landon came on Sunday and we were treated to lobster and corn on the cob. The weather cooperated and we spent most of the time out on the deck for two days. It was a great visit and a good time to catch up.
We made an earlier trip back to Nashville because we got word from Deb that her house was broken into on Friday the 23rd. Not a fun time. Again the computer, camera, MP3 and this time all of her jewelry. We drove from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania (Barry’s) which was 450 miles on May 27th. The trip on Wednesday from Pennsylvania to Abingdon, Virginia was about 490 miles. On Thursday we drove from Abingdon to Deb’s in Antioch, Tennessee which was only 310 miles. I surely didn’t want back into the van again.
It was great to be back at Deb’s and give her some help. We stayed with her for two nights and then checked into the Wyndham Nashville on Saturday. The first anniversary card that we received was from my Dad. Thanks, Daddy. Debby had given us strict orders about Saturday night. We were to be cleaned up, dressed and ready to leave at 6 p.m. THEN, she added a little quirk and said that we might have company by 4:30. So we hurried. We were surprised by Coleen’s sister Mavis and her husband DeVon along with daughter-in-law Tina and granddaughter Alana. Deb took all of us to a lovely restaurant for our 40th wedding anniversary. We were joined there by three of Deb’s good friends and the Sammons – Mickey & Joan and Marc, Susannah & Ethan. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ellendales. We were truly surprised and feel very blessed to have everyone there. It is unbelievable that we have been married for 40 years. It has gone so quickly.
We did miss the rest of our family but Phil, Susan & James are in the middle of moving. They called on Sunday, June 1 which is our actual anniversary date. We also received a call from Coleen’s brother Eric. Thank you everyone. We attended church with Deb and actually took afternoon naps. We spent the evening at Marc & Susannah’s. Thank you, Lord, for good friends who actually seem like family.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
First Berkshire Week
Our Sunday spent with Brent and Christine was actually Mother’s Day. They surprised me with a small gift of note cards with pictures that Brent had taken. They are very nice. But the biggest surprise was the roses that I received on Friday when we checked into the timeshare in Lenox. Debby had sent me a bouquet of beautiful long stem roses. There were 24 and I counted 2 white, 5 pink, 8 peach and 9 red. They came with a vase and I was able to enjoy them the entire week.
Monday I was able to get an appointment with a physical therapist and will be able to go for six sessions these two weeks, each Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The pain running down my leg is better at times and then at other times not so great. I am trying to walk exactly correctly but that is also quite hard because my ankle still hurts. This is severely cramping our hiking, walking and touring. Bob is very patient and only wanting me to do what I can without exhausting myself. I think there is a little self preservation in there because I am at times very grouchy and no fun.
We did go grocery shopping and stopped at Joann Fabrics for the rings & cording that I needed for my backpack purse. I was able to complete the Christmas ornaments for 2008, made a surprise for our new grandniece Maggie (a classic Pooh pillow and book), mended a couple of more items and then constructed my purse. The pattern was a little lacking at a couple of points in the directions but I really enjoyed it and will enjoy using it. I can hardly wait to make another one.
The kitchen area in this resort was a little challenging but we managed. There was virtually no counter space. They also had the glasses stored above a dry bar area but it was up two steps from the living dining kitchen area. We moved some of them into the cabinets above the sink. We had some rain a couple of days but we were able to take a walk around the resort on a nice sunny day.
We had to check out of the Ponds on Friday so we used some of our Wyndham points to book 3 nights at Bentley Brook, which is right at Jiminy Peak ski area. This helped us so that we did not have to spend 6 hours waiting around and also stay at a hotel. Bob brought everything in from the van and on Friday I spent the day repacking. We need to leave some things in storage and I really needed to sort and repack those items. We also must make sure we have room to put a seat up in the van for our passenger, the first of which will be James in June. I think I have is figured out now Bob just needs to figure out how to arrange everything. What a challenge. Until next week, God bless.
Monday I was able to get an appointment with a physical therapist and will be able to go for six sessions these two weeks, each Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The pain running down my leg is better at times and then at other times not so great. I am trying to walk exactly correctly but that is also quite hard because my ankle still hurts. This is severely cramping our hiking, walking and touring. Bob is very patient and only wanting me to do what I can without exhausting myself. I think there is a little self preservation in there because I am at times very grouchy and no fun.We did go grocery shopping and stopped at Joann Fabrics for the rings & cording that I needed for my backpack purse. I was able to complete the Christmas ornaments for 2008, made a surprise for our new grandniece Maggie (a classic Pooh pillow and book), mended a couple of more items and then constructed my purse. The pattern was a little lacking at a couple of points in the directions but I really enjoyed it and will enjoy using it. I can hardly wait to make another one.
The kitchen area in this resort was a little challenging but we managed. There was virtually no counter space. They also had the glasses stored above a dry bar area but it was up two steps from the living dining kitchen area. We moved some of them into the cabinets above the sink. We had some rain a couple of days but we were able to take a walk around the resort on a nice sunny day.
We had to check out of the Ponds on Friday so we used some of our Wyndham points to book 3 nights at Bentley Brook, which is right at Jiminy Peak ski area. This helped us so that we did not have to spend 6 hours waiting around and also stay at a hotel. Bob brought everything in from the van and on Friday I spent the day repacking. We need to leave some things in storage and I really needed to sort and repack those items. We also must make sure we have room to put a seat up in the van for our passenger, the first of which will be James in June. I think I have is figured out now Bob just needs to figure out how to arrange everything. What a challenge. Until next week, God bless.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tiny Baby, Back Pain & Spring, Spring, Spring
We traveled on Saturday from Williamsburg to Downingtown, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia) to visit with Bob’s brother Barry and his wife Karen. We found out about an hour before we got there that their daughter Sara had delivered Margaret June Daley on May 1, a 26 week baby who weighed 1 pound 9 ounces. Things are going well even as I write this. It was just a hectic and very scary time. They are calling her Maggie and she is a tiny miracle. We are so excited for Sara and Dan and continue to pray for health and growth for Maggie.
We had a good visit each evening with Karen and Barry and actually just hung around during the day while they were working. We took a couple of drives but Coleen was up early each day with pain down her leg so we went one day to the doctor. That in itself was an event. We are still learning about our insurance which changed while we were overseas. We have spent 2 months just trying to get our insurance cards. Of course they have to be mailed to our Texas address. They finally came last week and Phil will send them on to us. What we did find out is that since Coleen has been favoring her left leg because of her torn ankle ligament it has caused more stress on her sciatic. She wakes early each morning and in order to relieve the pain has to walk. That seemed to be acceptable until she spent two hours in the middle of the night walking and then she decided that something had to change. She is on some medicine and the pain has been relieved a little. Of course treatment is more complex because we move each week. She will start some physical therapy soon since we will be in western Massachusetts for 2 weeks.
We left Pennsylvania on Friday and drove to Lenox, Massachusetts. We enjoy this area of the Berkshires. The real fun is still watching spring because we are moving north and spring just seems to continue on and on. We are seeing tulips, daffodils, blossoming apple trees, forsythia, lilacs, etc. All of the trees are just leafing out. The weather is still cool most of the time but quite comfortable. Saturday we did our grocery shopping and then Sunday (Mother’s Day) drove to Stow, Massachusetts to see Bob’s nephew Brent and his wife Christine. We were also excited to see Karen’s parents, Kurt and Pat. We spent a nice evening visiting with the four of them.
We had a good visit each evening with Karen and Barry and actually just hung around during the day while they were working. We took a couple of drives but Coleen was up early each day with pain down her leg so we went one day to the doctor. That in itself was an event. We are still learning about our insurance which changed while we were overseas. We have spent 2 months just trying to get our insurance cards. Of course they have to be mailed to our Texas address. They finally came last week and Phil will send them on to us. What we did find out is that since Coleen has been favoring her left leg because of her torn ankle ligament it has caused more stress on her sciatic. She wakes early each morning and in order to relieve the pain has to walk. That seemed to be acceptable until she spent two hours in the middle of the night walking and then she decided that something had to change. She is on some medicine and the pain has been relieved a little. Of course treatment is more complex because we move each week. She will start some physical therapy soon since we will be in western Massachusetts for 2 weeks.
We left Pennsylvania on Friday and drove to Lenox, Massachusetts. We enjoy this area of the Berkshires. The real fun is still watching spring because we are moving north and spring just seems to continue on and on. We are seeing tulips, daffodils, blossoming apple trees, forsythia, lilacs, etc. All of the trees are just leafing out. The weather is still cool most of the time but quite comfortable. Saturday we did our grocery shopping and then Sunday (Mother’s Day) drove to Stow, Massachusetts to see Bob’s nephew Brent and his wife Christine. We were also excited to see Karen’s parents, Kurt and Pat. We spent a nice evening visiting with the four of them.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Williamsburg, Virginia
We spent six nights in Williamsburg staying at Wyndham Governors Green. We stayed in a two bedroom unit so we had lots of space. Coleen spent a little more time in the kitchen and made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Boy, were they good. She also tried a new bread recipe made only with spelt flour. It has some oatmeal and molasses and we also liked it. We checked out the scrapbook store and then the bike store that was next door. Since our bikes had been smashed in the accident before we went overseas (Nov 04) we wanted to look at some new ones. AND we bought two bicycles. Coleen thinks they fit extremely peculiar on the bike rack but they didn’t fall off. We even got helmets. We didn’t get a chance to ride them since we spent two days seeing things in Colonial Williamsburg. And, yes we overdid because it really threw Coleen’s ankle and leg into extreme soreness and pain. We did see a lot and enjoyed quite a few of the dialogues that they do throughout the area. We even ate at the King’s Arms Tavern which is one of our favorites. Friday was a complete down day as Coleen stayed off of her feet. We are still enjoying the spring flowers and the blossoming trees as we travel to each area. We have not had a spring like this for years. We left early on Saturday to drive to suburban Philadelphia to visit Bob’s brother, Barry and his wife Karen.
We are using our GPS in the van and it is quite fun. We laugh as “she” tells us to prepare to turn, make a right turn, make a sharp turn, go straight, etc. What is really fun is to let the system plot the way and then we deviate and go our own way. Usually then it recalculates and gets back on track. The other thing Coleen learned to do was copy our CD’s with music onto the van’s computer. Once we have them all copied then we won’t need to carry our CD’s with us. We also enjoy listening to books as we travel down the road and are listening to Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum right now. We have already finished three other books since we started. We thank Debby for loaning these to us.
We are using our GPS in the van and it is quite fun. We laugh as “she” tells us to prepare to turn, make a right turn, make a sharp turn, go straight, etc. What is really fun is to let the system plot the way and then we deviate and go our own way. Usually then it recalculates and gets back on track. The other thing Coleen learned to do was copy our CD’s with music onto the van’s computer. Once we have them all copied then we won’t need to carry our CD’s with us. We also enjoy listening to books as we travel down the road and are listening to Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum right now. We have already finished three other books since we started. We thank Debby for loaning these to us.
Monday, April 28, 2008
New Bern, North Carolina
Oh, another week with a couple of really important highlights. We stayed at Waterwood Townhouses at Fairfield Harbour near New Bern, North Carolina. It is about a 45 mile drive to the Atlantic from there. The drive from the mountains was mainly inter-state and was quick but not as quick as Coleen would like. We stayed in a pedestal type building again so Bob had to carry everything upstairs. He sure is getting his exercise and building muscles. The first couple of days it rained and we just chilled out. We left our picture print order at Wal-Mart on Sunday night and anxiously awaited the receipt of the pictures on Wednesday so that we could begin to scrapbook (1). Next to sewing that was the other thing that Coleen was really looking forward to doing. We did not have the supplies to scrapbook in Thailand. And so we did begin on Wednesday and are having lots of fun. It is going to take quite a long time to get three years worth into our scrapbooks but we will enjoy doing it.
I also really enjoyed the opportunity of baking (2) bread. Even though it is not exactly what we ought to be eating, we needed that after having no oven for three years. Actually it is a joy to cook again. With just a two burner electric hotplate my cooking was limited while we were overseas. Now I can really enjoy fixing a healthy meal as well as a few sweets now and then.
We took a trip to Morehead City stopping first at Fort Macon which is a North Carolina State Park now. The fort has been renovated and had excellent audio shows as well as dioramas. It was very educational. We then went into Morehead City for lunch and found a restaurant called Sanitary. We had eaten there about three years ago and ohhh what good seafood (3), something else we haven’t had for a long time. We had clam strips and scallops. They were cooked perfectly and just melted in your mouth.
The weather has been perfect the last part of the week, sun shining and in the 70’s. Friday night we went to the civic theater in New Bern and saw On Golden Pond. We have always enjoyed community theaters and have seen many good plays over the years. One day we walked around both of the large ponds at the timeshare. Each day Coleen’s ankle seems to improve and get a little stronger. No running yet though. We had purchased some DVD’s from The Teaching Company and are beginning to watch the second half of our lessons on A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts. We also each finished a small scrapbook and now are ready to start the big ones.
I also really enjoyed the opportunity of baking (2) bread. Even though it is not exactly what we ought to be eating, we needed that after having no oven for three years. Actually it is a joy to cook again. With just a two burner electric hotplate my cooking was limited while we were overseas. Now I can really enjoy fixing a healthy meal as well as a few sweets now and then.
We took a trip to Morehead City stopping first at Fort Macon which is a North Carolina State Park now. The fort has been renovated and had excellent audio shows as well as dioramas. It was very educational. We then went into Morehead City for lunch and found a restaurant called Sanitary. We had eaten there about three years ago and ohhh what good seafood (3), something else we haven’t had for a long time. We had clam strips and scallops. They were cooked perfectly and just melted in your mouth.
The weather has been perfect the last part of the week, sun shining and in the 70’s. Friday night we went to the civic theater in New Bern and saw On Golden Pond. We have always enjoyed community theaters and have seen many good plays over the years. One day we walked around both of the large ponds at the timeshare. Each day Coleen’s ankle seems to improve and get a little stronger. No running yet though. We had purchased some DVD’s from The Teaching Company and are beginning to watch the second half of our lessons on A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts. We also each finished a small scrapbook and now are ready to start the big ones.
Monday, April 21, 2008
North Carolina Mountains
What a great fun week we have just had. We only had 121 miles to drive from Gatlinburg to Lake Lure, North Carolina so we went through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park into North Carolina. We stopped at the summit and state line for pictures. It was almost 20 degrees cooler at the top. The drive took us about 4 hours as it was hilly and windy roads but it was very pretty and fun. We are really enjoying the spring flowers.
We stayed in a resort area around Lake Lure in the mountains. Our unit was on three different levels and fun to be in. Coleen was so excited to actually have her sewing machine out and be able to sew once again. She did all of the mending and then on Tuesday made a quilted cover for a scrapbook tote bag. She and Debby purchased this tote at Sam’s in Nashville and it was full of items to scrapbook. It had no cover so on the way to Gatlinburg we had stopped at a quilt shop and bought fabric for the cover. In less than 12 hours the cover was made and is on the tote. I wonder what the next project will be.
On Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate. We have wanted to visit here for many years but just haven’t been close enough to do it. We left early and arrived right after they opened at 8:30. It was only about an hour’s drive. We rented the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 62 rooms of the house. I believe there are a total of 68 bedrooms. There is a swimming pool, bowling alley, library, pool room, smoking room and many others. We finished the house tour about 11:30 and then ate our lunch in the Stable Café. We had corn chowder and shared a sampler plate of roasted chicken, barbecued ribs and pulled pork barbecue. It was absolutely awesome. We toured the formal gardens which were full of tulips and listened to music by four harpists. The winery tour was simple and similar to many others.
We spent some time exploring the area. There was a nice big grocery close by and we ate a “birthday” lunch at a restaurant called Point of View. Bob’s birthday was on Thursday. We listened to a book tape, did cross-stitch and spent time on the internet getting all of our email addresses changed so that we can cancel our att emails. Saturday was an all day NCIS marathon so that was our restful day.
We stayed in a resort area around Lake Lure in the mountains. Our unit was on three different levels and fun to be in. Coleen was so excited to actually have her sewing machine out and be able to sew once again. She did all of the mending and then on Tuesday made a quilted cover for a scrapbook tote bag. She and Debby purchased this tote at Sam’s in Nashville and it was full of items to scrapbook. It had no cover so on the way to Gatlinburg we had stopped at a quilt shop and bought fabric for the cover. In less than 12 hours the cover was made and is on the tote. I wonder what the next project will be.
On Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate. We have wanted to visit here for many years but just haven’t been close enough to do it. We left early and arrived right after they opened at 8:30. It was only about an hour’s drive. We rented the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 62 rooms of the house. I believe there are a total of 68 bedrooms. There is a swimming pool, bowling alley, library, pool room, smoking room and many others. We finished the house tour about 11:30 and then ate our lunch in the Stable Café. We had corn chowder and shared a sampler plate of roasted chicken, barbecued ribs and pulled pork barbecue. It was absolutely awesome. We toured the formal gardens which were full of tulips and listened to music by four harpists. The winery tour was simple and similar to many others.
We spent some time exploring the area. There was a nice big grocery close by and we ate a “birthday” lunch at a restaurant called Point of View. Bob’s birthday was on Thursday. We listened to a book tape, did cross-stitch and spent time on the internet getting all of our email addresses changed so that we can cancel our att emails. Saturday was an all day NCIS marathon so that was our restful day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
