More about Texas...

One of the bad things about not posting for three months, and now being on the road again is what should I talk about?  Our experiences in Texas or where we are now?  I do want to share a few of our experiences in Texas.  I could continue to go on and on about the friends we met at Sea Winds.  All very amazing people.  Among those are the Bynums.

While at Sea Winds, we were invited to the home of Henry and Joyce Bynum.  Henry is a big game hunter.  Joyce is a big game hunter's "widow" as Henry is gone many times out of the country to follow his sport.  The Bynums have been involved with oil wells for years so no shortage of funds there.  When we got to the house, I was struck at how unpretentious is was - a single story ranch that looked much bigger on the inside than the outside.  We were invited into the Henry's display room where there must have been at least a couple hundred exotic animals mounted.  I am not a fan of hunting animals for sport, but after listening to Henry describe what he does, I was impressed.

There are certain rules he must follow.  Each country has fees that hunters must pay.  Those fees are not small.  The kill must be an older male.  The fees are quite steep, but the money goes to support the people in the villages in the area where the kill was made.  The meat of the kill also goes to the people of the nearby villages.  The hunter, of course, is interested in the hide or the animal mounted.  I couldn't help myself.  I started adding up all the expenses for travel, equipment, guides, fees, mounting etc.  That's a lot of money!

I was also struck by how down to earth Henry and Joyce are.  They are both in their 70's, and he is still quite active as a big game hunter while Joyce holds down the fort at home.  They were both quite easy to talk to and enjoyed a good story or two.  Henry told us about a time he was with a group hunting in Africa.  He had to use the "outhouse" and proceeded to walk a ways from the Land Rover without his gun.  As he was relieving himself, a huge lioness slowly stood up in the deep grass around Henry.  He told us he'd never been so scared. He had no gun as he'd left it back at the Rover - only a knife.  He told us he was sure this was how he was going to die, but slowly reached for his knife and backed away from the lioness.  As he slowly, very slowly, backed up other lions stood up.  He made it back to the Rover without any of them charging and to this day Henry has no idea why he is still alive after that experience.

Below are some of the pictures of his displays....  Notice many of the mountings are done with the animal's mouth open showing huge teeth and jaws.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  There's elephant  soul in there.

I don't think the size of the animal is most frightening.  I think the size of the teeth and jaws are!

This is just one wing of his display room.

Henry calls this his swamp monkey.  That's as technical as he gets.

If you look closely at the swamp monkey above, you can see his eyes, nose and a bit of its mouth... and of course its teeth.  It looks to me that the monkey's face is on its backside.  The top knot of hair looks like a tail to me.

We saw a few wild pigs in the fields around the campground that looked like this.

Kitty, kitty...

This final picture is of an elephant's skull.  Henry doesn't have many skulls on site, but this was most interesting as a close-up shows the single bullet hole above the eye sockets that felled the elephant as it charged Henry directly.  The picture of the elephant's eye above is that same elephant...  and Henry said the lion story was the time he was most scared...





We spent about two hours with Henry and his wife, wandering the huge display room, sitting and listening to Henry's stories and sipping a glass of wine.  We left having acquired new friends and yet another very unique experience.

As I write this entry, we are traveling west through New Mexico.  Sadly, we can't stop or stay as we are due in Arizona at friends.  We hope to spend more time next year on our next lap around the U.S.  It seemed like it took forever to get out of Texas.  We were able to see one area of the state with mountains, and as we headed toward Las Cruces, NM, we again experienced the winds we've come to know in Texas and New Mexico.  Sixty mph wind gusts caused us to tuck in the slides and hunker down in a Walmart parking lot.  I do want to say how much we appreciate most Walmarts welcoming overnight RVer's.  When we are just stopping for the night, it makes sense to park in a parking lot to dry camp.  We provisioned this a.m. are are on our way.

Time to Say Goodby... Time to Journey On...

Over the last two months, it's been my choice not to make entry in our blog.  I've missed writing, but I had some healing to do, and I did not want that to be the central theme of this blog.  It's time to get back in touch.  Gradually, I'd like to share our experiences over the last two months and those we anticipate having as we continue our travels.

As year two of our adventures in the Whale gets underway, it's time to say good-by to Sea Winds, South Texas and all the incredible friends we have made in the last three months.  When we first came to Riviera, TX it was with the intent of regrouping and healing.  I planned to walk long walks alone, work on my courses for Ball State, and contemplate the life changing events of the fall of 2013.  It's hard to put into words what really happened.  We were immediately drawn into the camaraderie of the community at Sea Winds RV Park.  These are Winter Texans - some returning to Sea Winds year after year from all over the U.S.  As a whole, this winter community is quite possibly the most active group of people we have ever been around.  Jerry and I are not joiners.  We've spent our professional lives socializing with a very small group of close friends and family.  We enjoy the time with just the two of us, but we decided once at Sea Winds to explore the possibilities and found ourselves participating in morning coffees, game nights, and Saturday breakfasts as well as fishing and some volunteer work.  The more we got involved, the more we enjoyed the company of a wide range of new friends who would all like us to visit soon.  Oklahoma, Maine, Utah, Minnesota and Canada are just a few of the places our new friends are from.  We could spend a lifetime visiting and probably will.

It will be bittersweet to leave here...  Sad to leave dear friends but excited to start our travels again.  Maybe it's not so hard to described what's happened here.   We realized the importance of each day being lived to capacity, and the precious laughter that comes with good friends who enjoy each other's company without judgement.  Long walks, "field trips" to explore the area and its history, and many projects have all helped to push away those demons that often stalk a person who has faced their own mortality.  How is it possible to be consumed by what could have been when a person is having so much fun?  I am deeply grateful to Steve and Fran, who told us about Sea Wind last fall when we met them at the Elkhart Campground.  I'm a bit amazed when I think of the chain of events that led us here.  Chance?  I don't believe so.

I look forward to sharing some of our experiences in south Texas and Mexico very soon.

Christmas in Riviera, Texas

Merry Christmas to all!  

I thought I would take a few quiet minutes to post.  After our extended stay in Red Bay and a few stops along the way, we traveled to Sea Wind RV Park in Riviera, TX south of Corpus Christi.  The park is on Baffin Bay and is somewhat isolated.  Before we actually found the park, we were diverted by the GPS to this little road.  I thought the Whale was going cross country.

We could tell right away this park is different from others we have stayed in.  People from all over the county stay here for 2-3 months during winter and are very proud of the welcoming culture of people in the park.  In fact, we met Steve and Fran while still in Elkhart, and they were the ones to recommend we come and stay for while.  We plan to do just that.  We've never gotten too involved in a park's activity schedule because we have not felt this welcomed, and of course, we often do not stay very long.  There's lots to do here.  A person can be as involved or not involved as they want.  No pressure.

The sites are sparse, but wide apart. Mesquite trees are the going fare for foliage and of course cacti some of which are just getting ready to bloom.  Since I took the picture of our site the first day, we have settled in and are quite comfortable.  The biggest battle we have are with the sand spurs.  Maci gets the brunt of those as she gets them stuck in the pads of her feet from time to time.  It doesn't seem to slow her up much.

As you can see, the overall countryside is a bit stark at first glance, but I've come to realize that every place has it's beauty.  I'm in the process of looking for that here...

Jerry has been fishing twice since we arrived.  The bay is too rough most days for our little boat, but a small group of guys with larger boats have invited him to join in.  Black Drum fish is the going fare here, and we have already enjoyed fish for dinner a couple of times.  They also have a skeet shooting range across the pond.  Jerry's in heaven as fishing and shooting are two of this favorite things to do.

My focus while here is healing.  To that end, I'm spending time preparing three different on-line courses for second semester, and I'm walking, walking, walking.  My goal is to walk at least five miles a day.  Lots of room to roam in this location.  

I've also been practicing my flute, playing guitar and plan to pull out my spinning wheel after the holidays.  Being able to go from one thing I love to the next all day long is the best part of retirement.  The flute has been an interesting journey.  At first I had to make sure all the windows were closed as I sounded that bad.  Over time, like anything when you practice, it's better, but Jerry tells me I'm not quite ready for a flute festival just yet.  Maci, the dog, is not fond of the flute.  Must hurt here ears as she shakes her head periodically when I'm playing.

Over the Christmas holiday, we have been blessed with a visit from our dear friends John and Sueann from Elkhart.  They arrived Christmas Eve and will be here until the day after Christmas.  With them are their South Korean daughter, Ji and her sister Julia.  Both are delightful young ladies who are studying here in the States.  Ji is a freshman in college, and her sister is a sophomore in high school.  They are fortunate to travel with John and Sueann, and we are fortunate to be able to spend this time with them.

I will say, the Christmas holidays are still very difficult for me when we are not with one or the other of our kids.  Being with such a welcoming group in the park and having our friends here has certainly helped to fill that void.  

Jerry and I wish anyone and everyone who reads this blog the most blessed holiday and a new year full of all that you wish for!

I still have a lot to learn...

I've long since realized this journey Jerry and I are on is not all about beautiful scenery and great restaurants.  I still have a lot to learn about being a good person.   We pulled our overnight in a Walmart parking lot in Lafayette, Louisiana last night.  Those large parking lots are entertaining sometimes so we left the shades up for a while as it turned dark.  While we were talking, there was a knock on the door.  This is highly unusual in the Walmart  parking lot as visitors don't usually come calling, and we had already checked in with the security guard.  As I was whispering, "Don't open the door," Jerry opened the door.  A lone man was there and he said, "Sir, I just ran out of gas.  Might you be able to help me?  I'm not a bum sir."  Jerry looked back at me, reached in his pocket and handed the man a five dollar bill.  "Here you go sir.  I hope this helps a little."  The man thanked Jerry and walked toward the street.  Jerry's response to me...  "Sometimes you just have to follow your gut level feeling."

After 33 years of marriage, my husband never ceases to amaze me.  So cautious and inclined to survivalist tendencies, somehow he knew that was the right thing to do.  No matter what the gentleman actually did with the money, Jerry held up his end of the "deal" to be a good human being and do the right thing.

I wonder if one can grow that kind of instinct? No pictures are available of this interaction as I think I was hiding behind the front seat...

Headed South...

After leaving Elkhart on November 11, we stayed in Indy to get our (hopefully) last dose of blowing snow.  Traveling south, we spent two days in Mammouth Cave National Park.   We stayed there last year and could not go on any of the tours due to my bad knee.  This year, I was determined to see the cave.  We chose the shortest, least strenuous tour.  I thought we would walk out of the Visitor Center and into the cave entrance, but getting to the cave entrance involved a bus ride a few miles from the Visitor Center.

Caves are incredible!  I was surprised that the air in the cave was not damp or stagnate smelling.  Our guide explained the cave "breathes" every 18-24 hours.  Stale air out, fresh air in.  Of all things, we met a new bug - a cave cricket.  The cave cricket, according to our guide, is the only cricket in the world that does not make a sound.  No chirping.

After touring the Wind Cave last summer, I expected this guide to do the lights out demonstration.  I was not disappointed.  When many of these caves were discovered initially, candles were the only form of lighting the way.  Blow out the candle, and you have deep darkness.  You can't even see your hand in front of your face.  Even more disturbing is the silence.  Our guide was able to get the group to be totally silent for a few minutes, and after awhile I had to really work at not making noise.  My ears rang in the silence.  People who have been lost in caves and found tell stories about talking, shouting and singing to themselves because the silence even more than the darkness was so disturbing.

Our tour lasted a little over an hour, but there are other more strenuous tours available including one of six hours where you are a spelunker crawling between very tight places in the formations.

 Unlike the Wind Cave in South Dakota, Mammouth Cave has constant water dripping.  The stalactites and stalagmites take hundreds of years to form as in the pictures below.

Early explorers and visitors to the cave were not as conservation-minded as we try to be now.  Visitors would just break off pieces of the formations for souvenirs.  Fortunately, that was stopped early on, or there would be no formations to look at.

Reluctantly, we left Mammouth Cave and headed for our annual trek to Red Bay, Alabama.  The Whale engine and generator were in need of maintenance, and we initially had a short list of up-dates and repairs.  Our stay in Red Bay lasted three weeks and a day.  Tiffin has stopped taking any appointments for service.  First come, first served.  We started in an express bay after waiting a week to get in.  In express, we get three hours of service to complete as much as possible.  We actually would have been done after that if someone hadn't spotted our sagging ceiling.  I hadn't noticed it, but Jerry had.  The technician checked it out, and told us it would just get worse.  We needed to be scheduled into a regular bay to get this fixed - a two day job and most have to stay in a hotel while the glue dries.  When we finally were able to get into a regular work bay, our technician worked the job so we didn't have to be in a hotel.  It's worth going to Red Bay for maintenance as the techs know our Whale, and they are so great at working with you to minimize the hassle.

The best part of Red Bay this trip was meeting Cathy and RJ.  They were parked across from us, and right away we started talking back and forth.  What a great couple!  We compared stories of traveling and things we have had done to our motor homes in addition to like hobbies and interests.  We hope to see them again when we pass through Arizona this spring.

We also met Theresa and Dwayne.  They have full-timed for 11 years, and their MH is also that old.  Dwayne is a distributer for a company that makes Native American flutes.  He always has a pocket flute hanging around his neck.  I love the soulful sound of the flutes, and started thinking how playing one could help build lung capacity.  I'm now the proud owner of two flutes. Something new to learn...

Finally, our maintenance was completed yesterday, December 11, and one month after leaving Elkhart, we are on the road headed south.  Currently, we are driving the Natchez Trace headed to Jackson, MS.  The Trace is beautiful even this time of year.  We stayed last night in Jeff Bigsby Campground at mile marker 193.1 - one of three free campgrounds on the Trace.  The sites are primitive in that there are no hook-ups, but most of the spots are pull-throughs with enough room for a big rig.  At below freezing temperatures, we had our pick of spots.

This morning was clear with a promise of a great day's drive.   Soon....

On the Road Again!

So cancer diagnosis is not always an exact science...  The lung cancer was cut and dried.  At very early stage one, surgery to remove the lower lobe of my left lung is the only treatment required at this time.  The initial lymphoma diagnosis was questioned by the first pathologist.  So the slides of the lymph node were sent to Johns Hopkins who said no lymphoma.  Because I have a very thorough oncologist, the slides were also sent to the University of Chicago who also said no lymphoma.  The family joke was we would try to collect frequent flyer miles for the node on the road.  

Surgery on October 21 is now three weeks in my rear view mirror.  Elkhart is also in the rear view mirror of the Whale.  We left Elkhart at 10:30 this a.m. headed directly south to New Orleans.  Overall, I feel good.  Each day I get a bit stronger.  Rehab consists of eating a healthy diet, breathing (very grateful to be able to do that) and walking a bit longer every day.  I can handle all of that.  So why not get back at this journey we have been on?

Needless to say, as we were working our way through diagnosis, surgery and the beginning stages of recovery, we spent a lot of time counting our blessings and becoming more and more determined to not give up the dream.  So here we are starting the second lap around the U.S. Even though we've only been on the road a few hours, I can tell this will be a much slower pace for now.  That's the beauty of traveling in the Whale.  Need a nap?  No problem!

For now the travel trajectory will be Indianapolis to New Orleans to Red Bay, AL, to south of Corpus Christie, TX for extended R&R, walking on the beach and healing sunshine.  In the spring, we will head to CA for a delayed Christmas trip present with grandsons, Miles and Donovan before we head to northern Washington.

Of course, we could segue at any point in the trip.  We'll keep you posted...

Fall in Indiana

We've been in Elkhart now since the end of August.  During this time we have enjoyed family and friends and made final plans for our daughter Sara's wedding.  The wedding was this last week-end, October 12th.  Such fun!  The ceremony was at Central Christian Church, which is one of the oldest in Elkhart.  They kept all parts of the ceremony uncomplicated.  I made Sara's dress, constructing it in the first four weeks we were home.  I was able to set up in the home office of my dear friend, Sueann.  The entire time I was sewing, I spent quality time with my friend and much alone time thinking about our daughter and son, their families, how happy they are, and how at peace we are with our traveling life style.  I'm proud of the dress, and she looked beautiful.  Her brother Chris, wife Marisa and nephews / grandsons Miles (9) and Donovan (6) were here.  Miles was an usher, Donovan the ring bearer.  Rowan, Patrick's (husband) daughter was the flower girl.  You never know when young ones are in a wedding how that might go, but all three took it very seriously.  Everything went off without a hitch.

Because both Sara and Patrick love Halloween, the reception was a giant Halloween party.  Everyone appeared to have a great time.  The afternoon after the wedding, after Chris and his family were headed back to CA, the newlyweds stopped by, and they couldn't stop talking about how much fun the wedding and reception were and how many people told them it was all such a fun time.  What is so important is not that others were happy, but that Sara and Patrick now have such great memories of their wedding and reception.  They will be talking about it for a long time.  These are the memories that we fall back on when the going gets tough.

Originally, our plan was to take a couple of days to recoup and regroup before taking off for southern IN and beyond.  We were scheduled to be in CA in December for a trip to Leggo Land with Miles and Donovan.  As has been true throughout this last year, plans change and we remain flexible...

In the brief time we have been home, I have been diagnosed with two different primary types of cancer - lung and lymphoma.  This is a very rare occasion - to have two different types at the same time.  Both are stage one, or at least at this point that is what the doctors believe.  I will have lung surgery next week, and three weeks after that chemo will start if I am healed enough.  We may stay here for chemo, or we may head to Houston to Anderson.  We are so fortunate to have the flexibility to choose.  All last year we managed to avoid really cold weather, and I'm concerned if we stay here about healing in the cold.  

So I've thought a lot about our travels last year and of all the places we still want to go.  We had many twists and turns while traveling - some by choice some not.  We lived the adage... "Trust your journey." That's exactly what we plan to do now in the next few months.  We will trust this journey... that we will only become stronger and certainly more resolved to continue our travels.  

Meantime, we are totally enjoying the slow turning of the trees here in IN.  Everyday, the colors get more varied and brilliant.  It's as if the color is slowly seeping south from Michigan to Indiana and points further south.  We've also had some brilliantly blue days - sunglasses required.  If you close your eyes, turn your face to the sun, and breath deep,  fall in IN on a sunny crisp blue day just smells so pure.  I'm sure this is true of other locations, but for us this is home, and it's good to be here right now.

I'll keep you posted.  Although our journey will not involve much movement right now, I'm sure it will be an experience.