Here's to Health

By Mary

Wow…we just got home from the Torchlight Parade. This is the nighttime Oktoberfest Parade and is held on the Northside of the city. Luckily Heather lives one block off the parade route so it is easy to have a meeting place for everyone. The parade was ok…but Rex, Nikki, and I snuck off to sit in a local pub and have a relaxing drink and visit.
I got back to LaCrosse this morning after spending the earlier part of the week at my Mother’s. I got gas in Lansing on the way to LaCrosse for 2.14. Iowa is great!!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go with my sister-in-law to her dialysis treatment. She goes to dialysis three days a week at Platteville which is an hour away from where she lives and the treatment itself takes 4 hours. For anyone that is unaware of the fact, my sister-in-law had the transplanted kidney removed this past spring. Anyway it was an interesting day for me and for my poor sister-in-law it was like any other dialysis day she has to endure. While it is a true miracle that we live in a period of history that can help someone with total kidney failure live….it is definitely not a cakewalk. Kitty has a bruise on her arm that is about 8 inches long and 5 or 6 inches wide. It looks sore and I am sure it is sore. The dialysis center itself is a pretty interesting place. The place in Platteville is owned and operated by a doctor that has a practice in Dubuque. This is room to put 12 patients at a time on the dialysis machines, they start scheduling at 6 AM and the last appointment is at 2:45 PM. My sister-in-law said her 12 treatments per month cost $4,000. Do the math….this place has quite a monthly billing total!! They are open 6 days a week…

Rex just read my blog entry and wants me to end on a positive note….the weather today was perfect for fall. Bright, sunny, and 70 degrees…can’t get any more positive than that for October 5th!!

PLAN UPDATE

WRITTEN BY REX

WE ARE STILL CAMPED AT VETERANS PARK IN WEST SALEM, WISCONSIN, NEAR LA CROSSE. IT’S A NICE PARK RIGHT ON THE LA CROSSE RIVER. WE HAVE ELECTRIC, BUT NO WATER, SEWER, OR INTERNET SERVICE. THE WATER IS ABOUT 50 YARDS AWAY AND HAS TO BE HAND CARRIED, 5 GALLONS AT A TIME, TO DUMP INTO THE CAMPER. THE BLACK TANK IS THE PROBLEM TODAY, AS IT HASN’T BEEN EMPTIED FOR 16 DAYS. EITHER TODAY OR TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HOOK THE TRAILER UP TO THE TRUCK AND DRIVE IT OVER TO THE DUMP STATION TO BE EMPTIED.

THE 10 DAY WEATHER FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. THE WEATHER SHOULD BE DRY WITH LOWS IN THE LOW 40’S AND HIGHS IN THE MID 60’S. WE PLAN TO STAY WHERE WE ARE CAMPED NOW UNTIL MONDAY, OCTOBER 16TH. THEN THE PLAN HAS US HEADED WEST TO ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA, WHERE WE WILL DROP THE TRAILER AND TRUCK JUST SOUTH ON INTERSTATE 35 AT THE NEW DIAMOND JO CASINO. WE WILL CONTINUE ON WEST, ON INTERSTATE 90, WITH THE HONDA, TO SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA TO RENEW OUR DRIVER’S LICENSES AND MEET WITH AN INSURANCE AGENT. NEXT STOP WILL BE JUST SOUTH OF DES MOINES, IOWA AT TERRIBLE’S LAKESIDE CASINO FOR AN OVER NIGHT STOP, AND THEN ARRIVE IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI ON OCTOBER 19TH.

IN INDEPENDENCE WE WILL BE CAMPING WITH INTERNET CAMPING FRIENDS STEVE AND VICKI REIGEL. STEVE AND VICKI ARE FULLTIMERS, AND RECENTLY TOOK DELIVERY ON A NEW MONTANA 5TH WHEEL. STEVE IS KNOWN AS THE “WIZARD” ON THE MOC (MONTANA OWNERS CLUB) INTERNET DISCUSSION BOARD, AND WE HOPE TO PICK HIS BRAIN TO LEARN ABOUT SOME MAINTAIN CE ISSUES ON OUR CAMPER, ESPECIALLY THE SLIDE OUTS. APPARENTLY THE SLIDE OUTS ARE DESIGNED TO FAIL WITH A COUPLE OF SHEER BOLTS FAILING FIRST TO PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE TRAILER. IT IS POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THESE BOLTS YOURSELF IF YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AND CARRY TWO SPARE BOLTS WITH YOU, INFORMATION WE NEED TO LEARN. STEVE IS ALSO A COMPUTER EXPERT AND WE’RE HOPING TO LEARN HOW TO USE A GPS ANTENNA ON THE LAPTOP TO PROVIDE US WITH NAVIGATION INFORMATION. WHILE IN INDEPENDENCE WE ALSO PLAN TO TAKE THE HONDA OVER TO BOONVILLE, MO TO VISIT CASINO FRIENDS, MARY & SCROOGE, WHOM WE WORKED WITH ON THE MISS MARQUETTE, AND SPEND A DAY AT THE TRUMAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY.

ONCE WE FINISH IN INDEPENDENCE/KANSAS CITY WE WILL HEAD TOWARDS THE SOUTHWEST. WE NEED TO BE IN LAS VEGAS BY NOVEMBER 7TH TO MEET AMY AND FAMILY FOR A WEEK OF CAMPING WITH MY GRANDSONS. ON THE WAY WEST WE HOPE TO EXPLORE IN MONUMENT VALLEY ON THE NAVAJO NATION RESERVATION IN NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA, HIKE INTO THE GRAND CANYON, AND VISIT A METEOR SITE IN ARIZONA.THE NEXT BENCHMARK IS NOVEMBER 15TH, BY THEN WE WILL BE DRAGGING EACH OTHER’S ASSES INTO THE AVI CASINO IN LAUGHLIN TO REPORT FOR 23 WEEKS OF WINTER OF WORK.

WRAPPING UP

WRITTEN BY REX

TODAY WAS A DAY TO “WRAP IT UP”. FIRST THING WAS TO WRAP UP THE TRUCK WAXING. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, IN MORE BEAUTIFUL INDIAN SUMMER WEATHER. THE SECOND THING WAS TO WRAP UP THE PURGE OF OUR EQUIPMENT. WE HAD A PICNIC TABLE FULL OF “STUFF” LAY ED OUT ON SUNDAY WHILE ALL THREE OF MARY’S KIDS WERE HERE, AND WHAT DIDN’T DISAPPEAR WILL END UP AT GOOD WILL. IT’S HARD TO THROW OUT THE STUFF, BUT IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE OUR LAST PURGE AND IT WAS TIME. NOW WE HAVE ROOM TO MEET UP WITH JUDY AND LOAD UP A NEW BATCH OF “STUFF” TO DELIVER TO PAULIE IN LAS VEGAS.

JUST A BLOG NOTE, THE PROCEDURE OF POSTING YESTERDAY’S BLOG TODAY SEEMS TO BE WORKING OUT WELL WHILE WE’RE ON VACATION. NOW THAT WE HAVE THE WI-FI SWITCH ON THE LAPTOP TURNED BACK ON, WE CAN SLIP INTO THE SUPER 8 PARKING LOT TO POST, OR PUT THE ENTRY ON THE TRAVEL DRIVE AND POST IT ON NIKKI’S COMPUTER.

TRUCK WAXING/GUTTER CLEANING

WRITTEN BY REX

I GUESS WHEN YOU TAKE VACATION FOR 10-11 WEEKS YOU CAN EXPECT SOME DAYS TO BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. MARY TOOK OFF FIRST THING THIS MORNING TO GO AND STAY AT HER MOM’S A FEW DAYS. MY GOAL FOR THE DAY WAS TO WASH AND WAX THE BIG RED TRUCK, AND I PICKED THE PERFECT DAY. THE WEATHER WAS UNBELIEVABLE, ONE OF THOSE FALL INDIAN SUMMER DAYS TO DIE FOR, 86 DEGREES, PLENTY OF SUNSHINE, AND NO WIND. THE LEAVES ON THE TREES ARE TURNING TO THEIR FALL COLORS AND LOOK JUST BEAUTIFUL. THEY MUST BE TURNING EARLIER THIS YEAR AS USUALLY WHEN WE LEAVE WISCONSIN IN EARLY OCTOBER THEY ARE JUST STARTING TO TURN. TRUCK WAXING WASN’T QUITE COMPLETED AS I HAD TO MEET UP WITH NIKKI AT 2:30 PM TO LOCATE A LADDER AND DRIVE DOWN TO MT. HOPE TO HELP MARY CLEAN THE GUTTERS ON HER MOM’S HOUSE. MY SORE LEG KEPT ME ON THE GROUND AS THE SUPPORT MAN. AND MARY CLIMBED UP AND DID ALL THE WORK. NIK AND I ROAD TRIPPED BACK TO LA CROSSE WITH STOPS AT HOME AGAINS IN MT HOPE, THE SAFE HOUSE SALOON IN LANSING, THE SHELLHORN ROADHOUSE NEAR BROWNSVILLE, AND THE HILLBILLY BAR ON FRENCH ISLAND NEAR LA CROSSE. I GUESS THE PACKERS LOST, AS WE FINALLY GAVE UP WATCHING WITH NINE MINUTES LEFT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER AND CALLED IT A NIGHT.(I PAID $2.149 FOR FUEL IN LANSING, IOWA TODAY.)

WHITE SIDEWALLS

WRITTEN BY REX

THE WHITE SIDE WALLS WERE AS GREAT AS EVER !!! “I FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW WON”, “RED RUBBER BALL”, AND “LOVE POTION #9”. THE MUSIC FROM THE ‘60’S WAS THE BEST !!! WE HAD THE BEACH BOYS, ELVIS, AND THE BEATLES ALL IN ONE DECADE. NOW DAYS THEY CALL IT BUBBLE GUM MUSIC?

THE TEMPERATURE IN THE BEER TENT WAS A PLEASANT 63 DEGREES, AND THE BEERS SLID DOWN WITH NO PROBLEMS.WE STARTED THE DAY WITH OMELETTE'S IN A BAG FOR A GROUP OF TWELVE FESTERS FOR BREAKFAST. THE KIDS THAT WERE AT CHEESEDAYS LED THE WAY, AND SOON THERE WERE SIX BAGS OF EGGS SWIMMING IN THE POT OF BOILING WATER ON THE BIGG GASS GRILL. THE WEATHER RETURNED TO SUMMER AND WE HAD SHORTS & T-SHIRTS ON AFTER BREAKFAST. A QUICK SCRUB OF THE BIGG GASS GRILL AND WE WERE OFF FESTING WITH A STOP AT KRAMER’S TAP TO CATCH UP WITH CHAD AND THEN DEWEY’S SIDE STREET INN FOR A BEER WITH NIKKI.

A TEN DAY FESTIVAL DEDICATED TO DRINKING BEER!!! IS THIS HEAVEN? NO IT’S OKTOBERFEST!!!