Month: November 2023

We are leaving a week earlier this year than last. That will give us a week at the end of February to stop in Nacogdoches, TX, and Houston for a few days on our way to Fredericksburg without overlapping reservations.

Getting ready to go has seemed to be less hectic this year. We have spread it over several weeks. The last-minute things that needed to be done in the coach got taken care of. The clothes in the house that we were done with for the season got moved to the coach earlier. The refrigerator freezer in the coach is pretty full. We are bringing a lot less food staples since we can get almost everything down south that we want. Some things we can’t so we bring them from home. All of the perishables from the refrigerator in the house get moved to the coach as well, we turn the refrigerator at home off while we are gone.

We are watching the weather closely, some at home but mostly along the way. We don’t want to be driving into any nasty stuff. We leave a 2 or 3-day window for departure to allow for weather.

Finally, we were ready to go. We got the coach out of the barn and hooked up the truck for towing the night before. When we got up in the morning there were just a few last-minute things to do, all of the lists were checked off. We locked up and left.

We stopped at the second rest stop heading south, about an hour and a half away and double-checked the towing gear and lights, walked Maggie, and had breakfast. We drove to Eagleville, a small town in Missouri, and stayed overnight. The next morning we continued south and then SE towards St Peters, still in Missouri on the north side of the St Louis metro area. We stopped here last year, two nights this year to visit Amanda and Douglas.

This was last year, Maggie was just 10 weeks old.

And this year Maggie is just over 14 months. Maggie likes Amanda.

We have a picture like this every year or so with Amanda and Douglas since we first met them 9 years ago. We met them in Nacogdoches and they are some of our first Foretravel friends. We have seen them at least once a year ever since.

Last year at this park in late November it was below freezing and very windy. Much nicer this year, shorts for Douglas.

The Park added a new dog run. Maggie got a new retrieving toy. She gets very excited to chase it down and bring it back. And jump for it as well.

We left St Louis and Amanda and Douglas on a rainy day, a long drive down towards Memphis and the West towards Little Rock to stop and see Chris and Elke Lang. Most of the day was steady to hard rain. On I65 South we went by 5 crash slowdowns and a bunch of construction. West on I40 another crash slow down and heavy rain. We got to Chris and Elke’s rural farm and it was still raining and pretty muddy. We parked in a covered parking spot, had a nice visit, and slept well. In the morning it was still dribbling. We had to disconnect the pickup, back the coach out, and reconnect the pickup. We checked lights, said our thank yous and goodbyes, and headed back east on I40 towards Tom Sawyer’s RV Park on the west side of the Mississippi River in West Memphis.

It was a nice park, nothing fancy but right on the river. And there was a steady stream of barge traffic. At home, a full tow is 15 barges and the tow boat pushing. These can get through the lock in two sections, 9 barges first and then 6 more barges and the tow boat. They have to break apart the barges and then reconnect after they are all through the lock.

Here where there are no locks and dams to contend with they use much bigger tow boats and up to 30 barges connected in a single tow.

The river was low, with lots of sand bars on the far side, but the channels were deep enough for the towboats.

We thought about going to Elvis’ Graceland in Memphis across the river. It might have been interesting but it was $80 each. That sort of soured the milk on that idea.

We did drive over the river to get a late afternoon take-out lunch from the Central BBQ near downtown Memphis. Construction and lots of turns through the downtown and nearby areas made what looked like a short trip much longer. But the BBQ was worth it. We got some smoked sausage, wings, brisket, rolls, baked beans, coleslaw, mac-n-cheese, and an assortment of cheese. Enough for both of us twice and we still had leftovers.

We were at Tom Sawyer’s for three nights over Thanksgiving. Time to rest and not drive on Thanksgiving day

We left Friday after Thanksgiving heading for Alabama. The weather was much better. South into Louisiana to Natalbany. We stayed overnight at a small RV park on a lake. It looked like most that were there were there for a long time or permanently. It was quiet and easy to get in and out of and room for Maggie to get out for some longer walks.

The next day was just a short drive to I10 and then East to I12 North of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans and then more I10 towards Mobile. We have been this way before, in both directions, so it looked familiar. In downtown Mobile I10 goes into a tunnel under the ship channel in Mobile Bay and then up onto a long bridge, 8 miles, the rest of the way over the bay. And then another 15 miles to Buc-ees. And then 35 miles south to Orange Beach.

Hard to miss, it has its own exit lanes from I10. More than 100 gas pumps, no waiting usually. And more food and stuff inside than you may have ever seen. Many of the newest Buc-ees have more than 70,000 square feet, half the size of a Target store.

We made it to Orange Beach. Pandion Ridge is now called Sun Outdoors Orange Beach. Pandion Ridge sounds better to us and more inviting.

We took a couple of days to get everything set up. The screen room is set up, bikes out, flags up, and chairs ready for action. We are in the site next to where we were last year with more room on either side of us. We face a Long Leaf Pine wooded area. It is a nice site and feels private. And we are away from most of the traffic through the park. They added almost 350 sites further to the south and all of that traffic goes in and out on the same road. Parts of the new section were just opening last year while we were here. The clubhouse, bar, restaurant, dog wash station, some of the sites, and more of the amenities are still not finished.

But we are here. The weather is generally nice, most days are sunny and in the upper 60s. Some warmer, some cooler, and a day or two of rain each week. And no snow to shovel! Happy to be here.

More Later. Much Love.

Susan, Maggie, and Roger

Maggie

Our Maggie Mae was about nine months old when we got home from last winter in May. We talked to her Vet about getting her spayed. Their schedule put that out into early July. Just a day or two later she went into heat. We had her in lady doggie diapers for about three weeks. The Vet said Maggie needed to wait until August. We got her on their schedule for then.

In the meantime, she was on a short leash on walks and a close watch when she was out. We wanted no mishaps, there were none.

I was a bit anxious the day of her surgery. There was no real reason to be I guess, just the pre-surgery flutters. Maggie had a big patch of her tummy shaved for surgery.

The stitches were not dainty but functional. Maggie left them alone so no “cone of shame” was needed. We did take an old Tshirt and made a snug tube top for her to cover the stitches. It was all she needed.

In two weeks the stitches were out and Maggie was just fine.

And just up the hill, Maggie has a best friend, Scooter. He is about 3 months older than Maggie, has a curlier coat, and weighs about a pound more then Maggie. They have very similar color coats.

Maggie has a red collar. The two of them have an off-leash play time four or five days a week. They run and wrestle until they are worn out and have to stop for a break and then they do it some more.

Sometimes it is wet and a bit muddy. No matter, they just get dirty.

No problem, Maggie gets an outside bath in her wading pool.

These play dates always wear Maggie out. You can see here that her tummy is back to normal.

Roger

After riding my three-wheeled bike last winter and trying out Susans’s electric one, I decided to add an electric assist to mine. I got it done in early July and then rode about 60 miles a month. I like it a lot.

There is a bike trail that runs near our home and it leads West out to Schaar’s Bluff Park overlooking the Mississippi River and then further to the trailheads at Spring Lake Park. It is about 8 miles one way and if you add up all of the ups and downs, it has about 800 ft of elevation change each way. It is some work to ride but it is a beautiful trail. Near the trailhead, Dakota County has a small but growing bison herd.

There are about a dozen bison now and the herd will grow to about twice that.

Several cows and calves.

And a single bull.

I enjoy riding. This winter in Orange Beach I am hoping to ride perhaps 150 miles a month. We will see.

Good news on the medical front. In the Spring and again in the Fall, lab tests and physical exams show no return of the lymphoma from 20 months ago. Six PSA tests in a row indicating undetectable mean that surgery, 6 months of drug treatments, and 8 weeks of radiation treatments have done what we hoped for, the prostate cancer is in full remission. I am on a 12-month check-up schedule for lymphoma and a six-month (up from three) PSA test schedule. Good news indeed.

Ribs

I like smoking and eating ribs but in a moment of very little grace, I got tangled up in my own feet and fell over into the grass. I landed on my right side and without thinking tucked my arm in tight perhaps to protect my shoulder which had been damaged and repaired about 9 years ago. I don’t know the mechanics of what happened but it hurt quite a bit and when I went to see the Doc the next morning the X-rays showed three broken ribs on the upper right back side.

They gave me enough Rx drugs for about 6 days. Believe me, it was not enough. I had to get by on Tylenol and ibuprofen. I also tried the pain relief patches and cold packs. It all helped some. I slept in a chair for almost a week and then finally got back into bed at night.

By three weeks I was doing some easier tasks. I got back to Habitat in the fifth week. That was a tough day. I was back at it the next week.

The Docs told me six weeks to heal up. Maybe for 30-year-olds. For me, it was longer. I had another broken rib and some other internal damage from a car crash 20 years ago. They seem to be back to haunt me as well. But now most is all well and good. My best advice? Don’t break your ribs. Don’t fall. We are old and much more fragile than we were 40 years ago.

Garden Projects

We refinished the bridge over our front yard dry creek bed. It is a task done every 4-5 years. The bridge is over 20 years old now and holding up well with regular maintenance.

It looks good after a good cleaning and a coat of oil-based finish. Once it was all dried up we replaced the anti-slip runner (which fits over the darker color on the bridge deck).

It was somewhat dry this summer but the gardens looked very nice with Susan’s care.

We added a wooden screen in front of the electrical boxes, switches, and meters next to the garage door.

It looks good and Susan found plant holders that hang on it.

We added roll-up screens to the garden deck on the back side of the shop. They hide the view of the garden bench and equipment from the house and provide some afternoon shade. These were inexpensive and very functional.

We added steel roofing below the solar panels on the garage so that snow will just slide off the panels into the steel roof and off the roof. I think it will work, we hope we won’t be here to see it.

It was a busy summer. We stayed home to get projects done. There were other projects, too many to list them all. We had a great 4th of July Picnic with long-time friends. Busted ribs threw a curve ball at us but we worked through it. Once again Susan’s care and help made all the difference.

Fall is upon us. I am quite sure the number of leaves falling from our forest is in the billions. It sure seems like it blowing them all back into the woods where they belong. We had our big oak trees trimmed as we were getting ready to head south. A final grass mowing and winter fertilizer and seed were laid down. Our lists of get-ready-to-leave tasks came out and are getting checked off, one task at a time.

The time to head south one more time is close.

More Later, Much Love.

Roger, Susan, and Maggie

Back to work at Habitat for Humanity

I missed quite a bit of the last two summers at Habitat for Humanity. I wanted to try to make up for some lost days.

My 3M Retirees Habitat Regular crew worked 4 days a week starting in April through early November and then switched to 2 days a week until next spring. We are building 6 homes, three twin homes, in Saint Paul Park. That is nice for me, just 20 minutes from home. By mid-May the first home was well under way.

Scaffolding follows the building up on each building. It helps with each level and provides a lot of safety for us old folks.

Two of our crew turned 90 this year.

Joe on the left, and Dick on the right, both celebrated their birthdays at the work site. Dick brought cake, I brought ice cream. And Jim Ramberg in the middle, came to join in. These three are all special friends and we are all glad to see Joe and Dick still working one day a week or more.

Many hands make the project forward quickly. The first building is ready for siding. The second building is getting framed up.

Garages too.

The second building had a hip roof. The ends were built on the ground and lifted using a crane.

My job was getting the trusses lined up.

The first building is sided and the interior work is underway.

By late September, the second building was ready for siding and the third building was going up.

Jim Ramberg has retired from construction work but passed on his many skills to everyone he worked with. I learned a lot from him especially about building stairs and framing porches and decks. He always said he learned as much from me as well. It was an honor to build with Jim and every day that I can pass along new skills or methods to another builder reflects back on all that I learned from Jim.

Building stairways is an exercise in careful measuring, paying attention to details, doing the math, marking the lines, and sawing as precisely as you can. After you have done twenty or thirty stairways the process gets easier and faster but the details stay the same. In this summer’s six homes, there are 24 sets of stairs. Lots of practice and opportunities to help others learn new skills.

I also worked at two other HFH homes this summer. One was a rehab of an old home in St Paul and the other was a new home in Minneapolis. They were with the Builder’s Circle Group of financial supporters of Habitat. I work on one or two of these homes each summer, usually one day each. I enjoy working with different people and getting a chance to meet other supporters of Habitat. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds. We all share the vision of safe and affordable homes for families.

I worked on the front porch stairs and handrails on the home in Minneapolis.

This work with Habitat is more than just building homes, it is building a community. We work together for a shared common goal, the fellowship we have with each other, and the friendships that form and grow over time. For a group of older folks, this gets us out of the house, moving, and doing. We call it Senior Day Care. In a way it is, we care for each other. All of us benefit in many ways from the work we do, especially the families that will live in the homes we help build.

More Later, Much Love.

Roger 🔨, Susan 📖, and Maggie 🐾