Monday, August 14, 2017

Very Sad News!!!

Champaign, IL.

77 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.


About 9:30 or so this morning Jim and Linda hopped into Lily and headed to a little cemetery, out in the country between Champaign and Fisher. Some of Linda's distant relatives are buried there and they usually go out there when we are in the area.

After viewing the graves, they decided to head to Rantoul to stop in at the Prairie Pines CG to see if Paul and Louise were there, and say Hi to them if they were. When they arrived, Jim noticed that Louise's car wasn't there, but the office door was open, so they parked Lily and went up the walk. As they got up to the office, Linda, one of the people who had helped Louise with the CG last year came out and greeted them. Upon asking about Paul and Louise, she told them that while they were down in Texas, in December, Louise had a stroke and ended up in a hospital. While in the hospital, they discovered a large cancerous tumor, (I think in her mid-section).

I don't know all the details, but in March, Louise passed away, from the cancer!!!

Don't know what else to say. We're all in  shock!!!

Paul is living in his 5th wheel trailer at the CG and helping out as much as he can. He is suffering from dementia and is having a lot of trouble. Luckily, his son, Mark, is staying there with him to help as much as possible. Both Jim and Linda said that they doubt if Paul will be able to do much of anything pretty soon.

A very sad  situation.

While they were there, Ron and Marilyn stopped by, (friends of their's that are staying at the CG) and they talked for a little while. They have made plans to meet up at the Urbana Gardens Restaurant for a meal soon, and maybe Jim and Linda will learn more about Paul and Louise then.

Rest in peace, Louise. We'll miss you.

Woof!!!

 

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Doctor's Visits and The Woodspring Suites Hotel

Champaign, IL

67 deg. clear, N. wind @ 8 mph.
 
Forecast tonight = Mostly clear. Lows overnight in the mid 50s.

Forecast tomorrow = Sunny, high 81F. Winds light and variable.


Since I've last posted, both Jim and Linda have been fairly busy. Monday morning, Lily took Linda and Jim to Fisher, IL, where Linda had an appointment with her GP doctor. Everything went fine, except her blood pressure was a little high, (which often happens when Linda goes to the doctor's office), and she needed Linda to come back for a fasting blood test to check her A1C glucose count. (She scheduled her to come back on Wednesday morning).

Tuesday was open, but Wednesday proved to be a pretty busy "doctor" day.

Wednesday morning, Linda's appointment with her GP doctor was at 9:15. After the blood test, they stopped by the Blue Star Restaurant in Fisher for breakfast before coming back here. Then, at 2:30, Linda had an appointment with her retinologist, (Dr. Gandhi). Again, everything went well and he told her that her eyes were "stable", which considering everything, is very good. :-)  Then, at 3:00, Jim had an appointment at Dr. Gandhi's office to get a OCT Scan of his eyes to check on his glaucoma. (These results would be sent to his Glaucoma Dr., Dr Anderson),

It was after 4::00 by the time Lily brought them back home.

Thursday and Friday were free days, but this morning, Jim had his appointment with Dr. Anderson, so they left here about 9:30 so as to make his 10:00 appointment.

Again, everything went well, and the Dr. gave Jim the good news that his eyes were doing fine.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , except for Linda having to go back to her GP doctor on the 28th of August to get the results of the A1C test and to get her blood pressure checked, both Linda and Jim are done with their doctors!!

Now, let me tell you a little about where we're staying. It's called Woodspring Suites and is an extended stay hotel. (Click on  name to go to their web site). It is kind of spartan, butt that keeps the cost down. They don't furnish dishes, pots or pans, or even have much furniture in the room except the bed, table and 2 kitchen  type chairs. There is a kitchen with a full sized refrigerator, microwave and a 2 burner electric cook-top. And of course a large TV and a full bathroom. Jim and Linda brought along 2 comfortable lawn chairs that they sit in while watching TV or they can lay on the bed which is supplied with bedding.

Some folks may not like this set-up, but Jim and Linda brought along an electric skillet, some cookware and silverware, went to the local Goodwill store to buy a pot they needed and seem to be getting along quite nicely. And, being that they are staying for a month, the nightly rate is less than $35.00 per night.

Not too shabby!!! ;-)

Nothing much scheduled for this next week. I know Jim and Linda have some things they want to do and people to  see, so they'll probably do some of that. In the meantime, I'll just say that Linda was very relieved to get the good news about her eyes and in fact both of them were happy that all the doctors visits went well.

Thanks for reading this and check back again. I'll be posting about things that are happening during this next week.


Did you know that in  In 1991, Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, married Russi Taylor€”the voice of Minnie?

Woof!!!



Sunday, August 6, 2017

Florida To Illinois

Champaign, IL

68 deg. Overcast, no wind.

Forecast tonight = Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.


By the time Jim and Linda got all of the remaining things packed into Lily, most of the electric in the house shut off, and the water turned off, we pulled out of the car port at home about 10:45 AM on Sunday, 7-31-17. We really weren't in much of a hurry as the Motel that Jim had called, had a 3:00 Check-in time and Jim figured out that it would be about a 4 hour drive up to Monticello, FL. where it was located.

The route we took was US 17 up to Barberville, Rt. 40 over to near Ocala, Rt. 326 around the north side of Ocala and over to US 27A which took us to Chiefland and then US 19 up to  Monticello.

We hit some heavy rain on the  way, but by the time, (3:45, and 221 miles), we arrived at the Econo Lodge, it had cleared up nicely.

The Motel was very nice. It had a medium sized room with a bath, a king bed and a small refrigerator to put food, out of our cooler, into.


Jim seemed to do pretty well driving up there, but by the time he and Linda brought all the necessary items into the room, he was pretty tired.

But, after a good night's sleep, Jim was ready to go again in the morning, and after loading up the car, we left the motel at about 10;35 and headed further North, on US 19 first up into Georgia and to Albainy, Then, US 82 up to Columbus, and then I-185 and US 80 around Columbus and into Alabama. and then US 280 over to Opelike, AL.

After stopping for gas in Georgia, and a Cracker Barrel for lunch, near Columbus, it was right at 2:10, central time, when we pulled up in front of another Econo Lodge. So it had taken us about 4 hours and 35 minutes to travel the 208 miles over there.

This Econo lodge wasn't so nice. Jim had trouble with the door lock up arrival and the inside of the room wasn't very well maintained. It was clean though and it had a small fridge like the first one, so we stayed overnight, being sure to deadbolt the door.

Tuesday, Jim and Linda decided to do a short day, so we left about 9:35 and only drove up to Albertville on US 431, stopping again for gas, which brought us to the King's Inn after 148 miles and at about 12:45 in the afternoon.

A nice short 3 hour and 10 minuted drive. ;-)

The King's Inn was very nice. A nice big clean room with a King bed and a nice big bathroom. After we were settled in, and Jim took a nap, he and Linda headed over to a Shoney's Restaurant for a nice  dinner.

Wednesday morning, we left Albertville right at 10:00 and continued Northwest on 431, taking it up to Huntsville where we turned North on US 231. 231 took us up into Tennessee and to Murfreesboro, where we turned NW on I-24 and then North on I-840 and I-40 East back to 231 to miss city traffic and small roads. Once back on 231, we followed it up into Kentucky and to Scottsville where we pulled into a Executive Inn just outside of town.

It was 3:10 when we pulled up in front of the office, so it took us 5 hours and 10 minutes to travel the 198 miles up there and that included a very severe rain storm near Murfreesboro, where we were driving as slow as 30mph on I-24!!!

The Executive Inn was very nice. a large room, spotlessly clean and very friendly people in the office.

Thursday morning we left Scottsville about 10:25 and followed US 231 up to near Bowling Green, where we turned off on the William H. Natcher Parkway which took us up to Owensboro and across the Ohio River on Rt 161 into Indiana. When we came to the little town of Reo, we turned West on Indiana Rt. 66 and took it over to the I-164 belt route that goes around the East side of Evansville, IN. 164 took us up to I- 64 which took us West over to US 41.

Just south of 64 on 41 we went to a and Amish Restaurant where Jim and Linda had great Buffet. Then we crossed 41 and checked into the Super 8 Motel. It was 3:10 by the time we arrived, so it took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes to travel 145 miles and have dinner.

The Super 8 was very nice but at that Motel, you have to go in through the front entrance and then down the hall to your room. Luckily the room wasn't very far down the long hall so that Jim and Linda didn't have to carry their luggage too far.

As far as the room goes, it was also very nice with a king bed and a large room.

Friday morning, just before 11:00 we left the Super 8 and headed North on US 41. Following 41 up to Vincennes where we turned West on US 50. 50 took us to IL Rt 1 that we took North for a ways and then took some side roads over to Rt. 49. 49 took us up to I-74 where we turned West again and followed it to the Urbana Gardens Restaurant, where Jim and Linda had coffee and pie.

From there, it was just a short drive over here to the Woodsprings Suites Hotel, where we'll spend about a month.

 It was 3:10 when we pulled up to the main entrance, so it took us about 3 hours and 10 minutes to travel 176 miles and stop for coffee and pie.

So,  ,  ,  ,  we traveled 1097 miles to get here in 6 days.

All in all, it was a very good trip. Jim is real happy with Lily and really likes the way she drives. She gets great gas mileage, (over 30mpg on each tank of gas), and hasn't given even the least bit of trouble.

This Blog post is way too long already, so I'll tell you more about Woodsprings in my next post.

Did you know that there is an old law in Indiana that states that "Hotel sheets must be exactly 99 inches long and 81 inches wide"?


Woof!!!