Jim Reluctantly Takes Over Blaine's Barks

This is going to be difficult!!!

I really don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just "dive in" and see where this goes.

First of all, Blaine's last post was way back in August and we were staying in Champaign, IL. We met up with Ron and Marilyn and had a nice meal and some great conversation with this great couple. While in Champaign, we also met up with other long time RVing friends, Mike and Terri who we also went out to dinner with and had a very nice visit. We also spent a day visiting with Linda's sister, Nancy who lives up in Plainfield, IL.

Before leaving Champaign, Jeff and Heather, my son and his partner, flew in to Chicago from Portland, OR. They then rented a car and came down to see us for a few days. It was so good to see them as we hadn't seen them for a few years.

After being in Champaign for 5 weeks, we headed up to River Falls, WI, where we spent some time with Glenn and Jeanette, (Linda's brother and his wife). Upon returning to Illinois, we stayed at a very nice motel in Paxton IL where I rested up before continuing our trip towards the East Coast.

From Paxton, we headed over to Indianapolis where we visited Linda's cousin, Mike and his wife, Sandy. Then, it was on to Berea, KY where we visited with another of Linda's cousins, Rick. From there we headed to North Carolina to see Roland and Louise, who are very good friends of ours.

It was on this leg of the trip that Blaine disappeared!!!

I don't know what happened or where he went, but all of a sudden, we realized that Blaine wasn't with us!!!! Linda called back to the last 2 motels that we stayed at and no one had seen him. I don't know if he left on his own or if we missed bringing him out of a motel, but at any rate, we couldn't find him!!!! I do know that he wasn't very happy with our current mode of traveling from Motel to Motel.  My hope is that he found a nice family to live with, hopefully one with a small child or children who would love him like we did.

We do really miss him as we've traveled with him for so many years and he had become a very important part of our family.

After spending a few days visiting with Roland and Louise, we headed to Apex, NC where we spent time with my son, Mike, and his family. Then after about a week, we headed to Virginia Beach, VA where we spent about another week with Linda's son, Joe, and his family.

From there, we headed down to South Carolina where we stayed for a few nights at a very nice hotel that was right on the beach, Then it down here to Florida where we arrived at home, here in DeBary on October, 20th.

By the time we arrived here in Florida I was completely worn out. It took all of the energy I could gather to help Linda get all the stuff out of the car and into the house. In fact, it took 2 days to get it all carried in.

It was a very tiring trip for me and by the time we got home, I was saying that I never wanted to take another trip like that again. It was good to see all the family and friends that we visited with though and both Linda and I really enjoyed that part of the trip.

Once home, the doctor's visits started again and also the tests that no one likes to have.

Linda had a CT Scan and then went to the doctor's office for an exam and the results of the scan. I'm glad to say that everything is fine and Linda is good to go until spring, when she'll probably have another exam.

I had a PET Scan and everything looked good on it, except one area in my left lung which the doctor called "a hazy area". It's not clear if it is the start of another mass, an infection, or just something resulting from that lung collapsing, back in 2015. So, now, I'm scheduled for a needle biopsy this  Monday morning, to see what is going on in there. Then, the doctors will decide what treatment, (if any) should be administered. 

OK, enough of that depressing doctor stuff!!!!

Today. Linda and I are headed over to Marv and Inez's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Marv and Inez are Lindsey's parents and if you remember, they always invite us to dinner with them and their family. I'm sure we'll eat too much, but I guess once or twice a year isn't going to hurt us too much.

Linda and I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a great Holiday season. Please be safe if traveling. There's lots of "crazy" people out there on the roads.

We miss you, Blaine.