Trip to the Doctor

Captains Log May 17 – I was able to schedule an Orthopedic appointment this morning in Toledo so we were up and moving earlier than normal.  I had to be there by 9 for paperwork for my 9:30 appointment.  Bill dropped me off at the entrance and I proceeded to a check in and then assigned a clerk to fill in the blanks on my info.

The hospital is part of/related to University of Toledo and it’s a teaching hospital.  After a series of xrays of my shoulder I met with a Resident.  He poked and prodded and reviewed my xrays.  He agreed to give me a shot in 2 places.  Then the Doctor came in and he is from Egypt so his English was off a bit but he seemed to really know what’s what when it came to my shoulder.  He would have liked for me to be in town a while and do “minor” surgery to remove this crazy nodule that has been growing on top of my shoulder.  Not happening any time soon!  They diagnosed Tendonitis,   Impingement syndrome and Arthritis of acromioclavicular joint.  I got my 2 injections and they wished me well.  I sure hope it works!

We stopped on the way back to the RV for Bill to wash the truck.  Then on back to the RV for lunch.  I got busy catching up on my blog posts and emails.  I printed some postcards but can’t get the printers to switch to my postcard tray.  It’s always something.

Bill visited with our neighbors who have a small Retro tow behind.  He was working on it as they had a flat tire on the way here and tore off the fender and broke the sewer hook up.  They are from Coral Springs, FL.

Tomorrow we will be heading west a bit farther to Howe, IN which is pretty close to Elkhart and Shipshewana.  Shipshewana has a great Flea Market – Swap Meet on Tuesday and Wednesday so we will go on Wednesday!

Will try and see what we get on TV tonight.  It’s always an adventure!

Relaxing Day around Maumee

Captains Log May 16 - Today Bill had a list of places locally he wanted to visit.  After breakfast

Roche de Beouf 

we were on the road.  First stop was Roche de Beouf on the Maumee River in Waterville.  The story is the huge limestone rock in the center was much larger.  The railroad negotiated to build a railroad bridge across and would not disturb the boulder.  As history tells us, lies overrule truth along the way.  A huge portion of the boulder was blasted and of course it was too late once it was done.

Further up along the river in Maumee we stopped at the local cemetery so Bill could pay his respects to his high school Principal, Mr. Prentiss.  Bill had a lot of respect for him as he encouraged Bill to go to college and helped him along the way.  I think we all have one of those teachers in our past that we have a special respect for.

My stop was next, Jo-Ann’s, for some Ohio State fabric and crochet supplies to keep me busy!  By then it was lunch time so we headed into Toledo to the Original World Famous Tony Packo’s!  If you ever watched M.A.S.H. you remember Clinger always talking about Toledo

and Tony Packo’s.  They are famous for their chili dogs.  It was much quieter today than the last time we went and not so crowded.  It made it possible for me to walk around and get lots of photos of lots of signed hot dog buns.  There was also a group signed photo of the stars of M.A.S.H.  Bill had the hot dogs of course, but not being a hot dog person, I had the Chicken Paprikas Dinner.  The chicken was moist in bed of doughy small dumplings in a paprika sauce with a side of cucumber salad.  Soooo good!  I had a lot of dumplings left that came home for a later meal.  I’m posting a few of the photos but if you can get to my photo album you can see ALL of the ones I took there.

Time to head back to the RV after a quick stop at a different Meijer’s store!  I found Bill some Michigan State footie socks on clearance that he was very pleased

about. 

I was too lazy with a full stomach to do anything on the computer, so I did a bit of reading and crocheting until dinner time.  I’ve put Bill in charge of the TV and he is trying to master recording to a hard drive and dealing with DISH!  It’s about time he gets to deal with the frustration and  foreigners you continually have to talk with and can’t understand. 

We cleaned out some leftovers for an easy dinner and got right back on our respective couches!

  

Bill's lunch with Maumee High School Friends

Captains Log May 15 – We got  up  to  a  nippy  45  degrees!  We  were  both  wrapped  in  our 
blankets  and  didn’t bother  getting  our space  heater out.  I’m  thinking our front AC, that  was replaced the end of last summer, is not the  same as  our old one.  It is supposed  to  generate  heat  if it’s no colder than 45 out and it  was blowing  VERY cold air!  The  bedroom  AC  is orig-inal and warms fine.  Hummm!

Bill had plans with a group of his high school buddies to meet at 1 for lunch today.  He was very

Bill's friends and spouses

surprised at the number of classmates  and  some spouses that came.  There were 14 in attendance and Bill was quite humbled that some drove 2 hours to come.  They ate and visited 2 ½ hours and I’m sure reminisced about the old days.  I’m glad they could make it and I know Bill appreciated it and had a great time. 

Once Bill finished his shower this morning I put in my first load of laundry.  Having the place to myself for the afternoon I did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned my floors, caught up posting blogs and started cleaning out years of photos from my phone to my laptop so I can later transfer them to an external hard drive. My phone was getting very low on space.  

I put chicken in the crockpot and fresh green beans on the stove so dinner prep would be pretty simple.  Decided to shred up the chicken and cook some noodles in the broth then changed my mind to mixed rice. 

About 4:30 the sun kinda dried up and the chill started creeping in.  I shut the windows to half.  It chills down in a hurry for sure.  

After Bill’s lunch gathering he went to Walmart to pick up a script for me and pick up a couple of items we didn’t get yesterday.  After dinner we watched some TV or just chilled (literally) and read!

Great Visits with Old Friends

Captains Log May 14 - It was a hectic long day!  We didn’t have to leave so early this morning as we were only driving to Lima, OH on our first leg.  We left a little early to take advantage  of parking in the Walmart lot and pick up a few groceries before lunching with friends.

My friend from Lima, who was my neighbor and first friend I made when we moved there as a freshman in high school, Pam and her husband Dave, picked us up for lunch.  They picked a new spot that is part of a chain started and owned by a local.  It’s Beer Barrel Pizza and Grill and it was more of an upscale restaurant once you read the menu.  Bill went with a BLT with sides and raved over it and I had an Atlantic Salmon Rice Bowl.  Oh my, was that ever delicious.  Pam told me it was her go to meal there but she tried Fish Tacos and said they were awesome as well.  I could have licked my bowl clean.  It was riced cauliflower with avocado, spinach, pickled onion and a light lemon vinaigrette.  Wish we had one of those restaurants at home!!  Thanks Pam for picking a great spot for us to try!!

We enjoyed about 90 minutes of food, drink and great company before it was time to head back to the RV and get on the road.  Pam and Dave are super and we hope they will visit us in Florida since his sister lives in The Villages!

The drive to Whitehouse, OH (near Maumee and Perrysburg) went pretty fast.  Bill took a nap while I drove.  We’ve stayed many times at Twin Acres Campground and they had a nice pull thru full hookup for us as usual.  I had made a mistake when booking and did 3 days but Bill noticed on my itinerary I had listed 4 days so he had called yesterday and asked if they could add a day.  She called back this morning that it was no problem, “whew”! 

We didn’t get to do much relaxing as Bill had scheduled us to have dinner with friends of his, Clyde and Jane.  Good thing I had a low point lunch!  I went with the Shrimp Cocktail which is my Mexican “go to” meal since I joined Weight Watchers.  It was delicious, filling and lots of shrimp and avocado.  We spent about 2 hours with them, catching up and as always they laugh over some stories of their “old days” together. 

Before heading to the RV I wanted to stop at Meijers, which is similar to a Target, so get some Ohio State stuff for my son.  Bill found some Detroit items for himself as well and we got 2 insulated mugs with camping motif on them that I think I’m going to love!

It was nice to get back to the RV and just relax!  The best part is we will be here 4 nights so I can get caught up while I have good WIFI!

Friday the 13th Hit Early and "Annie get your gun"

Captains Log May 13 – I wish I could blame my “worst ever RVday” on it being Friday, the

Last house Annie lived in

13^th, but since it’s only Thursday I have to suck it up and take the blame.  The campground we were in last night had a VERY narrow entrance and equally narrow exit with some kind of heavy duty plants growing along the passenger side.  Yeah, I guess you know where this is going.  I needed to do a bit of a swerve to make the turn out on to an equally narrow road and I scraped the side of the RV from about 2/3 of the way.  At one point it became 2 scrapes and broke the tail light and continued to scrape Bill’s truck AND break his taillight and the cover to the sideview mirror.  Never have I been in an accident and the only time I hit something was a tree in my driveway because I backed out the opposite way and didn’t think about the tree.  The good news – if there is any – is we had a new roll of duct tape to keep the tail lights from getting worse.  Once we parked for the night, I called my insurance company and started a claim.  I’m not sure if its good or bad but my coverage with that company ends tomorrow!  I should hear from a claims adjuster tomorrow.

We were on our way to Greenville, OH where we parked the RV at the Garst Museum where

Memorial statue

they have a wing dedicated to Annie Oakley.  We had to unhook the truck to park, which was an issue today as well, then Bill did the taping repairs.  We decided to go ahead and have lunch, I think Bill thought it would make me feel better to eat out, but it didn’t.  I’m very disappointed in myself!  I will be looking at that damage every day of our trip since we won't get it fixed until we get home.

We had a nice lunch at the Montage Café which the museum lady recommended.  I had crab salad (fake crab) and ham salad and both were good but the crab salad was delicious!  I wished I had gotten both crab!  Bill ordered a BLT that came with a side and he could only eat half of the BLT and he said it was good so he has a lunch in the fridge.

We stopped at the tiny corner park dedicated to Annie Oakley, in addition to seeing the house she last lived in, the house where her funeral took place, A Historical Marker, we thoroughly

Museum display

enjoyed seeing her's and her husband Frank Butler’s photos and memorabilia.  She and Frank died 18 days apart and they did not have any children but are said to have doted on their many nieces and nephews.  I had read a lot on her while researching where and what to see and she was good person who worked hard for her family as a child and in her competitions.  She became a sharpshooter from hunting to feed her family and sell the meat to support them as well.  It’s certainly worth reading about her.  After retirement she taught young girls in Greenville how to shoot.  They traveled all over the world with her performing and had a great life.  Once we drove to our campground and got

One of her rifles and photos

settled in we took the truck and drove to the cemetery where they were buried in her family plot.

So our day ended better than it started but I’m still going to have to look at that damage all summer! 

National Air Force Museum

Captains Log May 12 – Brrrr!  It was a cold night and we left one window partly open and it was 41 degrees this morning!  That first cup of hot coffee was truly welcomed!  We didn’t have far to drive today so even though we were up early we literally “chilled” a while. 

With breakfast under our belts, Bill emptied the tanks while I secured the inside and we were on the road at 9:40.  Once again the traffic was crazy on I-75 due to workers present.  We were headed to Dayton and decided to drive the RV directly to the National Air Force Museum.  Bill called ahead to make sure there was appropriate parking and we parked in next to the last lot beside a tractor and trailer.  When we came out it was gone and there was a motorhome in its place.  We were required to mask except during the movie.  Bill wanted to see the 3D movie on Normandy, especially since we’ve been there and it was fantastic!  It was extremely well done and worth the time and money.

I didn’t have a huge interest in the museum so I told Bill to chose what to see.  We started in

Presidential plane

the history of air flight so of course I knew all about The Wright Brothers!  There are planes everywhere of all sizes, on the floor and hanging from the ceilings.  Planes from lots of countries.  They were pretty interesting and seeing the modifications over time.  It’s not proper to say that Bill is a fan of WWII but he’s very interested in it since we also visited Dachau and Bergen Belsen concentrations camps.  That is a depressing story all over again.  I also learned a lot more about the Bataan death march.  What a sad mess that turned out to be!

The museum is huge and to really see it you need a couple of days and good walking shoes.  We spent some time in the space section and saw the rockets that lift off and a mock space craft, toilet and all!  There also is quite a collection of Presidential aircraft on display and normally you can go in a couple but most of those types of displays were roped off at the

doors.

All in all it was a great afternoon and we even enjoyed tasty turkey wraps in the little café.  The walk back to the RV could have been shorter but it was still there!  We headed out to Enon Beach campground in Springfield, OH.  We have a nice pull thru for the night.  Quite a bit of road noise but super convenient to get on the interstate in the morning.

Today was the latest we got to a campground but it was OK.  I had pre-planned dinner tonight and had a quick simple meal when we were ready for it.  There’s no WIFI here so I will wait until tomorrow’s adventure is done and see if I can post 2! 

Made it to Ohio!

Captains Log May 11 – Another challenging day!  It was a bit nippy when we got underway    at 9:19 this morning.  Bill did his thing outside and I secured the inside.  Then it was a mile back to I-75 on our journey north.

Heading into Cincinnati

Traffic wasn’t as bad but there were some slow downs as there is a lot of work going on along the Interstate.  The plan for over night was a Flying J in Kentucky just before crossing the river into Ohio.  Bill found a free campground sponsored by FMCA, which is a camping membership which we are members of.  He was under the impression it was just outside of Cincinnati.  Well, it was a stressful drive just getting across the river, and then the roads were crappy and narrow thru a small town.  There were numerous turns and by the time we got here and Bill agreed had we known how far out of town it was we would have stayed at the Flying J.

It is a really nice place with full hook ups for 12 and another 10 sites on asphalt with electric

Backed into our spot

only.  The sites are concrete with some well manicured grass at each site.  We could stay 2 nights free and a great rate for longer but we only needed the one night. 

We were surprised that it was was pretty nippy out but at least the sun was out.  No needing the AC today!

Bill went for a walk about while I got out my laptop and did some calls, texts and emails.  Once he got back I spent a LONG time trying to get CBS on the antenna TV so we can watch NCIS tonight.  I was light a dog with a bone, I was not giving up as we could get ABS and NBC so why not CBS!  Finally success.

Since we stopped so late in the afternoon I didn’t get to take chicken out for dinner but I had 2 frozen stuff chicken

The tiny opening I had 
to drive thru to cross 
the bridge.

Since we stopped so late in the afternoon I didn’t get to take chicken out for dinner but I had 2 frozen stuff chicken breasts so I put them in the toaster oven and steamed fresh broccoli.  Yummy and easy!  Then Bill washed the front of the RV before time for NCIS.  Time to post and watch our show!