Days 24-28 - Thursday thru Monday, July 18-22 - At The Branch County Fairgrounds

David and Kathy, my brother and his wife, made it home safely on Saturday, after their two week trip out west. They had a great time.

One of my brother's dogs spent several nights down at the pond while we were there. I thought it was cute when when she found a dirty paper plate somewhere, carried it over to near where we were sitting and proceeded to lick it clean.

Mom & Kathy by the pond.

Colton, one of David's grandsons, rode his mule down from David's house. a piece on the bridle broke and they are doing a temporary fix. Colton is 14 years old, he starts the 8th grade this fall. 

Our time was pretty much take up with more Mom sitting. The weather has been spectacular the last couple of days. We had a campfire Saturday and Sunday nights, and it felt good after sunset.

Today we packed up and moved to the Branch County Fairgrounds camping area, in preparation to our heading north later this week ($30/night for a 50 amp full hook up). We still don't know when we will head north. David and I will meet with people from two different local Memory Care facilities tomorrow. Hopefully that will firm up the date we leave. I'm wondering if we, or at least David since he has Mom's Power of Attorney, will need to meet with an Elder Law Attorney before we make any decisions on moving Mom out of her house and how we handle paying for the Elder Care.

I flushed our black tank when we arrived at the Fairgrounds but probably need to flush it at least one more time before we leave. I also need to wash both the car and the coach. I'm afraid to run the Flex through an automatic car wash because I thing the "brushes" will break off the electrical plug for the braking system.

On our way to the Fairgrounds we stopped at Tractor Supply and filled our propane tank, it was almost empty. We ran out of propane once and it took 27.9 gallons to fill it. Today it only took 24.5 gallons. We were at Mom's 2 1/2 weeks using propane to run the hot water heater, the refrigerator and for cooking. The last time we filled the tank was in Harlingen, TX on February 27, 146 days ago. Tractor Supply charged $3.29/gal. That is the least we have paid for propane. We paid the guy in Harlingen $4.20/gal, but he came to the campground and filled tanks so that you didn't have to drive somewhere.

We will miss watching the deer while at Mom's. Mid morning this doe walked up  along the lane grazing. I took the photos through the coach windshield.

Clear at the back there is a swingset with shooting targets on it. The doe is by it. I think I've mentioned the old dozer, on the right, before. It was my Uncle Richards. He ran it the doing some grading the before going home and having a fatal heart attack in 1997. My Dad pulled it up to this spot and it has set there since then. The clutches were about shot back then so its only value is a reminder of Uncle Richard.

She saw me get up in the windshield to take the photo.

She continued walking a ways up towards the coach before climbing the hill on the left and disappearing into a corn field.

There are an unbelievable number of deer around here. About 8 of 10 times when you drive to town you see at least one deer. Most of them are within 50 yards of the road. 

Parked at the Fairgrounds.

I walked up to the office to tell them we had arrived. The mini ferris wheel actually rotates.

The flowers along the road to the office are lined 4H flower projects.

I wonder how long it took this young lady to collect all these smooth little stones. To me it looks like a streambed running through her flowers.

We had not managed a meal at the Buena Vista Golf Course yet, so we did this evening. This is the left overs. We had an appetizer of onion rings, they are great. I had a half rack of dry rub ribs. Kathy has a chicken breast with bacon, mushrooms and cheese. Both meals came with two sides. We both had salads. Kathy chose fries while I chose a baked potato. I had eaten a late lunch and wasn't real hungry, which is why I only order the half rack. After the onion rings I could only eat half my meal, Kathy was the same, both will make great "left over" meals tomorrow. My half rack was only $14, a full rack was $22. 

Back at the Fairgrounds we enjoyed the "entertainment". Some type of girls 4H horse program was going on. All the photos were taken from the front of coach.

The next two are blown up a little.

Thank you Lord for another good day.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours, He has blessed me

Days 19-23 - Friday to Wednesday, July 12 to 17 - BORING!!

Kelsey and the kids left last Sunday. Ed and Cindy, and Nancy, two of Kathy's sisters and a brother-in-law, came up one afternoon and stayed for an enjoyable evening.

A "high point" was one evening the generator shut itself off, after it had been running for 12 continuous hours. We had been running it so that we could run the coach AC, it has been hot and humid here. It appears that the "low oil cut off" shut it off. I had checked the oil before we left Missouri and it was almost full. When I checked it after it shut off it was down a quart. I added a quart, started it and it seems to be fine. Since the oil was changed last December we have run the generator a total of 37.3 hours. This may be the most we have ever run a coach generator in a year. A quart every 37 hours of run time seems excessive to me. Today the weather finally got back closer to normal lower Michigan weather. Today's high was 84, last nights low was 69 and tonight's low is forecast to be 56. Normal high/lows are 83/60. Forecast highs are 80 or below for the next week. We are LOVING the cooler weather.

David texted me about noon today. He and his Kathy were crossing Big Mac and heading into Michigan's lower peninsula. They have thoroughly enjoyed their trip out west. They will stay a few days at some property Kathy's family owns near Baldwin, Michigan, before heading back home on Saturday.

On next Tuesday David and I have appointments at two Memory Care facilities in Coldwater. It appears that, depending on the facility and the level of care needed, the cost ranges from $4,000 - $10,000 per month. Michigan appears to have some type of special Medicaid that once your assets are almost totally depleted the state picks up the cost. I'm wondering if we may need to hire an attorney who specializes in Elder Law to advise us.

Hopefully by next Wednesday or Thursday we can finally start making our way up to the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula for you non Michiganders). Learn about the UP from a Yooper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHfGI2k_H7M 

At 9:20PM the outside temperature is 67 degrees with a humidity of 51%. Kathy is still sitting outside reading, wearing a hoodie.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me. A thought that I need to remind myself of more often, "What if tomorrow I woke up and the only things I had were what I thanked God for the day before?".

Days 13-18 - Sunday to Friday, July 7 to July 12 - BUSY

 A lot of stuff going on so I  have not been putting up regular posts. 

David and Kathy (his Kathy) left for out west Monday AM. They left us their Polaris Ranger and one of their cars so that we have lots of vehicles. The Ranger has been a lot of fun. They are having a great time.

Kelsey, Lydia & Nolan came Monday PM (I think) and are enjoying the pond. They went to Kathy's sisters home for one night. They spent part of the day at the lake in Hamilton, IN. 

Mom's old dog was with us down at the pond one day but did not come home that night. We looked at looked but could not find her. Two days later we found her dead. She was in bad shape so its kind of a blessing. 

Mom has been a challenge. Physically she is in pretty good health. She can walk the 200 yards to the pond, and back, without much problem. Mentally she is a mess. After my grandmother died,  30 years ago, Mom moved back to the old home place, where they lived when she was born 95 years ago. Her mind can't grasp the her Mother is dead, nor that my Dad has been dead for 15 years (they were divorced for many years but were friends for at least 5 years before my Dad died). We can tell her and she accepts that they are dead but less than 5 minutes later she starts asking if we think it would be a good idea for her to move back here and live with her Mother. Her brain is locked on the fact that she rents a place, which she did for many years, and regularly comes to visit grandma, which she did. She talks non-stop, just repeating the same things.

We had a day and night with rain from the hurricane. Tuesday night the power went off at the coach and I thought a fuse at blown at the pavilion electrical box. It was raining hard. There is only one circuit that comes from the barn down to the pavilion. It splits into several circuits in an old fuse box. The fuses were good. I unplugged the coach and got out my multimeter. I was reading 250v where it should have only read 120v. I walked up to the barn to check the old fuse panel in the barn. The meter was reading 250v there also. I woke Mom up and told her I was going down to the basement, you enter from outside, to check the electrical panel. I didn't want her to hear me in the basement and get scared. When I grabbed the door of the panel I got buzzed, scared me. I popped it open with a piece of wood and used the wood to turn off the 100 amp main. Then I went outside to look at the service entrance. This is what I found.

I took this flash picture in the rain, at night. The box you see is the meter box pulled off the wall.

I called Consumers Energy trying to notify the of downed lines. What a joke to go through a punch the number system to report down lines. I ended up calling 911 and asking them to call Consumers.

The next morning I took these

The limb that came out of the tree to the left was at least 20" in diameter.

Looking down Mom's driveway.

My brother's grandson lives down the road. He came down and helped clean up. Numerous loads of branches hauled out back and a full load of wood on his pickup.

Fun at the pond. Lydia on a raft.

Nolan learning how to row.

Lunch at the pond

When we were ready to leave Thorntown one of the levelling jacks would not retract. I used a lever and got it retracted. Yesterday I went to Camping World in Coldwater and had them look at it. The told me they were not equipped to work on the levelling system. This afternoon I am at Stoops in Fremont, IN having them look at it.

The waiting lounge.

I am enjoying the quiet, the cool and good free WiFi. I told them not to hurry.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He had blessed me.

Day 12 - Saturday, July 6 - Family Get Together

 It was wet/humid and cool this morning but the day turned out to be perfect for a family get together.

Don't have to call this crowd twice when its time to eat.

Kathy across from my 95 year old Mom.

Can it get any cuter?

It was a great day. Thank you  Lord! 

It is probably our last 4th with our Mom. Her mind is going fast. She was in the coach with us all morning and every couple of minutes would say, "I think I just ought to get my stuff and move up here." We would tell her that she has lived here 30 years. She would wonder why "Momma" wasn't at home and we would tell her that our grandmother died 30 years ago. She would accept what we said but in no more than a couple of minutes she would start the cycle again. Maybe every 10 minutes she would throw in a question asking if we lived in the coach all the time. Yesterday she asked "Are Momma and Daddy were divorced?" I told her yes and that many years after the divorce our grandmother married Carl Herman. I told her they were married many years before our grandmother died. She has no recollection of our step-grandfather, even though he did all kinds of fix it work for her over the years.

The campfire is finally burning, at 10PM. It's 64 degrees and the temperature is still dropping.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 10 & 11 - Thursday & Friday, July 4 & 5 - Parked at Mom's

 Thursday - We didn't leave Mom's all day. It rained some but the temperatures remained in the mid 80's. It was damp enough that we did run the generator/AC for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Kathy fixed a pork roast for supper and we had a crowd in the RV; David (my brother), Kathy (his wife), Colton (their grandson) & my Mom. There was a 45-60 minute fireworks show somewhere at the lake. We could see flashes of the aerial bursts through the trees.

Friday - Mom, Kathy & I went to Coldwater for grocery shopping and lunch. In the afternoon we drove over to Reading, MI and met Cindy (one of Kathy's sisters), Ed (her husband) & Nancy (Kathy's oldest sister). We explored a Thrift Store and the went to the Lone Ranger for supper. It was an interesting place, but not worth going back. My breaded fish was almost cremated. Kathy said her meal was OK.

Then it was back to Mom's. There was another fireworks display somewhere around the Lake. We couldn't see anything this time but we sure could hear the explosions. The last one actually shook the coach a little. Temps were warm and humid. 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 7, 8 & 9 - Mon, Tue & Wed, July 1, 2 & 3 - Nothing to Exciting

 Monday - We just hung around the campground and relaxed.

Tuesday - Kathy had tried several times to call one of our neighbors from Lebanon, but Phyllis did not return her calls. Tuesday morning she went to Phyllis's home and found no one home. She went next door, to our old house, and ask the people about Phyllis. They told her Phyllis was in a nursing home. Kathy went there only to learn that she had moved to a different nursing home. Kathy finally tracked her down and had a nice visit with her. In the afternoon we went to Costco in Indy and then met Doug and Anthony for pizza and salads at Puccini's in Indy. It is one of our favorite pizza places. We went there the first time in 1992. On our way home the car just seemed to veer into a Dairy Queen near Thorntown.

Wednesday - Travel day, 185 miles. We left the campground around 11AM. We stopped at a rest area near Auburn, IN and had lunch. After lunch we decided talked about being sleepy so we took naps before heading on to Mom's. It's so nice to travel in a motorhome. We arrived at Mom's around 5PM. David, my brother, and Kathy, his wife, came down and, along with Mom, we sat by the pond and visited until almost 9PM. 

My Mom's physical heal remains good but her mental health is not so good. She thinks she still lives in Ashley, IN, where she lived prior to my grandmother's death, and that she just comes here for visits. She thinks my grandmother must be working or in town. My grandmother died about 30 years ago. Soon after that my Mom retired and moved here. During the evening she must have asked if we knew why my grandmother was not here over a dozen times. Each time we told her that our grandmother had died 30 years ago and that she (Mom) had moved here soon after. She is surprised each time we tell her. She doesn't argue, she seems to accept what we tell her as the truth but she just can't lock it into her memory.  When I walked her up to the house she wanted me to check to see if grandma's car was in the garage.

Weather here is a little warm and sticky. At 10PM the temperature is 77 and the humidity is 68%. There is a single electrical circuit that runs from the barn to the pavilion. It provides electricity to for the pavilion lights and a refrigerator. There isn't much excess capacity for us to use. It keeps our "house batteries" charged, which allows us to use our 2000 watt inverter to power one electrical appliance at a time. If we want to run the AC we must run our 8KW generator. It will be interesting to see how many hours we put on the generator during the next 3 weeks.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He had blessed me.

Day 6 - Sunday, June 30 - The Lord's Day

Chuck and Rhonda, the friends who had lunch with us a couple of days ago, attend Hope Community. We went there for Sunday morning services. Chuck and Rhonda were involved in pre service activities and didn't know we were there until after the service. It was a FRIENDLY place. At least 8 people came up to greet and welcome us, prior to the start of the service. What a great witness for new comers.

I was a friend of Billy Watts who was the Pastor there when we lived here. I had an office a block of the Lebanon town square and Billy and his wife had a health food and supplement store on the town square. I went into their store one day when I was taking a walk and we met. Kathy and I went to several events at the church and a few services. Billy could sure preach and the Watts family were awesome musicians. There were also some good musicians Sunday, man could that lady  hammer out old time hymns on that piano, my kind of music.

We had lunch at the Chinese buffet in Lebanon. The food was mediocre, not as good as we remembered. Back at the campground it was naptime. Doug and Anthony came up and brought supper, some of the fare that was part of his meal service during the week; feta grits, cheesy jalapeno grits (which I love), pork and cabbage, a salmon dish, and a couple of other things. We had another nice visit with them. We sat outside after supper and by the time they left we were cold. It got down into the low 50's last night, great sleeping weather.

This campground is nice. The weekly rate is $276, including taxes. Below are some photos:

We are in site 291. I think the 4 rows of pull thru sites around us are for people staying less than a month. There are quite a few "permanent" campers, with nice decks and landscaping. I doubt than many live here, especially during the winter, but I suspect that many spend a LOT of time here from April-October. Most of the sites at the bottom of the picture are shaded by full size trees.

There is a lot of green space.

The mini golf area looks nice, especially at night when the structures are lighted. it does cost $2/hr to play.

The heated pool is small but even with all the campers we never saw it crowded. The playground is one of five.

One of the fishing ponds. You are allowed a maximum of 6 fish per day. 

The petting zoo.

Sugar Creek loops around the campground. A brush covered dike separates it from the campground. 

The only negative is that the campground charges guests $5 each to enter, even if they are just visiting campers. For us that seems excessive. It cost us $10 for Chuck and Rhonda to come in for lunch and another $10 for Doug and Anthony to bring us supper last night. I could understand charging for wristbands for people who wanted to use the pool, etc. 

Thank you Lord for another good day. May the Lord bless you and yours. He has blessed me.