West Omaha KOA, Gretna, NE

 

Have you missed me? I have been remiss in my posting so I better get caught up.

Most important is Sarah is doing GREAT. She is beginning to tell me to bug off, so I know she is feeling better.

We have met with our friends Cindi & John Cline, we worked with them in Mesa a couple of years ago, had lunch at Tanner’s Bar & Grille, it was a nice place and the food was good.

Got myself signed into the VA in Omaha, I need to get a physical before we head south and so I can get my prescriptions set for the next year. I was amazed at the size of the place, it will take a bit of wandering and asking questions to find my way around the place.

Merilee stopped by to see Rusty, their son he is an OR nurse at the Univ of Omaha Medical Center. We had dinner with them at Mimi’s restaurant.

We went to Wisconsin to see Robert, Sarah Ann, Mason & Madyson. We left here on June 21, Sarah had an appointment with the radiologist in Des Moines and we met Cynthia for lunch before heading on. Our purpose for the trip was to watch Madyson in a dance recital. I must admit I was apprehensive about sitting there for two or more hours but it was fun watching everyone and especially Madyson, she is very good. The other purpose for the trip was to watch Mason play baseball. He has really improved since last year, he played second base and the outfield this time and did well at both positions.

He is switching over to the catcher position, his dad played that position, so when we go back later this month I will get to see him catch. I am looking forward to that.

We stopped for the night at Carl & Merilee’s, waited up until Carl got home from work at midnight or there abouts. The next morning we all went for breakfast and then we headed west.

Sarah’s big day was Sunday, her birthday. We celebrated with Daniel, his birthday is Jul 2. He and I went to Costco and bought some ribs he wanted to try out his new smoker, the ribs were great. We had a house full, Marie, and the kids, Emily, Isabel and Eli, also Ernie & Shirley, my aunt & uncle, Eddie & Elia, Marie’s parents and Rusty. Marie thank you for letting us all invade your house.

Today I cleaned the car and exercised the truck. Now I am going to read for a while.

One more thing, as most of you know I drive for Enterprise car rental, shuttleing cars to dealers and branch offices etc. One day last week we were returning from Des Moines and stopped at the rest area, IA mile marker 20 and I saw this sign

Now does anyone believe a sign was necessary, well maybe for some people. We stopped there again and a new urinal was installed, but come on…really a sign?

Dreams Do Come True

Gretna, NE

Sarah is continuing to improve more and more with each day, in fact she now has more hair than I do and even had to have it trimmed. We are very thankful each day.

Friday, May 31, we met Norma & Orren at Smokey D’s, my favorite BBQ place in Des Moines, there isn’t one here in Omaha so I will have to find a favorite BBQ place over here. Anyway we had a great meal, Norma ordered the tenderloin, it is homemade and very good.

We are the West Omaha KOA in Gretna, NE, this is our home when in the Omaha area, they have full hookups and are the only ones in the area with full hookups, but then I have told you all of this stuff before. We arrived here a week ago last Saturday from Des Moines. It had threatened to rain that day so I did some prep work to get ready to leave the day before but then it turned out to be a nice day for traveling. It was only a two and a half hour drive so not bad, the weather was good when we arrived and we were set up in a relatively short time. We are in the same site we have been in for the last three years with one exception; it is a back in site. For those who live this way, you know there are times when you hit it just right and you are in the site in just a couple tries and other times it seemingly takes forever and then it isn’t just right but you let it be anyway. I hit it with three tries, I felt good about that.

It is good to see the grandkids and be around them more. Daniel and family are all moved into their new home and getting adjusted to the new surroundings. I haven’t been able to talk him into giving me a corner of the garage for the stuff we have in storage but I am still working on it.

When we got the camper out of storage, everything worked great except we were not getting hot water out of the water heater, not to my liking anyway. So I called John’s Mobile RV Service he was listed at the office and in the campground brochure. He came out and adjusted a valve, I would have never thought of it, to increase the hot water flow from the water heater and now we have hot water, live and learn. That is the neat thing about living in an RV you learn something new every day.

Last Wednesday I cleaned the car with my DriWash product; it really did a nice job of cleaning it up. On Thursday, I took the car into the dealer to get the oil changed because we were heading out to Colorado.

A few months ago, we received an invitation to Marie’s brother’s wedding in Colorado. At the time we declined not knowing if Sarah would be feeling up to making the drive. Last Monday Sarah found out the grandkids were going to be in the wedding and that did it, we were going if there was room for us at the wedding. After some phone calls Larry & Kayla, the bride and groom, said they would love for us to come out. Then I scrambled to find a room, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Ft Collins, Colo, a nice hotel if you ever find yourself needing a room in Ft. Collins, Colo.

We had a great time visiting with everyone, some of the folks we haven’t seen since Daniel & Marie’s wedding.

Anyway, the wedding took place at the Tapestry House, once owned by a couple from Iowa, www.TapestryHouse.com . “In 1875, their son Eli Asbury purchased land just north of LaPorte and named it Hawkeye Ranch in honor of his family's Iowa roots!” If you go to the website, it will give more history of the house. My one mention of food this time will be the caterer Larry & Kayla had for both Friday night and the reception. It was Main Street Catering, Ken Rosander, Chef/Owner; he did a fantastic job for both meals, www.mainstreetcateringco.com. Of course, I ate too much so the weight I lost has most likely returned I am afraid to get on the scales.

We had a great drive over, $4.699 per gallon for gas, I burn premium in the car, that is the most I have ever paid for gas. We pulled into a station in Ogalla, NE and they told us there pumps weren’t working, their gas price was $4.399, so we went next door and hit the $4.699, I believe they were in cahoots and splitting the difference.

Long drive but we had a very enjoyable time and appreciate being able to be a part of Larry & Kayla’s special day.

When we parked the first night at the Hampton Inn, I didn’t pay much attention to where I was parking and the next morning the car was covered with tree sap. So this morning I get out my Quick Mist from DriWash and clean the car, the sap came off with little or no rubbing, the bugs required a bit more elbow grease but not much. So now, the car looks great again. However, when I was cleaning the car I noticed a piece of the roof rack gone, it looked like h--- so we went to the dealer and $87 later we have a new piece and all is looking good.

I wasn’t called into work today, I am going to drive for Enterprise here in Omaha, but I expect to be called in tomorrow. I know it doesn’t pay much but I enjoy it and it keeps me out of trouble.

The house hasn’t been started yet maybe this week, I told Sarah we won’t buy furniture this year we will wait until next year when we get back, and then we can go shopping.

Last night after we unpacked etc., I was sitting in my chair reading the paper; I always buy the Sunday paper no matter where we are, except on time we were in a town where they had no Sunday paper. Anyway, I was reading and heard this knocking on the camper and I thought maybe something was lose on the ladders or bikes so raised the shades on the back window and here was a Robin pecking at the window. Now the bird must be retarded because he kept it up until dark and was back again this morning. I am sure he sees his reflection in the window and can’t understand why the bird he is looking at seems familiar. I taped some ads from the paper on the inside of the window thinking he would stop, he did for a bit, but I believe he didn’t like what he read and went back to pecking at the window. I don’t mind the pecking, although it is terribly annoying, Ok I don’t like it a bit, but the biggest problem with all this is the dang bird thinks the ledge is his private privy. What a mess, I will have to take some time and clean the camper now. The joys of living with nature.

We are here until July 16, the campground is full then so we are heading over to Crossroads RV Park, in Mt Pleasant, IA where Dave & Sheri are camp hosting again this year. Then it is off to Wisconsin on July 24 and we will stay there until September 2 when we will head back to Omaha and the KOA. October 1 will find us heading for Des Moines and doctor appts for Sarah before we head for Louisiana and Sarah’s brother Bill’s. We are to be in Mesa on Nov 1 and I want to stop in Houston to see my friends Sylvester and Air Force buddy and Jose a college buddy. All of this is planned in Jell-O to make it easier to adjust as needed.

That is all for now remember, Dreams Do Come True.

ALL DONE

Sarah is all DONE with her cancer treatments. It began September 25 last year and finally she finished yesterday, May 29. She is cancer free. It has been a long journey but it was made less stressful by all the wonderful friends we have and their thoughts and prayers for Sarah. A BIG THANK YOU.

I will bring this blog up to date with all those we have seen and been with; if I forget someone, I apologize now.

Sarah had radiation each day, the procedure only took a half hour but with the drive etc., it was an hour. I worked two to three days a week so on the days I worked, she took me to work and then was able to go to Cynthia’s to visit and have breakfast. She would leave about nine to go to her radiation, so she and Cynthia were able to spend time together.

Tuesday, 21^st, Sarah had lunch with Linda, Viola and Norma all worked or are working at Holmes Murphy where Sarah worked.

Wednesday, the 22^nd, we had dinner with Russ & Candi at one of our favorite restaurants, Smoky D’s, http://www.smokeydsbbq.com/. This is a great place to eat when you are in Des Moines.

Friday we went over to Norma and Orren’s to visit. Orren is still recovering from surgery and coming along good according to his doctor. We went out for dinner at Jethro’s BBQ, the food wasn’t too bad but I still like Smokey D’s better.

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we headed east, with Cynthia in tow, to Carl & Merilee’s house to visit for the day, Amy, Clancy and the kids were in town for a visit. It was good to see all of them.

Sunday we met Steve, Lynne, and kids for dinner at Chips in Ankeny. The food is good; we had their Hawaiian pizza, not bad.

Monday we went to Ames and had lunch with Tiffany & Matt and kids. It was a fun time and the food was good. Alexa is making bracelets with her dad and Bryon, how cool is that.

Tuesday, 28^th, Sarah took me to work and went to breakfast with Cynthia at Perkins Restaurant.

Wednesday, 29^th, I worked and Sarah had her LAST radiation treatment. She picked me up at work and we went to her appt with her surgeon and all was well, he said she is healing up nicely from the surgery. She also scheduled appts for October before we head south. Then it was time to celebrate her finishing the cancer treatments so we went to Outback Steakhouse and ate too much, but it was fun.

Today we are doing laundry then tonight we are meeting Mike & Sheri for dinner at the Chicken Coop. Mike gave me a bunch of books to read, I finished half the bunch and am returning all but two, will have to get those to him later.

Tomorrow we are heading east to Newton with John & Kathy and Loretta; she was here in the park when we first got here three years ago. Loretta’s husband Larry passed away last year and she now lives west of here, I don’t remember the town, but it will good to see her. Anyway we are going to Newton to have lunch with Dick & Judi who are camp hosting at the KOA in Newton. It will be good to see them.

Saturday, June 1, we hook up and head for Gretna, NE to the KOA we always stay at when we are in the Omaha area.

As far as I know, they still have not started the townhouse yet which isn’t a big issue because we do have a place to live. I do hope they finish it before we head south in October.

That about wraps it up for now, remember,

Dreams Do Come True

Nine to Go

Sarah is down to nine radiation treatments left. She is tolerating the treatments well, the only side effect so far is the reddening of the skin, the radiation burns the skin, and the itching causes some discomfort but she hasn’t had any other problems.

She had a PET scan before she began the treatments and there was a shadow on the liver, so they repeated the scan yesterday and all is well, it was just a shadow. Thank the Lord for that.

Friday night we went to Prairie Meadows, the local Casino/Racetrack, with Mike & Sheri Cord, to bet on the ponies. There were nine races in all and we didn’t lose all of the money we took but we didn’t come out a head either. My luck isn’t any better at the track than it is in playing the lottery. In one race there were seven horses and the horse I bet on came in eighth, no luck at all.

Saturday we had lunch with Matt, Tiffany, Bryon and Alexa. It was good to see them, all are well and Bryon and Alexa are doing well in school. We had a good visit with them and will most likely see them again in Sept or Oct.

Sunday we didn’t go anywhere or do anything. Kathy & John stopped by the camper today to visit. They brought us a couple pieces of Chocolate Mousse Cake from Costco, it is delicious, the calories will probably kill you but the cake was great.

Yesterday and today I worked and may work tomorrow, if not then, on Thursday.

Sarah is going in to a cancer support group meeting tonight; I am staying home and watching my NCIS shows.

I am cutting this short because I don’t know how long it will take to load with the slow wifi we have here in the park.

Until Later, Dreams Do Come True.

Is it Winter or Spring??

Ok, what happened to Spring? We have thirty-degree temperatures in the middle of the day and about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow on the ground. This is my truck, I looked at the weather forecasts and the temperatures will begin rising tonight so at seven am it will be forty. What happened to global warming?

As stated before we are moved back into the camper, we did find a spoon we accidently brought from the apartment so Sarah dropped it off after one of her radiation treatments. The manager was glad to see Sarah but was a bit surprised we just wanted to drop off a spoon.

Everything has worked in the camper except the leak in the toilet and the water heater isn’t heating as hot as it should. I suppose I could try to fix but I am not as flexible as I use to be so I am going to get hold of a mobile repair guy and have him fix the problems. We are very pleased and thankful we have no other problems with the camper. We have been nice and warm and comfortable here, I did refill the propane tanks, one when we got here and one today, so we have used one tank of propane to stay warm so far.

Last Friday I stopped at Verizon to see about an alternative Wi-Fi program for us, the Wi-Fi at the campground is not good so I am looking for alternatives to the contract type. I have a MBR95 router and USB stick for Verizon but I don’t want to sign up for two years to use it. They weren’t much help in that I can’t use the equipment have, I have to go with something new and of course you have to buy it. So I am still looking.

We met Laurie Robinette and Marci Mallot; I worked with them at Marsh, for lunch. It was great to see them, we had a great lunch.

Saturday, my brother Larry and his wife Kathy were in town to watch their granddaughter, Megan, play volleyball. Carl & Merilee brought their camper over for the weekend so the four of us went to see the volleyball game. It was fun watching, this was a group of fifteen year old girls who had played two games already by the time we saw them, they looked very tired and got beat but it was still fun to see them. Megan’s parents, Andy & Christine, were there so we got to see them also.

Later in the day we went to Cynthia’s where her and Sarah’s brother Bill & wife Mable had just arrived and were going to be in town for the weekend. We went to the Machine Shed for dinner and had a great time. Sarah and I split the stuffed pork chop, this turned out to be the best thing to do because it was the size of two, maybe three, chops anywhere else.

Sunday noon, we met Mark & Sharon Brueck at Culver’s in Ankeny; they were on their way back to South Dakota where they will be working this summer at Sheridan Lakes campground. It is always good to see them.

We had a packed weekend but a great one.

I drove Mon, Tues & Weds, made four trips to Omaha and a couple of local shuttles, about twenty-four hours, it doesn’t pay much but it is fun.

We have a quiet weekend ahead, we were going to the Berkshire-Hathaway stockholders meeting in Omaha and see the kids as well, but Daniel & Marie are going to Lincoln to be in some sort of race so we wouldn’t be able to spend any time with them. We decided to wait; we will be moving the camper to the West Omaha KOA come June 1 anyway, so we’ll wait to see them then.

That’s all I have for now, oh if you are one of the brilliant people playing Candy Crush on Facebook, send me a note; I need lives, lots of lives, thanks.

Dreams Do Come True

Alleluia

The second of three events has now taken place: event one Sarah finishes her chemo, event two we have moved back into the camper, one more to go and we will be off again. Well, actually many people say I am off anyway but that is beside the point.

We pulled the camper out of storage last Saturday and hooked it up, except for the sewer hose, I could not find the elbow that goes into the ground and attaches to the hose, and I looked everywhere and could not find it. I went to four different dealers here in the area to find one and finally found one. So we got all hooked up and we have only one minor problem a very small leak in the bathroom. I don’t know if I will be able to fix it but may try or get someone to do it for me, we’ll have to see how that goes.

It is really nice to be able to sit here in our home and look out the windows at the other campers and the pastures for the cows and horses. We are here until June 1 and then we are off to Omaha area to stay at the KOA until the house is ready. We are going to Mesa this winter, if all goes well, and still travel as much as we can.

The GOOD news is Sarah is progressing nicely, the radiation doesn’t seem to bother her much, they tell her about the third week she will begin feeling tired but it shouldn’t keep her down like the chemo did.

It got down to 29 degrees last night, I let the water dribble a bit to keep the water line coming into the camper from freezing, you folks know what I mean. Tonight it isn’t suppose to go below 32 so no need to dribble again.

The apartment was a Godsend for us and I probably wouldn’t have thought of it if our friends Norma & Orren hadn’t told us about it. I thought it was still assisted living but Orren knew it had been converted to regular apartments; it worked out great for us. It goes to show if you have Faith and good friends, you can accomplish anything.

I took the week off from driving to accomplish all of this and go to my dental appointment tomorrow. The dentist office called to remind me of my appointment, I said I would be there but I would not have bells on, I don’t like going to the dentist. I hope I can find a good dentist in Omaha, one that will give me gas when cleaning my teeth; I cannot have my teeth cleaned without it. I know I am a BIG baby but that is the way it is.

Nothing else going on in our exciting lives, I am beat from all this moving. I have the backseat of the truck loaded with stuff that came from the camper but there is no place to put it now, either the camper shrunk or we accumulated more stuff. Oh well, that’s life I guess.

Later.

Dreams Do Come True

Halleluiah

Halleluiah – it is done, Sarah had her final chemo treatment today. She has an appointment to see the radiologist next Monday and also will have the port removed Monday. The worse is behind her and we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, thoughts and the positive thought patterns you have been sending her. It has helped her get through this, believe me.

Not much else to report, but I am working too much. I worked a whole three days this week, all of them in a row. On top of that, I have the added pressure of keeping up with my brother on the slots and trying to outdo everyone else on Candy Crush. (If you are on Candy Crush friend me on Facebook so I can get lives from you, I need all the help I can get.)

I am in the process of reading some books Mike Cord gave me, he wants them back, so I want to get them all read before we leave Des Moines June 1.

We have Robert, Daniel and Tiffany and their families coming to visit the weekend and Steve and family from KC are coming in also. In addition, Rusty, Carl and Merilee are coming, so it will be a lot of fun. Sarah usually has good days on Sat and Sun so she should be ok with them all here.

Next week will be a rest for her from any form of treatment. We will have to impress on the doctor Sarah has to be done with radiation by May 31 because we don’t have a place to park the camper here in Des Moines after that. I was able to get us into the KOA in Omaha for June so we do have a place there.

We were informed our townhouse hasn’t been started yet so the completion date has been moved to July 1. We don’t mind that because it will give us a chance to observe some of the construction and give us the opportunity to look for furniture.

I am still looking at going from a fifth wheel camper to a motorhome it will depend on what I can find and the cost. It may take a while but I am sure we can find what we want out there somewhere.

That’s all for now – Dreams Do Come True.