Life in the Boondocks

Hey again,

We're parked here at WalMart in Dothan, AL so we can use the internet and phone. We left Three Rivers State Park in Florida this morning at 8 am. Barely getting the car hooked up and holding tanks dumped before the storm hit. It's not raining now and we're heading to Demopolis, AL two days early.

We've seen lots of deer at 3 Rivers and found ticks on US. Terrific watermelon was found along with squash and corn. Fun roads and lots of exploring ahead. I'm hurrying this up so I can hit the road again after shopping at Wal Mart.

Would You Believe?

Would you believe that yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) around 5:30 PM we got a phone call from Boyd's doctor and he said we could leave? AND WE DID!! We left our house this morning at 9 o'clock and drove over to Costco to have our tire pressure raised and away we went. We drove to the Florida Turnpike via the 408 and it was a nice drive all the way here to Suwanee river State Park. We made one stop just south of Ocala to let the dogs out and get a coke. I needed the caffeine since I got up at 5 AM and just couldn't stay in bed any longer.

Around 1:30 PM we were both ready for a bite but didn't want to stop again so had a lunchable (cheese and crackers) en route. We pulled into our campsite at 3 PM and just got set up and the dogs out before it started to rain. Snooze time. Nothing is more relaxing than hearing the rain drops fall while you drift off to sleep.

This state park is very small with only 30 campsites but they do have 50 amps which is great. We are about 15 miles northwest of Live Oak on Highway 90, give or take a few miles. We are parked in site 26 which is just next to a brand new shower house and rest room. Which I will check out soon before dark since my bathroom is full of kitty litter boxes, actually only one but it might as well be 13 with all the trouble it takes to move it.

We have 2 Italian Greyhounds on one side of us, too bad the neighbors on the other side don't have Whippets. Across the street is nothing but woods, a very nice view.

Tomorrow when it sun shines I'll take pictures because we plan to leave Saturday morning.

Photos from past trips

Miller's Ferry Cancelled

Today we are supposed to be moving across Alabama to another lakeside campground belonging to the Army Corps of Engineers, Millers Ferry. We were to have been there for 10 nights and I'm still hoping to catch up before the next move should take place.



Meanwhile, we've been trying to isolate the leak as each afternoon it rains and I think we might have found it. We'll find out today when it rains again.



I've been trying to post some photos of our last big trip but everytime I'm ready to publish the post we get knocked offline for some reason. We'll keep trying.

What's In A Day?

Tuesday and Wednesday flew by so fast I can't believe it's Thursday. We've had some internet connection issues that I hope are resolved now. Everyone knows how frustrating that can become.




Tuesday came too early,with the alarm going off at 5 am. We left the house at 6 and drove without much traffic to the testing place and waited for an hour for Boyd's turn. The endoscopy only took about 10 minutes but actually waking Boyd up was the hard part. The nurse gave me the go home sheet and told me to drive around back and I could pick him up. About 10 minutes later, a very jolly Boyd staggered out the door acting quite tipsy and slurring his words like he'd had a few too many rum and cokes. After managing to stuff him in the car and buckling him in he announced he was fine and could drive. LOL!! He was so funny! As we drove home he would name different things he was seeing and stating that he was completely normal and awake. Now anyone who knows Boyd also knows that he is never quite normal. That's one of the things we all love so much about him.




We drove home and waited about 45 minutes before taking off again for the next test which was supposed to be at 10 AM. This was a doppler study with an ultrasound. I think it was 10:45 when they called him back and said it would take another 45 minutes for the test. I guess that's par for the course so I got to read my book, Princess Daisy. It was close to 12 o'clock when he came out and they gave him a request for bloodwork that we had overlooked. Lucky we were just around the corner from Quest so we stopped there and didn't have to wait. Hallelujah! Then we went to Johnny's for breakfast as we were both really hungry by that time. Needless to say, we took some snoozes that afternoon.





The tests came out with no great surprises although two biopsies were taken and we won't have those results until next week. Tomorrow is another test. My intention when starting this blog was a travel journal not a medical one. But since these tests will determine whether or not we go as planned, I might as well let you know what is going on.

The Unwelcomed Surprise

Well I guess it's my fault, I said I loved surprises and that tonight would probably be one, not only for you but us too. I can't honestly say that it's a real surprise for me though, as I see what is going on behind the scenes and you don't. Hopefully you're not holding your breath to find out where we are since I'm rambling on like this, you're liable to pass out first.



Okay, are you ready????? We're still home....Aw, I can hear you now and I'm really sorry to disappoint you but that's life folks, the real thing. Snoopy and Magic really did get their baths though and they feel and smell so good I can hardly keep my hands off them.



All kidding aside I'll tell you what's happening. Starting in the beginning of June what started as routine bloodwork for Boyd turned into more bloodwork, ultrasounds and cat scans. They came out pretty good too except they showed fluid in the abdomen and bloodwork showed very low protein. Last Thursday his Dr. said he had a call in to a Gastrointerologist for a consult but not to cancel any reservations yet. Friday morning he called and said to cancel for the next 2-3 weeks to be on the safe side. So I cancelled Suwannee River State Park for 7 nights. That's all I cancelled, we'll play it by ear after we meet this new Dr. on Tuesday morning.



So you see, even as I wrote the last post, I knew something was brewing but being the eternal optimist that I am, I had hope that we'd leave on schedule.



We hosed off the rv today trying to find the leak in the front but didn't find it. We're going to have to go to Kissimmee for sure and have it checked out the day we leave here so I've rerouted yet again. We're still waiting for our gov. stimulus check to arrive after getting a letter stating it should be here by the 13th. I'm sure glad I haven't started the mail forwarding yet.

It's late, I'm tired and should have been in bed before now. I'll write a post Tuesday night.

Whoops, we hit a snag!

Things were just moving along too smoothly for something not to happen, right? Right! Judy and Bruce have to work this weekend for starters so we cancelled Friday and Saturday nights at Turkey Lake.

Then, we finally started to get some much needed rain that caused the floor on the passenger side to get wet. I don't know where the water is coming in so we're going back to Camping Connection in Kissimmee. They should know how to find the leak since they're supposed to be the experts. We know water is accumulating in the front bay where the house batteries are but don't know exactly where it's coming in. Better to fix it now than to have a wet carpet each and every time it rains. We'll be in the south for a while so that definitely means rain.

Magic and Snoopy get their baths tomorrow and so do their beds. Samantha's bed and her traveling crate are clean and fresh. Two 40 lb. bags of dog food and 3 cases of KD are loaded in the car. UPS dropped of the Cosequin (glucosamine for Samantha) and SynoviCre (glucosamine for Snoopy) today. My little CR-V got it's scheduled maintenance. The fridge is full of ice cubes. Doesn't it sound like we're ready? Oh, but there's more to do. Loading the bikes on the bike rack and we're really going to ride them this time. Mail forwarding to be taken care of and the biggest job of all is getting the house all clean and neat so we don't have to come home to a big mess. Everything is loaded except for what has to go in on the day of departure.

Our route is getting fine tuned, almost daily, which drives Boyd crazy. It's fun for me though so why not? Too bad we have to be on the interstate when we leave, but it's the quickest way to get away from here and that's my plan. Then we'll take the fun roads. It would sure be nice to find a watermelon stand somewhere. Last summer we camped over the Fourth of July near Ruskin at Little Manatee River State Park and boy did we have some good watermelon. Peaches and blueberries might be ripe too if we're lucky.

If and when we take off Sunday and as to where we wind up that night remains to be seen. It'll be a surprise for us as well as you. I love surprises! This whole trip will be one. Yeah!!

Anticipation

Anticipation, that's the key word right now. Nine days to go and counting, I don't know if I'd feel much different if I was going to be shot into outer space.



We spent all day last Thursday and Friday in Kissimmee moving the RV from one RV place to another. Finally our motor home is sitting in the driveway waiting for us to load it up. It's had it's share of routine wellness checkups just as we have. It ran great on the way home, the new fridge has cooled down, starting to make ice and ready to be filled. A trial load was run through the washer and we have no leaks. Too bad so much can't be packed until the day before we leave.



Sunday, Joey, my Grandson, climbed up and gave the roof a thorough cleansing and Boyd cleaned the rest including the bays. Looks great!! Nice job guys!! It was quite a surprise when opening a bay and finding the cutest little mouse looking at me. I bought some Oil of Peppermint to put on cotton balls which is supposed to chase them away as well as making it smell good. The inside is cleaned and rearranged since we're missing about 4 shelves where the washer is now. It's been easier than I thought it would be since we are not taking as much.



Snoopy's vet visit Friday to have his stitches removed involved yet another quick tumor excision. The report came back today that it was another malignant hemangiosarcoma, at least it was the subcutaneous type, at least for now. He's doing great. Magic's exam turned up nothing unexpected and Samantha is still walking around the house screaming. Both of the dogs know something's up with all the trips back and forth to the RV and they don't want to be left behind.



Monday Boyd and I drove over to Patrick AFB and had all our prescriptions filled and bought groceries and dogfood. Tuesday, reservations were made for the 13th and 14th to go camping at a local park with my daughter, Judy and her husband, Bruce. Judy's birthday is the 16th so we'll celebrate a day or two early along with Father's Day.

We're getting closer.