Little Rock, Arkansas

Thank you! My prayers were answered. I had a beautiful day of driving from Kentucky to Arkansas today. My room at my hotel last night was on the 2nd floor and apparently the man on the floor above me had to empty his suitcase, one piece of clothing at a time. He must have walked a mile across the floor and he was no light weight. He got up at 6 a.m. and so did I. I had my shower and my breakfast and was on the road by 7:30. The drive was uneventful, thank goodness. I will say though that Obama could send a little more stimulus money to the highway department in West Memphis, Arkansas. That bridge still hasn't been fixed and I've been on it 3 times now in 9 months. I'll be up for my drive of 4 and a half hours tomorrow. I cut off some driving time by doing most of the driving in the first two days.

On The Road

Here I am in Shepherdsville, KY after a looonnnnnggggggg drive today. I am on my way to Dallas to spend a few days with my mother before she has to have her hip replacement on Mon. the 27th. I started out at 7 a.m. thinking I would be in Louisville by 3 or 4 p.m. Ha! I got about 10 miles down the road when a truck and trailer pulled out in front of me on route 6. That just happened to be a truck from the Kelly Miller Circus heading west in front of me and never going over 40 miles an hour on a 55 mph road. I followed it to Union City and didn't get to Erie (a 50-55 min. drive) until 8:40. I zipped thru Cleveland and headed south on 71 passing by Medina waving to my in laws, "hidee ho family" as I sped by. I stopped for a leg stretch and gas in Lodi. Hey gas is 2.35 a gallon in Ohio folks. Then as I drove south of Mansfield I passed a van on it's way south but what made this van special was that it had Zem Zem Warren County Hospital Transfer van. Our next door neighbor, Ron Christy, is a Zem Zem and has the little motorized car that he rides in parades. No, that wasn't him driving the van, but what a small world. Two hundred plus miles from home and I see a Warren County van. The next town I came to was Columbus, Ohio. What a hold up. I followed all the signs and ended up taking I 71 south which turned into 70 East. I wasn't on 70 East more than a few min. when I thought somehow I had done something wrong. I was heading East instead of South?????? What happened. Then I was on I 270 which I knew went around the town. I knew I was not where I was supposed to be so I exited the freeway, ended up in a detour on route 33 and in a neighbor gas station, staring at my maps. HMMMMM?????? I decided to go back the way I came and after about 15 min. I ended up doing a complete circle right back to the same gas station. I decided to make a right this time and try another direction with a prayer asking for guidance out of there. It was long before I found I 70 East again, which took me to 270 again, and I decided to stick it out because I knew I270 circles the city and it will end up intersecting I 71 south at some point. I thought it might take me all day to find it but I was determined. Actually, what really had happened was the roads had taken me on a detour originally and I should have just stayed on the freeway for another 2 miles and I would have seen the signs to Cincinnati. Good grief!!! Another hour wasted.

Finally I get to Cincinnati but did I say that I had been driving in rain, rain, and more rain since Akron? After I passed through Cincinnati, it wasn't 15 min later and I was in bumper to bumper standing still traffice for at least 45 min. 10 miles because of an accident way up ahead. HO HUM WHEN WILL THIS END???? I thought. I had another 100 miles to go before I reached Louisville and I counted every mile. I wanted to get to the southern part of Louisville before stopping and I sure was tempted to stop at several hotels but I pushed on. I'm finally here and not until 6pm. My legs were like rubber and it is still raining but I have a nice room, I've talked to all the family, my nightie is on, my tummy is full and now I can play on the computer til I can't sit in this chair anymore. Tomorrow... my destination goal is Little Rock. We'll see.
Oh, and wait til they see me in Dallas. I'm bringing home grown sweet corn, and homemade strawberry jam.

No pictures for today's blog. How can I send pictures of my farm in Farmtown on Facebook? I'm sure there is a way. I have been on Farmtown most of the morning planting raspberries. I did do something constructive. I paid two bills and balanced the check book. Now how's that for a retired person's day? Michael and I plan on taking Debbie to dinner tonight because she is such a help when we want to leave for a day or two. She gives my baby his insulin in the morning and evening when we are gone. The last time she did that, she even cleaned the house a little and wouldn't take any pay for it. I think a dinner is a good start for repayment for her good deeds.

A Mini Vacation

Michael and I took a short trip to Johnstown, Pa. over the July 4th weekend. We toured the Johnstown flood museum which chronicled the 1889 flood when torential rains fell and broke the damn (not the first time) that held an artificially made lake. Johnstown got the brunt of the water flow and it killed over 2000 people. After we visited the museum, we went into the town and found the cemetery where 900 graves are marked in an unknown plot of those they couldn't identify. I also found a memorial to civil war soldiers in the cemetery. Quite amazing. We spent some time looking around the town of Johnstown and found an incline similar to the ones in Pittsburgh but this one carries cars and people up and down the hill. Of course, we had to ride it to say we did. We were going to have lunch at the top but it was a little too pricey so we did Mickey D's instead. We passed through Punxsatawny (spell that real fast ten times) and I had to make the driver take a detour up to Gobbler's Knob where the famous yearly Groundhog Day is celebrated. I think he got it right this year. Our 6 more weeks of winter is still here. I've had a blanket on at night for the last few weeks. I just can't wait to get to the Texas heat...NOT! Going UP! The incline in Johnstown, Pa. Michael in front of the incline carriage. This takes cars and people up and down the hill in Johnstown, Pa. Gobblers Knob, sight of the famous Phil who lets you know how much longer winter will last. A wood carving of a woodchuck in Punxsutawny Pa.

Happy Fourth of July

I guess I've been a little busy. I haven't had time to blog so here it is. I've made 4 aprons and 4 hot pads for friends. Three of the aprons went to friends who helped my family during our rough times last winter bringing love and food to the house while we spent a lot of time at the hospital. I thought since they were such good cooks, I would make something they could use when they are cooking for me again, hint hint hint! The other apron went to my friend, Paula. She's a grand ole gal seeing as how she was born on the 5th of July. Happy Birthday Paula! You'll always be older than me :>) !

Penguins Rule!

How could I forget that in the last few weeks we have been busy watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just as I said, the Red Wings were going down. The Penguins took the cup in seven games and played their hearts out. Glad to see it happen not to mention that I won a box of fudge from my friend Tom in Detroit. I say, "Hey, Tom let's do it again next year!" Every year should have the Red Wings playing the Penguins for the Stanley Cup. What a match.

It's Been A While

Since it's been a while since my last post I will try to put the last few weeks in a few paragraphs. Two weeks ago, Stan and Patty from Tennessee came north for a visit with their cousin at Lake Chautauqua. We got to see them over the weekend along with Jim from Ohio. The guys decided they couldn't go without fishing and the gals couldn't go without their guys so we all headed down to Farnsworth for trout fishing. Michael and I brought our chairs and decided not to wade the creek. But we did get off our duffs. We just had the chairs so we could rest and let the fish settle down before another attack. Michael is a great teacher. I caught my first brown trout in my whole life thanks to his excellent instructions on how to handle a line. I'd include a picture hear but it's on his camera and I have no idea how to get it off of there. That will come later. It was a good day for everyone. The Cawleys caught two. The Sysaks caught two. And Jim caught three. He gets the big ribbon of the day. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Brown Run but without fishing success. We just had a bunch of laughs and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

That weekend we got a call from Dallas. My mother did the big no-no. She crossed her legs and dislocated her hip again. After a trip to the ER, the hospital and a week in rehab, she is back home at my sister's until her hip replacement surgery on July 27th. She will be getting home health care until her surgery date. In the meantime, she is to have a heart catheterization on July 2 to test for the severity of her pulmonary hypertension. She has a blockage in the artery that goes to the lung leaving her breathless and with no energy. If the test finds the same results as her echocardiogram, she will qualify (insurance will pay) for very expensive meds to help with the hypertension. I plan on going to Dallas in July and I'm not sure how long I will stay but Michael and I are used to this separation. We've got bill paying, cat feedings, meds and visits to the vet, and missing each other down pat. At least I won't be coming home in the middle of winter. I just have to deal with the Texas heat. Hopefully her recovery will be swift and we can get back to the healing process.

And one last thought. I have missed posting all the blooms on this blog that occur weekly. But resently we have had Azaleas, Rhodedendrons, Peonies, and my Lillies are blooming in the front yard. We took a ride to Jake's Rocks (lookout over the Allegheny Reservoir) last weekend and the Mountain Laurel is starting to bloom.