The Latest

We left our friends house in South Dakota and headed toward Cahokia, IL near St. Louis.  We stopped in Iowa for one night and then in Missouri for an additional 2 nights.  We finally got to Cahokia RV Parque and spent a week there.  While we were there, we visited my mother, who is not doing very well.  The health center she resides in told us that she has congestive heart failure and is retaining fluids.  Her kidneys do not seem to be working.  We ended up signing a DNR and started to make plans at the funeral home.  She isn't there yet, but I guess it's time to get ready.  We left this morning headed to Branson, MO and as we crossed the Mississippi River, the phone rang and they were letting me know that they were sending her to the hospital for the fluid retention.  They also recommended we seriously consider hospis, mainly for her comfort.  We will have to give that a lot of thought.  This is our site at On Ur Wa RV Park in Iowa followed by our site in Lone Jack, MO.

The next photo is from our site at Cahokia RV Parque.  We had LOTS of power problems at this park.  Our surge protector kept dropping the power.  Come to find out, the power was a steady 132V.  It peaked at 134V.  132Vis the setting that the surge protector trips.  Once we reported it, they tried very hard to remedy the problem,  but when we left they had an electrician at the park troubleshooting the problem.  I'm sure they will get it fixed  should we have to go back to that park any time soon.

While we at Cahokia, we went to Effingham, IL to visit our friend who moved from Jacksonville, FL earlier this year, Dorthy Combs.  It as good to see her.  She is near family now and is in a very nice assisted living center. 

On our way from Effingham, IL to Vandalia, IL to visit my son and his family, we got to see the largest cross in the world.  They do admit that the one in St. Augustine, FL is taller, but theirs has more over all area.

We were able to visit my son and his family.  It was good to see them all.  Here is a picture of the brood!

Of course, while we were in St. Louis area, we did get to see the Arch, and while in  Collinsville, IL we got to see the largest Catsup bottle in the world.

Here is a picture of my mom on her good day.  She only had one good day while we visited her.

Then, while at a rest area in Missouri, we got a call from a friend of ours from our Good Sam Chapter, Rich Gaven, letting us know that his wife passed away this morning.  Needless to say, this has not been our finest day.  I ask that all of our friends include Rich and my mom in their prayers.  I know they will both appreciate it.
We plan on being her in Branson for 6 nights then headed to Millington, TN where we met and were married.  It should be interesting to see the old base and how it has changed.

I guess that's about it for now.  Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

PS  Still no ham license upgrade in the FCC system.  I'm getting worried that it was lost in the mail.

The Latest

Once we left Hart Ranch in the Rapid City area, we headed East toward Kennebec, SD KOA.  We spent 2 nights there.  The park was ok, but, in our opinion, not $40+ per night ok.  In defense of them, they just suffered a lot of damage to a small tornado.  They had a resturant on the grounds as well as a pool, mini golf course and playground.  I guess its nice for that stuff, but we rarely use those types of amenities. 

We spent 2 nights there then headed to our friends house in Springfield, SD.  They live in a rural area on a little over 3 acres.  They have a really nice house and large barn/garage.  I had not seen Bill & Donna in over 34 years, so it has been really good to catch up.  While we were here, Bill arranged to have his Ham Club testing team to administer an Extra Class test to me, which I am pleased to say, I passed.  I really appreciate Fred, Bruce and Bruce taking time from their busy schedule to administer the test to me.  I will not submit paperwork to be a VE to administer tests with the ARRL.  Sometimes it's not easy to find the proper amount of certified testers to give exams, so hopefully I'll be able to help in my travels.  Bill & Donna have been super hosts, and when we leave, we will miss them.  These will be memories we will never forget,

We will be headed out soon and headed toward the Swansea, IL area (Cahokia, IL Campground) to visit my mother.  Then on east on I-70 and visit my son and family and an old friend, Dorthy that moved up to IL from Jacksonville.  They we will be headed toward the Georgia Good Sam Samboree.  We only have about 8 weeks to get there.  It's great not to be in a hurry!

Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later

Great Tour Today

We arrived at Hart Ranch on Tuesday the 7th and this is a nice park.  Our site is fairly nice and the amenities seem to be really good.  The only bad thing that we have found is the water pressure starts out good and quickly goes to next to nothing.  Here is a picture of the site we are in.

Today we took a tour of Mt. Rushmore, Iron Mountain Road, Custer State Park, State Game Lodge, Needles Highway, Sylvan Lake and Crazy Hourse Monument.  We departed from Ft. Hayes, which is where the office of the Major in Dances With Wolves was shot, with Keven Costner.  It was quite an experience.  We started with all you can eat pancakes.

We first headed to Mt. Rushmore.  This is a place that is certainly one that you want to make if your ever out this way.  We even took the presidents walk, which was nice until we had to take all the steps up, but we made it up.

Next we took Iron Mountain Road, which included a lot of switch backs and 3 tunnels.  I sure wouldn't want to take my 5th wheel down this road.

Next we enjoyed Custer State Park.  This was a nice State Park, that then goes into a wildlife refuge.  There is a LOT of nice scenery here.

Next we had lunch at the State Game Lodge.  A nice place.

After lunch, we traveled Needles Highway.  The tunnels here are very narrow.  One was only 8'4" wide.  The bus before us went through and I got some shots of it.  We were a lot shorter, but just as high and just as wide.  Our driver did a great job!

After the nerves settled down, we went to Sylvan Lake.  This is a nice lake.  You may recognize one of the pictures from National Treasure II.  When Nicholas Cage reached into the rock for the lever, this is the rock they were on.  Kind of neat!  The gift shop had some neat stuff too!

 The last place we visited was Crazy Horse Monument.  This is a work still in progress and has been for over 70 years.  We have decided that we will ask our grand children to take pictures when it is done, as it probably won't be in our life time.  This is one of the must see places our here!

This was really a busy day for us.  Tomorrow, we will probably go to the local Air Force Base to the commissary.  We head East on Monday.  Will be visiting an old Navy buddy of mine that I have not seen since 1981,  Will be good to see him.
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later!