Well, let’s see….. last time I posted I was at Brown County
State Park in southern Indiana. A lot has happened since then so I’m going to
keep this brief.
I made it to Illinois in early April and spent a few weeks
at Ronna’s waiting for the state parks to open for the season. On May 1st
I headed for Yankee Springs Recreation Area where I started this adventure in
May of 2013. The RV dealer where I purchased the camper was on the way so I
stopped and had a sealant check done. No charge for this service and no
problems found.
Ronna met me at Yankee Springs for a 10 day vacation. After
she headed home I went south to Goshen Indiana where I attended the Escapees
Escapade Rally. The Escapees are a very large RV club and several hundred rigs
were in attendance. Great rally with lots of informative seminars and a huge
vendor area. I was also able to meet my friend Chris for lunch. Haven't seen her since our dinner in Florida earlier this year.
Between May 16th and June 11th I
visited Kettle Moraine State Forest and Bong Recreation Area in Wisconsin as
well as Rock Cut State Park in Northern Illinois. Ronna, her son Art and his
family joined me for a stay at Jubilee College State Park, IL. We met 2 other
Northwood owners there, James & Kim and Steve & Annette, and we all had
dinner at Gil’s in Hanna City, IL. One day was spent at Illinois Prairie Wildlife Park with Art, his wife and Ronna's 2 granddaughters.
During this period I also managed a sail
with my friend Bonnee in Milwaukee, WI. She put together a crew consisting of
fellow sailors Arlene, Marjory and Chris and we sailed the clubs 30 foot
C&C for a few miles out to the green bell buoy and back.
Photos by Bonnee:
In mid-June Ronna and I again met with her son Art and his
family at Starved Rock State Park, IL. This time my sister Nancy, her daughter
Chris and Chris’s daughter Angie and her boyfriend joined us. I had begun
having trouble with my lower back and right hip just before this scheduled meet
and found it very painful during the trip, to a point that I was almost unable
to walk.
This whole back / hip thing laid me up well into July,
although I did manage another trip to Bong Recreation Area and a trip to the
Milwaukee Art Institute with Bonnee. We had planned on attending the Milwaukee
Community Sailing Centers Moonlight Sail but it was canceled due to poor
weather.
As for the hip / back thing I did see an orthopedist, had 2
MRI’s done, one of my lumbar spine and one of my hip. I also received a
cortisone injection in the right hip as the doc thought the problem could very
well be bursitis which could also inflame the sciatic nerve. But it also could
have been a bad lumbar disk. Got the injection 2 weeks ago and things are
progressing nicely. Still not 100% but getting a bit better every day.
Last week Ronna and I drove out to Amana, IA for the second
annual Mid-West Truck Camper Rally. Some 36 rigs were in attendance, 13 more
than last year. We had a great time seeing old friends and meeting new people.
There was a tour by the Amana Historical Society which took us to a woolen
mill, furniture factory and a brewery. Ronna and I decided to skip the brewery
tour and opted for a lunch of Bavarian sausage and sauerkraut at the Ox Yoke Inn.
A bus was chartered the following day and we were taken to the Northstar
factory for a tour and fried chicken lunch (Northstar builds truck campers). Every night there was pot luck dinner and a
showing of “Field of Dreams” on Friday night at the campground. Ronna and I
were both winners at the Saturday night raffle. I got a new camp chair and
Ronna got a casserole dish with an insulated carrier.
Today is July 30th and I’m camped at Black River
State Forest, near Black River Falls, WI. I’m headed for Atikoken Ontario where
I will meet up with old friends Lenny, Larry, Bob and Scott. We will take a
float plane into a remote Canadian lake for a week of fishing and relaxation.
No phones, no TV, no radio, no newspaper; just a week of quiet solitude and great
fishing. My plan is to be near Duluth, MN tomorrow night and International
Falls on Friday evening. On Saturday I will cross the border and make the final
leg to Atikoken where we will all meet. The
other guys are flying from Chicago to International Falls and then taking a van
to Atikoken. Hope to have some “fish pictures” for my next update.
Hope you are all happy and healthy!
