Hey, I’m still alive and well! The last several months have been hectic in some respects but very relaxing and enjoyable in others. Kay and I arrived in Florida on November 23, 2010 – the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I went to the VA Hospital in Gainesville to effect a change of address to my Aunt Lena’s home in Sanford FL so I could pick up my VA correspondence at her home instead of having it forwarded from Rockford. Here’s a short note for those who know me. I had believed PTSD was all about flashbacks and nightmares but recently learned that insomnia and affiliation difficulties are also symptoms of PTSD. I have been taking a mild sleep aid prescribed by the VA and am feeling much more rested and energetic. I expected my PTSD treatment would ... read more

On Tuesday, October 19, 2010, we crossed the Potomac River on US 340 en route to North Fork Resort in Front Royal VA. Front Royal was selected for its location at the northern entrance to the Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive, Shenandoah’s scenic roadway, follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains southward for 105 miles. There it joins the Blue Ridge Parkway which stretches 469 miles to the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our plan was to migrate south as the leaves changed and to enjoy the colors of fall for the entire trip to northern GA - erroneously believing that the turning of the leaves was mostly latitude-dependent. In fact, leaf color changes are much more altitude-dependent! I didn’t want to drag the Pilgrim along 574 miles of ridgeline and to ... read more

We pulled out of the Hononagah Forest Preserve on Tuesday, September 17, 2010 with an element of mixed emotion. On the one hand, we got a lot of elective work done on the Pilgrim to make it more livable and had several routine maintenance tasks performed to keep her “land worthy” for the next segment of “The Great Adventure.” On the other hand, there were numerous family members and friends we didn’t get to see for a variety of reasons. Without question, we were looking forward to our Washington DC visit. Some time back, I had requested a tour of the White House through our Silver City born and raised US Senator Jeff Bingaman and, while in Rockford, had received word that our request had been approved for Friday, September 17. Also, Senator Bingaman’s aide had ... read more

On Friday, June 25, 2010 we departed the Big Red Barn RV Park in Carthage MO under brilliant blue skies en route to the Stadium RV Park in Independence MO. Our journey north on US 71 only took about 2-1/2 hours; however, we had planned a stop at the Harry S. Truman Birthplace State Historic Site in Lamar MO. John and Martha Truman bought the house for $685 in 1882 before Harry was born on May 8, 1884. They lived there until they moved to Independence when Harry was six. The United Auto Workers bought the house, restored it and donated it to the State of Missouri. Former President Truman attended the dedication on April 19, 1959. Interesting and worth traveling US 71 instead of US 69 between Joplin and Kansas City. Thanks to Irene’s precise ... read more

As I was laying out the route from Russellville AR to the Winn-Creek RV Park and Retreat in Winslow AR, I found there was no uncomplicated way to make the journey without backtracking to Fort Smith. Obviously, revisiting those visual stimuli was not my itinerary of choice. Since I would be pulling the Pilgrim, I wanted the route to be a reasonably direct path over fairly well marked, (hopefully) scenic roads. My concern was that a short segment of the route I wanted to take was shown as unimproved where it crossed the White Rock Wildlife Management Area. Chatting with a local who grew up in northwest Arkansas and still made trips there quite regularly, I found that my desired route was indeed gravel but was well-graded and easy to negotiate - unlike many of the ... read more