GOD PROTECTS THESE PEEPERS!

I was 1 day away of being blind in one eye....and I didn't even know it. How bizarre!
Yesterday, I started getting some funky problems with my vision in my left eye. But I was busy...no time to do anything today....maybe next week



Then it started to be like a veil over my vision. Well, I guess I'll call the doctor and make an

appointment for next week. Well....nobody would let me wait! Why wouldn't anybody let me put this off until next week??? Chris, the doctors, and then the retinologist in Fort Wayne. They all just said "Go! I'll call ahead and they'll be expecting you."

Self portrait at Thanksgiving with my honey of 39 years!

It turns out that I had a detached retina! It just happens as part of aging that the vitreious humor (that liquid stuff in the eye ball) shrinks as we get older; but mine stayed stuck to the retina...and eventually it ripped! And as I found out that if I had waited, I would be blind by the next day or two!

The retinologist in Ft. Wayne did lazer surgery on me. A totally painless proceedure. This whole situation was painless....but a little disconcerting with the vision deficit. It'll take a few months for my vision to straighten out as much as it will. Perhaps not as good as it was, but certainly not blind! Praise God! and my sweetie.

To those who have enjoyed this blog in the past, traveling to Alaska and back....I'm resuming this blog again because I have been encouraged to do so. I personally don't think that many other people would be interested in reading this blog....but I'm doing it. Enjoy if you wish. But, be sure that I will write all about our next adventure on the road....which is in the dreaming stage right now. Stay tuned....

GOD'S WONDERS

Was doing a little scrapbooking on our summer travels. This one has been rolling around in my mind for a while; finally got it done. Very simple page. But God doesn't need a lot of embelishments, does He? The only thing that would have made it better would be for Denali to be the centerpiece of it.

THE JOYS OF HOME

I had a wonderful suprise in the mail today. A flag was sent to us by a soldier from our church whom Stephanie and I have sent CARE PACKAGES to while he is in Iraq. I never believed we would receive something as wonderful as this, with the certificate. (I covered his name, just for his family's privacy) Home is a wonderful place...in great part d/t the selfless soldiers we have who protect us and keep this country free. In case you can't read the certificate:

"To All Whom May View This Flag Greetings:

Know that on the 27th Day of August 2008 this

flag was flown in the face of the enemy to

protect liberty and freedom for all man kind."

Being home has brought other wonderful benefits:

1. Hugs from grandkids


2. Not having to pay for a shower, nor worrying that it will shut off and leave me with conditioner in my hair.


3. Not having to use a crank flashlight to read my book at night


4. Don't have to empty the porta-potty.


5. Don't have to use a laundromat


6. Can leave Tommie out the back door without worrying if a grizzley or wolf will have her for a snack


7. It's not raining 1/2 of the time!

Things we miss about being on the road:

1. Meeting all the new folks we met on the journey


2. Experiencing the beauty of the wonderful state of Alaska....and then only touched 1/3rd of it! There's still so much to see!

HOME SWEET HOME...3 MONTHS LATER...

We're home!!!!!!! Yup, we chugged in yesterday about noonish. We were ready to be home. Once we turned east and set our target destination as "HOME", we just wanted to get here. There was not much to be seen in the MN, WI, and IL. We stopped to see friends, but other than that, we had traveled and been tourists in these states before. So, 14, 758 miles later,
we do believe we have seen a lot, but not ALL of Alaska. Going back is a definite wish for me.
We talked about what we thought was the biggest animal that we saw. It was a toss up between the bison and the moose. We figured the bison probably weighed more than the moose.This little critter decided to land on our windshield and was holding on for dear life...so I think he qualifies as the "smallest" critter that we saw. (not counting the mosquitos....didn't take pictures of them, just squashed them.

Our statistics on the rain we experienced: 15 days in June; 18 days in July; 7 in Aug.; Total: 40 days. That's 1/3 of our trip it rained; but if we only count June & July, it rained half of the time!

We had scarey moments, like when a cow moose charged across the road merely feet in front of our truck. We read books in the evenings: Chris is on his second book (but it's a huge book) and I'm on my fifth. The inverter in our camper was not working so we had no lights. No problem in Alaska with 24 hours day light, but once we were back in the lower 48, we used crank flashlights.

We don't miss the "pay as you go" showers or roughing it with NO showers. A flat tire, broken windshield and over-heating going over Wild Bird Pass in Idaho (which was 106 degrees!) were some blips on the radar.

We are very glad to be home and we hope you all enjoyed following us along our epic journey of a lifetime.

CHEESE COUNTRY...YIPEE!

This morning, Chris & I bid farewell after a tasty breakfast, to our friends, Ron & Rosanne in St. Joseph, MN. The evening spent with them was loads of fun. Ron cooked up some killer hallibut from Alaska; Rosanne put wonderful fixin's with the hallibut topped off with home made apple pie. Yummy. It had been funny how we had met these folks in Alaska; it seemed as if our sightseeing spots paralleled each others in an uncanny way.
Then we headed out for Green Bay to visit a friend of mine from college over 40 years ago.
We had a fun evening of dinner and remeniscing with Dianna. Our lives sure have gone in different paths....does she look like a karate black belt????

Tomorrow we hope to do some touring of the cheese areas of Wisconsin. Home is beconning to us. Until we "connect" again...

TODAY IS TUESDAY, SO IT MUST BE MINNESOTA

This is not the best picture of one of Minnesota's lakes, but it is the best one that I have right now. They do have a lot of lakes...
It’s getting difficult to remember what day of the week it is…duh…have we been on the road too long? It’s a good thing I have a calendar on the dash in front of me. The road beckoned us at 8 o’clock this morning. Once again the clear blue sky is in front of us on I 94. We finished listening to the Lewis & Clark book. Too bad it’s done; we enjoyed it.We’re going to stop in St. Cloud, MN today to visit the folks we met in the Copper River area of AK, Ron & Rosanne.
Later: We got here early afternoon and have enjoyed the afternoon with our friends. Once again Ron showed how he is a master of deep frying hallibut (Alaskan, of course). Rosanne put the fixins together for a totally wonderful dinner topped off with home made apple pie. Yummy.
So, until we "connect" again....

August 24; What Day Is This??? It Must Be North Dakota

Since we just went to church and then traveled today, I thought I'd throw in another of the beautiful pictures from the EAST side of Glacier National Park. Isn't this just positively glorious?
Got up at 6 a.m. and went to work out in hotel exercise room. Felt really super. I miss going to exercise at the Y. After church we headed down to the Ft. Peck Dam where Dean is going hunting in a couple of weeks. It’s the second largest dam in the U.S. Huge reservoir and recreational area. Then headed East, once again, on U.S. #2. (oops…made an error in my last blog entry. We are traveling on U.S. #2 and NOT on U.S. #12. Sorry folks.) There’s blue sky for as far as we can see; rolling hills and bluffs in the distance by the Missouri River.
Entering North Dakota today. Traveling is flying by as we continue listening to our audio-book on Lewis & Clark expidetion. It’s extremely interesting. We just traveled the rest of the time. No pictures, because there was nothing to take pictures of...make sense? So, we got about 285 miles under our belt today.
Stopped at another very nice campground and we're just chillin' here.
So, until we "connect" again....