September 2010 Journal

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September 23rd

Our trip ended with an overnight stay at Rehoboth Beach. We’ve heard so much about it and figured we would at least check it out before going home.

On Wednesday morning we did a thorough cleaning of the coach before leaving Sandbridge Beach. I know it would be tough to motivate and go back to the coach and clean up once back home. It was nice to have it sparkling clean. We left mid day and drove to a Delaware National Seashore Campground. What a pit it was for our final stay. It was right next to a huge bridge that was being built over the inlet and was pretty much a parking lot with tight spaces and lots of sand. (We had to vacuum again before leaving the next day just to get the sand out of the coach). Luckily we were only staying overnight.

We checked out the beach in the afternoon then headed into Rehoboth for a little stroll and dinner. Most of the shops were either closing or already closed so we didn’t get to do much browsing but we walked around town for a while and checked out the beach. It’s a cute beach town with a small boardwalk area and then a main street perpendicular to the beach. It’s cute but pretty touristy.

We ate dinner at the Dogfish Head Brewery. I had a great wood stove pizza with shrimp, tomato, spinach and pesto. It was so good. We both enjoyed a flight of beer. We ended up bringing home some beer for the boys as we know they love this brand of beer. After dinner we bought some taffy and ice cream then headed back to our little house to bed.

Thursday we were up early and headed home. I had to work Thursday afternoon so the vacation quickly came to an end when I unhooked the jeep on the way home and headed straight to the office.

It’s been a busy few days since we’ve been home. There was lots of unpacking and some laundry to do. We’re getting settled. I was happy to have today (Sunday) to chill out as I worked on Friday and Saturday too.

We had a wonderful trip with lots of playing and look forward to another time when we can get away again. It was so nice to have a few weeks on the road. We’re sorry we didn’t take time to visit people on this trip. There were so many people we could have seen but in the end we wouldn’t have had much time to ourselves and we really wanted/needed to have an anniversary trip just for us.

We love living and traveling in our little house on wheels. It’s so comfortable to come back to your own house wherever you are staying. There’s nothing like your own bed and also nothing like not having to drag things from hotel room to hotel room. The coach is a complete and self contained version of our house at home and we just love it!

September 21st

On Sunday Sept 19th we moved from Myrtle Beach to a small town called Sandbridge Beach that’s just south of Virginia Beach VA. We drove for 7 hours without stopping just to get to the RV Park before they closed at 4pm. We made it 15 minutes early.

 Lucky for us we got a gorgeous site. It sits right on the water of Back Bay. There’s a dock and decking plus our view in front is of the lagoon attached to the bay. There are very few people here and it’s really serene. Sandbridge beach is a small strip of land about three housing lots wide. We’re on the bay side and we can hear the surf from our campsite.

We pulled into our site and before even setting up we blew up Dan’s kayak and took off for a little look around the bay. After our little sight seeing tour we cooked dinner and watched the sunset from our back deck (yes, we also have sunset views over the water). This resort has a few pools and a Jacuzzi so we headed right into the Jacuzzi to top the day off. It’s a lot chillier here at night so the hot water felt good.

Monday morning we got up early and took a bike ride down to the end of the road (about ½ a mile). Where the road ends the Back Bay Nature Preserve starts. You have to pay to get in and can only bike or hike in the park. We took a nice bike ride into the preserve. On our way back we practically road over a water moccasin sunning in the road. It was a few feet long and pretty fat. When provoked he slithered off the road into the grasses and then sat there with its mouth open. We harassed it for a little while then let it get back to warming up. It was a thrill for us.

After our bike ride back we cooked some pancakes and then took a ride to Virginia Beach. It’s a big resort area with lots of big hotels and a boardwalk and bike trail along the beach. We decided to come back the next day for a bike ride and instead headed over to a locals beach called Croatan Beach. We thought we would watch the surfers as it’s a big surfing beach but there were only a few surfers and the wind was whipping sand all over us. We didn’t stay for long.

Near the beach is a Naval base called NAS Oceana. There are fighter jets constantly practicing so we found a nice place near the runway and watched the planes land for a while. What a thrill it is to see those powerful jets close up and the noise is deafening. It was very exciting. We tried to drive into the base but were turned away. The officer told us where to go to watch the planes take off. We headed over there and it was right at the end of the runway. I stood on the seat of the jeep (top down of course) and took pictures of the jets. They are spectacular. I can’t even describe the energy of watching them fly.

On the way home we decided to stop and get some crabs and scallops for dinner. While waiting for the crabs to steam (we don’t have a big pot with us) we decided to have a snack of a pound of shrimp. We came home, took a quick dip in the Jacuzzi then cooked up the rest of our dinner and had a feast. It was yummy and so nice to sit on the deck, drinking beer and wine (I drank a whole bottle of wine by myself) and gorging on crab, scallops and pasta. Yummy. After dinner some neighbors dropped by and it was nice talking to them for a while. It was back to the hot tub after dinner then off to bed.

This morning we hopped in the kayaks and paddled around the bay for a while then took our bikes down to VA Beach to ride the bike path by all the resorts. We stopped and had some cocktails and fish tacos then headed over to the base to watch the fighter jets again. They really thrill me!

Late afternoon we went to our beach and watched the surfers and dolphins play then headed into the hot tub to warm up (days are very warm here but nights are chilly) and straight out to the deck with some Guinness and brie cheese for a snack, that eventually turned into dinner, while watching another spectacular sunset.

Our trip is coming to an end. Tomorrow we are going to drive up to Rehoboth Beach Delaware and then head home Thursday morning. I have to work Thursday night. It’s been a great trip. We are so blessed to be able to take this amount of time off and really relax. It’s so nice to have a good long break sometimes.

September 18th 2010

Myrtle Beach has been good to us. We pulled into town on Monday evening expecting to get a nice camp site at Huntington Beach State Park but found out that there were no sites left. Bummer, we didn’t expect it to be so crowded on a weekday after Labor Day.

We ended up at a huge park called Ocean Lakes and as we expected, it was huge and the sites were really close together. I think they have something like 3500 sites and they were pretty much filled (imagine at least 6000 people all crowded into a small area). At parks like this there are so many people and golf carts driving all over. You have no privacy at all. It’s not our type of camping, especially after coming out of the mountains and our beautiful campsites there. The good thing is that we had a place to park with full hook ups and that was good!

The first night Barb and Shelly (Dan’s dad and wife) came over for a little visit. Tuesday morning we got up early and went to the beach for some sunrise yoga and a jog. There’s nothing like practicing in nature.

We met Barb and Shelly that morning for breakfast and then Barb and I went shopping at Pawleys Island. We all ended up back at their house in Murrells Inlet in the afternoon. I gave Barb a massage and then they took us out to an awesome dinner at a restaurant called “Twelve”. I had a scallop dish with crab risotto which was so good. Dan and I stopped off for a game of miniature golf at Gilligan’s Island after dinner. I ended up about 20 points over par (must have been the wine), Dan came in under par. It was fun even though I stink at it!

The next day we rented a pontoon boat and headed out for a four hour picnic cruise on the Intercoastal waterway. It was gorgeous and pristine. We turned onto a river and spent most of our time doing a huge loop. The area was completely wild and very serene. It was such a nice day cruising on the boat. We saw two huge alligators and a few more small ones, lots of birds, turtles huge trees overhung with Spanish moss and wildflowers. We passed a few homes and rice plantations on the river that looked awesome.

That night we met Beverly and Ed (Barbs sister and her husband) for dinner at a Thai restaurant in Pawleys Island. It proved to be another great meal and good time.

Thursday morning (our 33rd anniversary of being together-25 years married on August 24th) we got up and moved to a new park which had open campsites. It’s called Myrtle Beach State Park and it is really nice here. The park is right on the beach and the camp sites are all tucked in the woods in a separate area about a 10 minute walk from the beach (and the beach is really quiet). We can leave the window shades open and still have privacy, plus it’s nice and cool and shady under the trees. We got the last site available and have electric service so we can run the AC (it’s really hot down here) but don’t have the sewage dump so we do need to be careful with our water consumption so we don’t have to put everything away and pull out and dump the tanks. I’ve been showering at the camp showers and it’s working out well.

While Dan moved the coach to the State Park I picked up Barb and we went to a beautiful arboretum type area called “Brook Green”. The place is huge and has beautiful gardens with lots of statuary to wander through. It’s really peaceful and we took our time and took lots of pictures.

That night they came to our campsite and we had a nice picnic dinner. We had to sneak our wine in a juice bottle because it’s not allowed in the park. We ended the night by going to the local movie theater and seeing the movie “Taken” which was enjoyable.

Friday was a quiet day. We woke up and took a nice walk on the beach before it got too hot then hung out at camp for a while before taking a bike ride. We rode through the park trails and then decided to go out on the road. It was a little treacherous as there was no shoulder at all but luckily we didn’t have to go far before we were able to take a side road. We ended up finding a park with a huge lake and path around it. Along the path were stations with electronic games called “NEOS”that you could play. We had a lot of fun. I wish we had one at home. There was a giant board with lights on it that would randomly light up. When your color light lit up you had to run to it and push the button to shut it off and get points. The board was about 10 feet wide and we were running back and forth and bumping into each other competing to shut off our lights first. There were about 8 variations of this game each with three difficulty levels and the whole thing was free, why don’t they have that at parks at home?

We went back to the beach in the late afternoon and hung out for a while then we met Barb and Shelly for dinner in Murrells Inlet at a place called “Bovines”. There’s a happening place on the inlet where there are lots of restaurants with a boardwalk that runs along behind them along the waterway. It’s really beautiful and feels like a party place. A lot of the restaurants have outside dining and live music. After dinner we walked along the boardwalk and stopped and listened to a few bands. It was really nice to walk along the waters edge listening to live music. There’s even an island called “Goat Island” that has a herd of goats on it. I don’t know what that’s about but it was funny to see the goats hanging out on their little shady island.

Today is Saturday the 18th and it’s our last day here. We slept in and then spent some time in bed being lazy watching the end of a movie that we had fallen asleep to last night. We finally rolled out of bed after 10:00am and decided to pack a picnic breakfast and go out to the beach before the sun got too hot. It’s much too hot to be on the beach mid day around here, at least not without shade and we forgot our beach umbrella. Dan fished in the afternoon and I tool some quiet time to stretch and give myself a pedicure. While fishing off the pier Dan caught a huge sting ray. Of course he let it go and it was ok but it caused quiet a stir on the pier.

We took a bike ride along a bike trail in Murrells Inlet this afternoon. On the way back we stopped at a cupcake café called NDulge Cupcakes. Ben and Jennifer own the place and make all of their creations totally from scratch.  We bought some cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, and carrot cake, vanilla with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting and rum coconut) for later and then came back to Myrtle Beach and met Barb and Shelly for dinner at Tommy Bahamas. What a great place, pricey, but excellent food and atmosphere. We sat outside and enjoyed our meal on the patio while listening to music. After dinner we all went back to our campground for a campfire and some yummy cupcakes.

Tonight we are packing up and figuring out where we are going tomorrow. It will be somewhere up the coast on the way towards home. We only have a few more days left of our vacation and a few days of driving to get home. Myrtle Beach was fun and it was nice to spend some time with family. We haven’t had a chance to hang out with them for a while and it was really nice.

September 13th 2010

As usual the Smoky Mountains do not disappoint! We are parked at the KOA in Cherokee NC. It’s in the foothills of the Great Smoky National Park and we are just about three miles from the entrance of the park. The whole campground sits in a little bowl with mountains on all sides. It’s a beautiful campsite, nice and clean with paved roads and concrete pads. There’s a nice fishing stream and a few stocked ponds. The only downside to this weekend is that there’s a Harley motorcycle rally in town and they are very noisy in the campground, especially late at night and early in the morning.

On Friday the weather was threatening showers but we decided to take a hike anyway. We drove up the mountain to the Clingmans Dome parking lot and then headed ½ a mile uphill to begin our Appalachian Trail hike across the mountain ridges to Silers Bald.

Once on the ridge, at an elevation of 6500’ we hiked southbound 4 miles to Silers Bald which has an elevation of 5607'. It was nothing more than a small patch of grass about 15 feet across with a rocky outcropping with a survey bench mark and the AT white blaze on it. If you look at the elevations you will see we pretty much went down hill the whole way so the trip back was all uphill. It’s funny that you don’t really notice gentle down hills but you do notice them on the way back up!

The hike was nice and traveled along the ridges and saddles of various mountain tops. There were nice vistas and lots of varied vegetation. The beginning of the hike started in a forest of Frazer Firs and it smelled so good, like Christmas. There were lots of wildflowers blooming and some other type of trees with clusters of bright red berries. We also saw lots of beautiful butterflies and I tried to get some pictures of them but only got one as they kept flying away. We did see one small snake and a big pile of bear poop but no bears. I was hoping to see one but no luck. After we passed the shelter the woods became mostly deciduous with lots of beech trees.

About half way through our trip we stopped at the Double Spring Gap Shelter for some lunch. It’s a shelter for backpackers to stop off for the night. We met a few backpackers there and enjoyed lunch with them before moving on. At this point it had begun to rain, nothing heavy but enough to get us wet. We decided to keep going south towards Silers Bald in spite of the rain. I just kept hoping that a thunderstorm wouldn’t come through with us up on an unprotected ridge. Luckily it didn’t and we reached the bald in record time (it’s amazing how fast you can hike when bad weather threatens). It rained on and off most of the way to the bald and the mountain was pretty cloudy so we didn’t get the great pictures we hoped for but it cleared a bit on the way back.

We headed right to the Jacuzzi once back in the campground. It wasn’t super hot but was good to stretch in the hot water and really helped to loosen up our muscles and joints after 9 miles of hiking. Dan ended the day fishing in the local trout stream where he caught about a dozen fish, mostly small rainbow trout. That still equates to a good fishing day.

On Saturday we had a deluge of rain and it proved to be a nice break from busy travel. It also gave Dan time to load our new journal entries on our website. We’re finally caught up! In the afternoon we took a drive to Franklin NC (it’s about 45 minutes away) hoping to see an awesome stone and mineral museum that I had briefly visited in 2006 when I was hiking the AT. It just so happened that we arrived about 5 minutes before closing (3pm closing, who would have guessed on a Saturday too!). We did a quick tour and then had to leave. We found another museum in town and visited that. It wasn’t as good as the first but had some nice stones. The cool thing about it was that is was in a building that used to be a jail. They still had some of the cells (now with shelves of stones and minerals in them) and they had the bars on the windows and doors. We ended the day in Franklin with some Mexican food for dinner and then drove home.

Today proved to be a much nicer day with temps in the high 70’s, beautiful and sunny. We were supposed to leave town today but decided to stay an extra day to go horseback riding. Dan spent the morning fishing and I had my usual yoga morning and then did some shopping in town. There was a nice Indian art store called "Bearmeat's Indian Den" just outside of town that I wanted to see. It was closed yesterday when we passed by. Luckily, I had time today to go over. I bought a really nice fountain inlaid with crystals plus a few other things.

We went horseback riding in the afternoon and enjoyed a nice 2 ½ hour private ride (just us and a guide) in the Smoky Mountains. We rode on a winding path through the woods alongside a stream and eventually came out at a waterfall. We had a little break took some pictures and then headed back. It really was delightful to be out in nature on such a glorious day. We lucked out on the way home and saw a few elk grazing by the side of the road. It’s nice to see these amazing wild animals.

We finished the night with a nice dinner outside, a bottle of wine and a deck of cards. We’re off to the beach tomorrow!

September 9th 2010

Wow, we have had a busy, fun filled, few days. Our trip kicked off last Saturday evening when we drove to West Virginia for a wedding. The wedding was actually in Maryland but the camp site we found in Falling Waters West Virginia was only about a half an hour away and although it wasn’t much more than a parking lot, it did have full hook ups and we felt secure leaving the coach there.

As it turned out it was a very nice place to park. On Sunday morning we realized that we were only about an hour away from the Potomac River. There is a huge park system along the river with the C & O Canal Path. The path was perfect for biking so we headed out for some morning exercise on the trail. We biked to Dam #5 and back. The trip took about two hours. When we got home we only had about an hour to have some lunch and get ready for Melanie and Shiloh’s wedding. Melanie and I met and hiked for a few months together on the Appalachian Trail and I was so excited to get invited to her wedding. I haven’t seen her since 2006.

The wedding was very nice. It was at a country estate where Shiloh grew up. There was a beautiful old stone house situated on rolling acres of woods and fields. They had a huge white tent set up for the reception. Melanie surprised everyone when she did not appear in a white wedding gown but a gorgeous custom gown of crimson trimmed with embroidery and black lace. She looked stunning! Some of my old hiking friends (Step and a Half, Gus, Weeks and Livin) were at the wedding and it was nice for Dan to meet them (and Melanie too) and to chat Appalachian Trail stories with them. The day was gorgeous and we really enjoyed ourselves.

We had a lazy morning on Monday and finally got on the road mid day. We had a long drive to make it to Damascus Virginia. We weren’t sure if we would travel the whole way or not but we did end up doing it. We stopped along the way for a little stroll at the Natural Bridge. It’s a very pretty area with a huge natural stone bridge with a river underneath. The river made the bridge as it eroded away at the rock. There’s a nice walking path that takes you to a waterfall. We also got to see Foamhenge on the way to Natural Bridge. It’s an exact replica of Stonehenge although this one is made of foam. It’s cool!

We finally arrived in Damascus at the Iron Horse Campground around 11:30pm. It was a hassle coming in so late and we probably woke a few people up getting backed into our spot but it was worth it to be there and have a full day on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning happened quickly. We had woken up and were making a leisurely cup of tea while Dan looked up shuttles for Virginia Creeper Trail. He found a place, called them and found out we had to be there in 20 minutes. Our leisurely morning became a mad dash to get out of the door on time. We made it on time and were shuttled up the mountain by a nice guy named Tim in a really cute hippy van.

The Creeper trail runs 17 miles down Whitetop Mountain. For the most part it’s a downhill ride along a river with woods and farms along the way (lots of Christmas tree farms too-this is Frazer Fir country). The area is gorgeous and there were few people on the trail. We stopped and had lunch at the Creeper Trail Café and even tried a yummy piece of their world famous chocolate cake.

Once back in town we took a drive and unexpectedly discovered another place to camp. We quickly hurried back to iron Horse and informed Don that we were headed out. When we were here in 2007 Don and his father Wayne, took us to their buffalo farm and let us feed their buffalo. Don informed me that they no longer had the buffalo. He then opened up a huge freezer and pulled out a frozen buffalo roast and some ground beef for Dan to have. He just might be eating Elvis the buffalo one of these days. Dan loves buffalo meat so he was happy for Don to give him some. Thanks Don!

The new camp ground is called Bear Tree and is part of the Mt. Rogers Recreation Area and is about 10 miles outside of Damascus. It is a pristine wilderness area with immaculate campsites. We had to drive in about 5 miles off the main road to get to our site which was good because you could not hear any cars from the site. We did not think we were going to have hook ups but found out to our surprise that one of the three sites with hook ups (usually saved for camp ground hosts that spend months at a time camping) had just came available 25 minutes earlier. Wow, were we lucky. The site was just incredible, probably the nicest one we’ve ever been in with huge trees and thick rhododendron thickets all around. You couldn’t hear anything but the forest sounds and we had full privacy and were able to leave our shades open all the time.

That night we took a nice bike ride around the campground, played on the tire swings at the playground then headed back to our site for some wine and cheese and then dinner.

We awoke to rain on Wednesday morning so Dan decided to drive into town and make some work related phone calls (no cell or internet up here) and then to go fishing at the lake despite the rain. I had a quiet morning doing yoga and studying a book on Structural Yoga Therapy I had brought with me. It was nice to have some quiet time to myself. I’ve been trying to keep up with my morning yoga practice every day.

In the afternoon the weather cleared and we drove 20 miles up a winding mountain road to The Grayson Highlands. It’s a magical place that feels like the top of the world. I discovered it while hiking the AT. It runs right through the park. I always try to go there when I am in the area. We parked at Massie Gap and hiked up the Rhododendron trail. The scenery in Grayson is awesome. There are so many different colors and textures with big views. The really special thing about it is that there are small herds of wild ponies. We found two herds, one with 8 ponies and the other with 6. There were even some foals and they were just adorable. Of course they were looking for food but I learned the head way last time I was here not to feed them (they got a little bit aggressive with me and I was by myself and vowed never to do that again). After heading home we spent the evening having dinner and playing some Gin.

This morning Dan decided to take a mountain bike ride while I did my yoga. I was able to set my mat outside and it was so nice to practice in the woods. Dan enjoyed his bike ride and was gone for about two hours. He found a nice challenging trail to ride.

We packed up mid day and drove to Cherokee North Carolina. We’ve been here before and really enjoyed it so we are going to stay for a few days and explore more of the Great Smoky National Park. The mountains are huge and it is so nice to feel immersed in them. Looking forward to the next few days.

May 2008 to September 2010

HERE’S WHAT WE DID WITH THE COACH BETWEEN MAY 2008 AND SEPTEMBER 2010:

We had some more bad news in November of 2008 when my father passed away. We drove the coach to North Carolina and I spent 6 weeks living in it while helping my mom adjust to life on her own. It was nice to have my own space during that time. We eventually moved her to NJ where she’s thriving.

The following summer 2009 we parked the coach at the Campground at Sleepy Hollow Lake in NY. It’s about 2 ½ hours away. My brother in law owns a house on the lake and the campground is part of that community. We had a busy summer commuting to the lake for 3-4 day weekends. We spent our time there biking, fishing and just being lazy partying with family.

During the winter we found a cute little campground in Jackson NJ. It’s about an hour away from home and a half an hour from the beach. Each campsite has a Jacuzzi, patio furniture with heat lamp and fire pit. We enjoyed spending occasional weekends there when the weather was mild. We brought our bikes and took them to the boardwalk on the beach, had friends over for picnics and really enjoyed the hot tub. It’s a nice place to have a mini vacation that’s close to the house.

The coach was parked again at the lake this summer 2010. Dan enjoyed the RV although did not spend as much time there as last summer. I only went a few times and spent my summer chilling by the pool. This summer was by far the best I’ve had in a long time!

Post 2008 Trip

Our cross country trip came to a shocking end in May when I flew home to check on my son Keith. He had been sick for over a week with sinus infection symptoms and was not getting better. My motherly gut feeling was to get home and see for myself what was going on. Good thing I did as he was VERY sick and needed immediate surgery to remove a large abscess on the frontal lobe of his brain. The doctors told us he would have been dead the next day without surgery. SCAREY! Of course, you can imagine that was the end of our trip!

 Upon hearing the news, Dan left the coach at Lake Mead and flew home immediately. Keith and I spent 17 days in the ICU and then came home and spent the rest of the year in and out of hospitals and doctors offices. (That’s the short story; those of you who know us understand the harrowing months that followed). Luckily, Keith is happy and healthy today with a new outlook on life.

My older son Nick and his girlfriend had planned to visit us in Nevada the week this all happened so knowing that Keith was in good hands they flew in and packed up my clothes and things I needed and shipped it all home. (Dan had thought ahead and had hidden the keys in the jeep when he left it at the airport so Nick was able to unzip the soft top and get in.

We left the coach in Nevada for a few weeks and when Keith was in the clear Dan flew back out and drove it up to Oregon where he spent 5 weeks getting it serviced and some warranty repairs at the factory before bringing it home.

I mentioned in a past entry that while in Nevada we also spent some time at the Red Rock Canyon. It’s about a ½ hour drive outside of town and is such a pretty place to visit. We happened to visit at the perfect time of the year. The desert was in full bloom. It was gorgeous! There were flowers everywhere. I understand there is only about a three day bloom time so we hit it on the peak day. There were also the cutest little burros hanging around the park.

The Red Rock Canyon was formed out of 180 million year old sand dunes and the colors of the rock are amazing to see. It’s an outdoor enthusiast and rock climber’s haven. We spent a lot of time 4 wheeling the jeep up narrow canyon passes and just hiking around exploring the area. We even saw human hand print petroglyphs on the stone along with remnants of ancient Indian civilizations.

After a week, we left town and headed to Lake Mead. It’s on the Nevada-Arizona border and is just outside of Las Vegas. The famous Hoover Dam is there and is just tremendous. There is a power plant with power lines everywhere and now a huge bridge where the highway crosses the Colorado River bypassing the dam for travelers leaving Nevada. The bridge was being built when we were there and is pretty much finished at this point. It’s crazy to see what we humans have done with such a pristine wilderness.

We parked the coach at Lake Mead Campground and got a beautiful site overlooking the lake. The plan was to kayak the Colorado River for a few days so we spent the day exploring the drop off and pick up locations for the boats. We had a local company that was going to provide portage for us.

Later in the afternoon we had an interesting time with a hysterical little boy that was lost. He had somehow gotten separated from his brothers and was scared out of his mind. I walked him around trying to find his parents while Danny drove the jeep around the campground looking for them. After about an hour we finally found them. The poor kid sobbed the whole time and we felt so bad for him. I’m sure he will not easily be separated again.

It was after dinner that evening that I spoke with Keith and made the decision to fly home. I was on a plane within two hours and really glad that I made the decision. I was sad to leave the pretty bouquet my son Nick had sent me for Mothers day as I had just received it that morning (and didn’t realize how truly sick Keith was) but in the end THANK GOD I decided to fly home. Instead of saving my sons life on Mothers Day I would have lost it instead (that’s one Mothers day I will never forget)!

Past Journals

July 2011

June 2011

September 2010

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

December 2007

November 2007

October 2007

September 2007

August 2007

July 2007