Fall Already!
This is going to be a quick hello as I really don't have that much to add. We did make a quick trip up to Rend Lake to go fishing. Arnold spent one whole week flat on his back so he didn't get much fishing in. I got to spend a lot of time knitting, which is good as I was working on two KAL's. These are Knit A Longs and were both mysteries. I have finished them both and just have to block them, hopefully today and I'll post some pictures.
One of the designers is having a contest to pick which project she should pick up next. Here is a link to her site.
http://www.nauticalknitter.com/ Go have a look see and pick. We have no idea what it is she is knitting in any of the bags, but she will share after the contest ends.
See you later,
Back Again
Here it is August 2008. Where has all the time gone! After our trip to Mexico we enjoyed family and doing some
genealogy, hence the "
Dobbs"
grave site pictures. As most of you know this has been a tough year for Arnold health wise and pretty much know all the details. If you don't and want more info just email me, I'm always willing to talk about it.
He is still busy doing
genealogy and we'll be going in a couple of weeks to NC/SC to spend a few days doing more. Our last doctors appointment the doctor
basically said that he could just as easily die sitting in his recliner as doing something and that if it happens there would be nothing that I could do to help him as he had his own built in life line so for him to go ahead and do whatever he wanted to do. We could resume travel and he could mow the lawn again if he so desired. We shall see. It was mentioned,
tongue in cheek, that he couldn't do any dishes.
This doesn't mean that we are going to sit back and wait for him to have more problems. We are very active in looking into any other medications or
procedures that would prolong his life. We have a contact with the head doctor of research at St.
Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta and will be going in for a clinic sometime next week to see if there is anything more that can be done. They are doing stem cell research and he might be able to get that 3rd lead if that would help him. Don't let it ever be said that connections aren't what makes this country run. One of Arnold's classmates from high school is on the board at St.
Joseph's and has made the introduction to this doctor for us otherwise we would never have been able to so much as talk to him no less see him. All this from a meeting to plan Arnold's high school 50
Th Reunion and one of his classmates being the ex-CEO of Delta. Will keep you posted at to the outcome, if any.
To keep me sane I've taken up hand knitting in earnest again. I've even joined a couple of "
KAL's". For those of you that don't know, this translates into "Knit a longs" and most of them are mysteries. This means that clues are posted once a week and you knit to those clues and directions. I started my first one yesterday and am already looking forward to next Friday and the second clue as I've finished the first.
For my birthday I also bought myself an I-Pod with birthday money this year and I've been like a little kid going around with my ears plugged listening. Arnold thought that I was listening to music but I have found that there are
Podcasts out there all about knitting and other fun interesting stuff to listen too. I have having a ball. Good thing that I got the Classic version and 160 KB one.
I'm still doing beading but with the rally in Greensboro, NC cancelled this October that sort of took the steam out of getting ready for a rally and I've not done that much lately. Just a quick necklace to wear to that
Reunion meeting/dinner.
Now that I'm back, hopefully I'll get better at keeping this blog updated.
Keep in touch!
Happy New Year!
Here we sit, Arnold watching football on TV and me trying to update this blog. Many of you know that this has been a stressfull year for us and especially for Arnold. The stress has ended up putting a strain on Arnold's heart to the extent that his ejection rate is only 35%. Normal is 40% to 75%. This means that he gets winded and tired much easier and that he is also at an increased risk for Sudden Cardiac Death due to an irregular heart beat of the left ventricle. To help prevent this and give him more freedom he is wearing a
www.Lifecor.com Life Vest Defibulater and battery pack. This will shock him if he goes into defib and get his heart started again and then we call the EMTs. So far all has been quiet and that is the way we hope to keep it. He is on new medication and will go for an echo gram on the 4th of January to see if the medication is increasing his ejection fraction. We are hopeful. This will also decide if we go to AZ or not and have more travels to report. So until we know more, that's all for now. See you next year.
JJ
Update
Hello again,
It has been a long time since writing. We have done a couple of trips since the last writing but I guess I got slack. We went to Rend Lake fishing with David and Rosemary and to RI to visit my mother before going to a rally in North Carolina. While at the rally we visited a library to look up some of Arnold's family history. We found some interesting things on Tuckers but were not sure if they were the right Tuckers until we got home. Now we have to go back and get more information. So this has lead to our visiting a grave site in Almon, GA and taking pictures of the Dobbs family plots, Arnold's mother's side of the family. That is why I am posting the pictures here so that all can view them, if and when I figure out how.
More, later,
JJ
Update end of July, 2007
Hello,
Been some time since I've written. We have been at home most of the summer taking care of the usual things that need doing around a house. Arnold's mom is in a nursing home and we've also been involved with her care. We did take a short trip to Chattanooga, TN and Mamouth Cave, KY with Arnold's middle daughter and her family and we had a great time. I do think that we are caved out though. We'll get home tomorrow in time to mow the grass and then we will head north to Ill to go fishing. That is, if everything is good at the nursing home.
I'll try and do better about updating this but with nothing to talk about, I've been quiet.
JJ
Summary of Copper Canyon 17 Day Piggyback Caravan
Here is our happy group of 22 couples that went on the 17 day caravan to Mexico. We all gathered at Mission RV Park in El Paso, Texas, a few days before Valentines Day, our day of departure, to get acquainted and begin our feeding frenzy. We even did some tours in the El Paso area, the War Eagles Air Museum and the Indian Cliffs Ranch that is home to the Cattleman’s Steakhouse.
After we crossed over the border, which was a piece of cake thanks to the pre-planning done by Tracks to Adventure, we began to notice how the Mexican’s use color. They paint their houses many bright colors and they all live very close together. They do have beautiful courtyards behind their walls that include gardens of fruit and vegetables.
You can see how narrow the streets are as we wind our way through the town of Chihuahua.
Each day was filled with more wonders than the previous as we awaited the day that we would board the trains. It took almost all morning for us to be loaded onto the train, parking with our drivers side wheels only inches from the edge. We were to remain here for the duration of the train trip, 4 nights and 5 days of dry camping without being able to even put out our slides. Each ramp onto the rail cars was measured for each coach and moved accordingly. Scary looking but done with precision, or at least as much precision that could be obtained in Mexico.
This is our Wagon Master's rig as we connect to the engine on the first day. You can see how close his tires are to the edge. We did have railing on the passenger side so that we could walk. They also asked that we pull in our stairs when not using them so that the train personnel could pass without hitting their legs, esp. at night when it was pitch dark.
The contrasts from the working farms to the rugged mountains of the Copper Canyon, the passing the Continental Divide several times and the high altitude was all hard to believe when we seemed to travel such a short distance. I guess that with us all being used to the driving and this time just sitting back and letting the train do it we were really able to see the changes, even at 25 mph.
The Taramahara Indians are a very resourceful tribe. They have change little and still live very primitive lives and make money by selling baskets to the tourists along with woven wraps, bracelets and some children's toys.
Our last day on the train was the longest and the most interesting as far as geology goes. We went from a very high elevation to sea level, through the treeless mountains to the fruitfull valleys lush with produce of vegtables and fruits to the Sea of Cortez with its bounty of fresh shrimp, which a vendor delivered to our camp as soon as we were set up.
After 4 days in Mazatlan we began our trip north and back to the USA. We were sorry to be leaving as this meant that we would be parting ways. There are a few things that people have asked. Did we feel safe? Yes, never was there a time when we were the least bit concerned. The Mexican people are very friendly and know that the RV tourist brings money to town. We were cautious about the water and filled up with only 5 gal water jugs in Mazatlan as they had a long funnel to make filling our tanks easy. I would bring a funnel next trip and get all my water that way. We really enjoyed the fresh shrimp and fish in the coastal towns and the fresh fruits in the agricultural belt and in Mazatlan. Next trip I would bring packages of useful things like face cloths, hand towels, baby wipes, bars of soap, small bottles of hand disinfectant. I think you get the picture. These are things that they don't have and that would not take away from their culture but just might make life a little better.
Nelson's base to his tombstone that is lying on the ground behind it. Note below.
Arnold and I went today and took pictures of these gravestones so that we could get correct dates and full names. Hope they help you.
Here is our happy group of 22 couples that went on the 17 day caravan to Mexico. We all gathered at Mission RV Park in El Paso, Texas, a few days before Valentines Day, our day of departure, to get acquainted and begin our feeding frenzy. We even did some tours in the El Paso area, the War Eagles Air Museum and the Indian Cliffs Ranch that is home to the Cattleman’s Steakhouse.
This is our Wagon Master's rig as we connect to the engine on the first day. You can see how close his tires are to the edge. We did have railing on the passenger side so that we could walk. They also asked that we pull in our stairs when not using them so that the train personnel could pass without hitting their legs, esp. at night when it was pitch dark.
The Taramahara Indians are a very resourceful tribe. They have change little and still live very primitive lives and make money by selling baskets to the tourists along with woven wraps, bracelets and some children's toys. 
