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| new motorcycle covered with Minnesota snow, 14 Oct 2022 |
31 Oct: Cynthia’s flight from St. Louis to Houston International Airport is tomorrow! Her cough is almost gone, and Ron hasn’t itched since 8 PM Sunday night. This is Reformation Day. But it is also a meloncholy day since the Smooches will be apart for an entire month starting tomorrow. Ron is altogether too curious to check out the "Haunted Trail" before the ghouls dismantle it. Now that the welts on his feet have stopped itching, he can put on shoes and go for it. Nope, instead he fell asleep early (after staying up until 1 AM last night).
30 Oct, Sunday: Cynthia flies out to Houston in two more days. Rain, rain, rain today ! But that is really no problem for us since we haven't ventured outside for a walk since the 21st.
29 Oct: Tomorrow is no longer another day, it’s today! It is also the last day of Cynthia’s antibiotics. Ron’s itching is not quite so pervasive. We enjoyed a pleasant dinner next door at Los Amigos with nephew Eric and his family. Erika is enjoying law school and finding it not too difficult. Kyle is enjoying college and finding it not too difficult. Eric is looking forward to retirement in April. And Denise was sitting too far away from Ron for him to hear much of her conversation with Cynthia.
28 Oct: Thank God that the itching is subsiding, and Ron again gargled warm salt water, so his sore throat isn't insufferable. Bob's BMW found a GPS to send to Ron since his bike sold quickly for more than they expected. Now Ron can return the Garmin purchased in Cedar Falls to Walmart. Next task is to find the mounting hardware or at least a charging cable for the new one.
27 Oct: Cynthia won’t bet on weller for a few days! She has two more days of antibiotics, still coughing relentlessly, and she may be facing a month yet of “productive coughing!” Ron’s hives are fading somewhat. Good boy, he is taking the Benadryl, but he awoke with a nasty sore throat. Ron baked a sweet potato in the microwave, mixed up a protein drink, and heated salmon and black beans for a deluxe gourmet dinner. He then gargled salt water to kill whatever is in his throat. At bedtime, Cynthia discovered that she too has welts developing apace all over her body. This is such a mystery to us now. How can it be? Neither of us liked what the other had so we changed ailments.
26 Oct: So who wants to bet whether we will be weller or not? No bets, and we are only a little bit weller. Ron rode the motorcycle to Walmart for Benadryl, frozen mango, and hearing aid batteries. We haven't walked in a week.
25 Oct: If we had known how miserable we would be after arriving here, we woulda taken our time to enjoy the colder Northern weather longer. No one would have predicted that our lives would be focused so much on coughing, coughing, and itching. We look forward to the day, perhaps weeks away, when we are still living but no longer coughing or itching. Ron has eaten his oatmeal and frozen pineapple and is getting ready for another long, hot soak in the tub. Cynthia was doing so well last night and this morning until 10 am when she exhausted herself with another coughing "spell." This is our fifth day of being able to do little more than cough, cough, and itch. Sistah Carol is worser still, and now Bill is also ailing.- ouch, ouch.
A celebration of Life was held today hosted by Cynthia’s sister Bonnie, for their sister, Merrilee Reid who died a year ago from Covid Pneumonia. Cynthia and her children will visit the last week of February. 24 Oct: Another day another dollar, but looks like we are unlikely to go anywhere to spend that dollar. Ron has decided to spend a half hour today day soaking in a super hot tub of water to try to drown all his new found "friends." Cynthia is relieved to be coughing so much less today. We switched rooms to eliminate that as a source of Ron's continuing "new" bites. They are finally less irritating after the soaking. Sistah Carol is worser.
23 Oct, Sunday: After suffering together through the morning, Ron and Cynthia decided it was time to take Cynthia 10 miles west to the emergency room of St. Joseph Hospital in Breese, where we received prompt attention by their very pleasant staff. Cynthia's X-ray showed a possible pneumonia in a small corner of one lung, so she is now on a second course of a different antibiotic. Albuterol inhalation reduced her wheeziness, so we received a prescription for that too. The result is that Cynthia was more comfortable later in the day and slept well at night. While at the drug store, Ron bought a ChiggereX cream that seems to be effective to reduce his itch although the count of his red lumps has increased to perhaps a hundred. Sistah Carol reported a sore throat - ouch.
22 Oct: Only 9 fun-filled days left in Illinois for poor sick WeeFee and itchy Ron. Rubbing alcohol seems to be helping Ron's very itchy bites. Hot water soaks also seem to help. Oops, both turn out to be bad ideas.
21 Oct: We exercised, ate oatmeal, and napped. Ron snores to the tune of Amazing Grace. In addition to additional groceries, Ron bought more cough syrup and cough drops. He then walked 4 miles while talking with friends via cell phone. Somewhere along the way he suffered thirty insect bites that itch terribly and were swollen large and red by bedtime.
20 Oct: We relocated from Litchfield to Lake Carlyle for the duration of our stay together before Cynthia flies back to Texas (and warmer weather) on the 1st of November. Cynthia’s bronchitis needs to go away! Poor girlie has had several rough days. route: IL 16 E to Hillsboro, IL, 127 S through Greenville to Carlyle.
19 Oct: Carol and Bill picked us up from the hotel to have breakfast at Denney’s followed by a ride to her tree farm. As this is written, Cynthia and Bill are about asleep. Carol and Ron rode in the "side by side" out to and halfway down mud slide hill, now nearly completely grass covered.
18 Oct: The ride from Keokuk, Iowa to Hampton Inn, Litchfield to visit Sistah Dear was very rough. Illinois needs better roads. Carol and Bill joined us to enjoy frozen salads at Ruby Tuesday followed by a trip to Urgent Care. Cynthia has bronchitis and is now treated with a ZPak, Afrin nose spray, Robitussin diabetic cough syrup, Halls sugar free cough drops, and Tylenol. route US 218 S to US 136 E crossing Mississippi River on "new" bridge to R on IL 96 S, but missed turn for county road 1120 (at 2 miles) and instead turned on County 900 E to R on Illinois 94 S through several turns to L on US 24 E to R on IL 99 S in Mt. Sterling 15 miles to L on IL 104 into Moredosia to R on US 67 S 60 miles to Jerseyville, L on IL 16 E was terrible road surface for 20 miles until crossing IL 159.
17 Oct: We continued down US 218 S to turn on Salem Road then IA 16 E to IA 1 S into Keosauqua in even more bitterly cold weather and visited several of Ron's cousins: Rex & Susie, then Marvin & Doris and Ken joined us for lunch at the Riverview Restaurant. We left before dark and spent the night in a Hampton Inn in Keokuk, Iowa. Ron exchanged the Garmin Drive 52 GPS for the next more expensive model; the Drive 52 is not satisfactory for adding waypoints or seeing the entire route. route: S on Iowa 1 to L on IA 2 E to R on US 218 S into Keokuk.
16 Oct: We checked out of the hotel in Eagan to visit Greg in Hastings at 10:30 am (no detour today), then on towards Keosauqua on a bitterly cold day. Cynthia’s foot warmers were burning her feet but withdrawing heat from the jacket, and her gloves did not heat at all. Compounding these problems, the rain pants caused her to slip and slide all over the new seat cushion. The good news is the seat cushion is comfy to sit on provided Cynthia can stay seated on the bike instead of sliding off the bike into the ditch. We stopped for lunch at a Subway just south of Waterloo, Iowa and made it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa before dark - 250 miles. route: Pleasant Drive S to 160th Street W to Jorgen Ave S, Northfield Blvd S to US 52 S through Rochester, MN to US 63 S to Waterloo, Iowa, L on US 218/ I-380 S to US 218 S.
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| Ron, Lance and Shelley |
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| Baby Charley |
14 Oct: Ron brushed 1/2" of snow off his new motorcycle and rode with certain trepidation in 36 degree temperature over into Minneapolis to visit sister-in-law Carolyn. The roads were only damp and not slick. Carolyn's new pet is a whippet, Amy, who is just so very curious and so very energetic that she sniffed Ron thoroughly, played chase excitedly, and needed to go outside every half hour to see if the weather was warmer yet. None of the three cats came downstairs during Ron's visit. Route: Minnesota highway 55 E to I-494 S to MN 62 E (Crosstown Highway) to 28th street exit.
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| Smooch, SmoochSmooch and Hudson waiting |
13 Oct: Today Hudson went to school and the house was bizarrely quiet. Even Holden slept most of the day. Cynthia asked for a (motorcycle) ride over to a nail salon for a manicure; Ron shopped at Aldi again and picked up one item at Target. Cynthia is delighted with her new whoopie cushion !! At 6 pm, Brett and Jenn drove us in two cars over to the Cov Restaurant (click here) in Wayzata, Minnesota with two great grandsons, where all the adults ate too much excellent food! The baby is sleeping, but Hudson is wide awake.
12 Oct: Happy Birthday Zoe! We spent this rainy day indoors, although the noise level in a household with an active 4-year-old boy overwhelmed Cynthia. Lord knows why she didn't remove her hearing aides. Ron finally finished the PDF for Nimrod Taylor and posted it to therambofamilytree.blogspot.com (click here).
11 Oct: Ron rode to Aldi for groceries: blueberries, bananas, and grapes. Besides those staples, he got sourdough bread, sweet potatoes, asparagus, frozen broccoli florets, frozen mango, oatmeal, and pretzels. Now we are venturing out into the wind for the last 80 degree walk of the year, which was really quite pleasant.
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| Ron, Holden and Hudson in a pile |
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| Great-grandmother holding Holden |
10 Oct: Ron decided to spare Cynthia the lumps and bumps of old roads and uncharacter-istically chose to ride to Medina on I-35 N to I-494 W (which was bumpy at first), to MN 55 W to Arrowhead Drive, which has changed with a new intersection and two new streets before arriving at Bluebell Trail. This was supposed to be one of the warmer days this week, but it still wasn't overly warm for motorcycling. Hudson gave us a suitably warm greeting, and the dogs were also happy to see us. Great grandmother was estatic to hold baby Holden.
9 Oct, Sunday: We visited with Dick and Jane after breakfast until noon. Dick is a former traveler and motorcyclist, so he and Ron always find something to talk about. Cynthia and Jane have known each other for more than twenty five years, so they also find things to discuss. At 1 PM we rode into town to pick up healthy cookies to give to Ann and Dale. The visit there was enhanced by 7-year-old Cole, Bria who is younger, their mother Melissa, and Ann's daughter Tanna. Cole was riding Dale's oversized three-wheeled bicycle around and around in the parking lot. Ann looked surprisingly good for the medical traumas she has experienced recently, and after we left, she went right back into the hospital. At 3:30 we left them to visit Penny briefly (Hi and Goodbye), then rode to Mason City to visit Ray & Mary and Dick & Fran. We enjoyed polite conversation with everyone participating until Ray and Ron drove off for a to-go dinner from Applebys. Then the "boys" sat in the kitchen and the "girls" sat in the dining room and enjoyed more spirited conversations. A fine, fun time was had by all, with the consequence that Ron and Cynthia rode the motorcycle home in the dark. Fortunately we did not run into any errant livestock.
Here is Cynthia’s recap of the ride from Ohio to Northwood:
“Mother Nature is resplendent in her fall finery, dressed in every Color in the Crayola box. We hiked the sugar maple tree forest near Middletown, Ohio and learned the tree sap spigots are turned on to flow mid Feb. It takes 50 gals of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Syrup in the stores does not compare to the real syrup taste on blueberry pancakes with walnuts. Do not add butter! Lunch at an Amish restaurant worked for us, lots of fresh vegetables. But check the labels on the decorative goods they sell… all trinkets made in China.
The ride from Ohio to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana was beautiful. The trees are amazingly huge. The library had a fascinating Abraham Lincoln exhibit.
The ride across Indiana and Illinois from Fort Wayne to Dubuque, Iowa was equally lovely. It is harvest time. Crossing the Wabash River, crossing the Illinois River on the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge (click here), the Mississippi River Bridge at Savanna, and the ride along the River, through the hills leading to Dubuque, Iowa at dusk.
Not nice was the confusing signage on US 52 leading to Dubuque, and then discovering the Hampton Inn was full, and Dubuque does not have hotels sprinkled along the highway.
Today, we took the scenic tour of eastern Iowa criss-crossing the River northwest to Decorah, Iowa, then west to Northwood, my hometown, and site of my class reunion.”
7 Oct: Our long day yesterday left us a short day today to get to Northwood - - - except that Iowa route 3 was "closed to through traffic" when we got there. So we had to backtrack and guess our way back to US route 20 which took us to our intended US route 52. The positive spin is that the scenery was outstanding all day long, but especially on our intended route and backtrack. We stopped in Decorah, Iowa for a Subway sandwich and were shocked to see that a lovely blue sky full of patchy white clouds had turned dark and ominous, threatening rain, during that lunch break. The other shock was that the temperature had become suddenly cold. Regardless of threat of rain, we arrived in Northwood dry and chilled. Dave and Pat joined us at the Diamond Jo Worth Casino (click here) near Northwood (actually adjacent to the property that Cynthia's grandparents had owned). Dave and Pat were positive and upbeat as always, despite telling stories of hospital visits and back pain that have plagued them in the past year. Thank God we didn't have similarly distressing stories to exchange. Route: US 20 W to US 52 N (through Guttenberg with a great view of the Mississippi River) to R on IA 51 N to L on IA 9 W through Decorah to R on Walnut (after Riceville, no signage) N to L on 430 (no signage) to L on US 218 W into St. Ansgar to R on IA 105 E to Northwood. Note to self: avoid Iowa route 105 east of Northwood; it was very lumpy and bumpy. Iowa 9 was not great either.
6 Oct: Our intention was to be on the road leaving Fort Wayne by eight AM to ride 250 miles to someplace for an overnight. Even though we failed to leave that early, we were pleased to be on the road at 9:30. US 24 W was bumpy enough that Ron decided to try I-39 N, which might be my favorite interstate highway, smooth and not full of traffic. After riding over a million pavement joints, especially on US 52 in Illinois, we crossed the Mississippi at Savanna onto smooth Iowa pavement and wound our way through the flooded lowlands towards Debuque. It is very amusing that we were heading due south passing road signs proclaiming "North on US 52." And we surprised ourselves by arriving in Dubuque, Iowa at seven PM as daylight dimmed. Wow! Mother Nature is resplendent, dressed in fall finery, using every color in the Crayola box. Peculiar that no signs indicated that Debuque is NOT actually on US 52, but rather a few miles east of it, so again we wandered around looking for any hotel and eventually stopped to hunt for hotels on the GPS and discovered that Debuque was 5 miles east on US 20. Another peculiarity was that the town of Bellevue, Iowa is on a bluff with great views of the river but no hotels whatsoever. Someone is missing a great opportunity to make good money. Route: US 24 W to El Paso, Illinois, then R on I-39 N to L on US 52 W. And that was close to a 400 mile day.
5 Oct: Fort Wayne, Indiana. We spent the day in the Allen County Public Library researching genealogy. Ron's new camera captured over 200 pages of various books. Ron bought an el cheapo Garmin GPS as a preferable alternative to the BMW app on Cynthia's phone. He can return it to Walmart within 14 days if it proves unsatisfactory.
4 Oct: Ron figured out a good, simple route to Fort Wayne, Indiana, but the chosen road had low posted speed limits and slow drivers on the road this morning at noon. Route Ohio route 306 South to Streetsboro, R on OH 303 W through Hudson to L on OH 606 S to R on OH 3 S, L on US 42 S to R on US 224 W to Van Wert, R on US 30 W to Fort Wayne - - - where the BMW route guidance failed miserably leaving us wandering all over town until Ron decided to ride by "dead reckoning" towards the sunset in the southwest to find the hotel. That also failed because he neglected to turn south when he encountered I-69 but we eventually arrived after 20 additional miles of wandering.
3 Oct: Walt drove us past Burton to Middlefield, Ohio for lunch at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen (click here), then we hiked in the Sugarbush Creek Farm (click here) and learned of Ohio's forest of sugar maple trees. It takes fifty gallons of sugar tree sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Then we went for a nice walk in the Swine Creek Park (much more attractive than it sounds).
2 Oct, Sunday: Novelty, Ohio visiting Pam and Walt. Walt drove us to Burton, Ohio for a walking tour of Century Village Museum (click here) and to Punderson, OH for a walk on the boardwalk at the Punderson State Park including the Manor (click here). Cynthia made wonderfully delicious baked salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner, and Ron again spent the evening watching sports on TV with Walter.
1 Oct: Wish us luck with the weather. And we thank everyone who did wish us good luck with the weather. It rained before dawn, but was dry when we awakened at 5:30 am. We hustled through our packing and breakfast and left about 7:30 despite the lightest rain, just beginning. Although we had our doubts for the first twenty miles, our strategy was vindicated by drier and drier conditions. Contrary to Ron's normal routing, this time, since time was of the essence, so we took Interstate 70 to I-76 to the Ohio Turnpike to I-80 and then wandered around since exit 193 seemed stuck and the exit 187 was closed. The BMW GPS was worthless. We stopped in Bainbridge at the Buckeye Chocolate Cafe to call Walt and discovered that the cafe could feed us salads. While Ron was grocery shopping next door at Grand Union, Walt joined us and then led us to the Arborwear warehouse which is filled with displays and products for sale. We then went back to Walt and Pam's house, settled in to their guest apartment, and spent the afternoon and evening watching sports on TV with Walter.
