Tractor Square Dancing

I had seen this video on Facebook several years ago -- I am pretty convinced that I would have hooked rear tires with someone if I was trying to do the driving!

Tractor Square Dance

News report on Tractor Square Dance ending

Random pictures

There are a number of pictures that I haven't posted yet... so this post contains a selection of random pictures from the past few weeks:

When Carl was at one of his eye doctor appointments, I went to get some shopping done. We keep our shopping list on an App called Google Keep -- so it had groceries (that I pretty much knew what was wanted) but it also had some items that Carl had included that I wasn't sure exactly what he wanted... he had "black Gorilla tape" on the list -- who knew that there were SO many options of black Gorilla tape to choose from at Walmart?

While we were at Big Rock Campground, Carl suggested that we get ribs one day from South Moon BBQ restaurant in Hinckley (not far away). We ordered a "full rack" to share -- this is what they looked like when we opened them up back at the rig. I am **so** glad that we ate them at home rather than trying to eat them at the restaurant... delicious but MESSY!!!

Somewhere along our route we have picked up a spider that lives in the driver's side mirror on the Jeep. He/she faithfully rebuilds the web each evening (working hard on it when I took this picture). Sometimes the spider is outside the mirror when we drive off and has to make its perilous way through the blowing wind back to the mirror as we are driving. I think that it has been with us at least since Indiana, and possibly even since Virginia.... I wonder if we've broken any laws by transporting a spider across state lines? You can note in the picture that it is rather large!

A part of Big Rock Creek that we crossed when biking one day while staying at Big Rock Campground.

Carl on the bridge over Big Rock Creek

One of the other RVs at Big Rock campground - we think that big box on the back was for holding a motorcycle. I'm not sure what that might have done to the weight distribution for the RV...

We're enjoying a lazy Sunday at Paul Wolff campground today -- it has been a cold and rainy morning so we're making chicken noodle soup for lunch.

Flag and family

We put our flag pole and flag up on the ladder mount on the back of Gracie while we're camped here at Paul Wolff...

Our setup on the campsite

Friday evening, we met with Carl's cousin Sylvia and Ron for dinner:

Selfie in front of Applebee's

It was great to meet some more of Carl's family and to be welcomed so warmly!

At home

First, an update on Carl: he had his first checkup after his cataract surgery this morning, and the doctor said that his eye was healing very fast and looked really good. His next (and hopefully last) followup is scheduled for next Friday, 9/11.

While Carl was in surgery on Thursday morning, I started putting together chicken pot pies. I like making several when I make them and putting extra ones in the freezer for later use. I got the filling mixture put together, and only had to put them into the crusts and bake the one for our lunch after Carl got home.

After we got home from picking Carl up at the surgery center, I split the filling into 4 parts...

After getting the fillings in the bottom crust, I put top crusts on, and put 3 of the 4 into the freezer.

I baked one for our lunch

Getting ready to serve it...

The first piece is always the hardest to get out!

 We enjoyed the chicken pot pie for our lunch!

Soon after lunch, we saw a gift and a card at the tree outside our rig...

A bottle of sparkling Apple Cider and a nice card...

 

Sweet wishes from a couple of our fellow campers!

We have had a "Just Married" sign at our rig, along with our name and photo sign - lots of people have congratulated us. Unfortunately, in the strong winds yesterday, the Just Married sign came loose from our sign post, so we'll need to put something different up... working on that now!

Carl's cataract surgery is completed!

One of our major goals while in the Chicagoland area was for Carl to have cataract surgery on his left eye. He had had cataract surgery on his right eye 8 years ago, and he had been noticing that his sight was getting worse in his left eye over the past couple of years, so, he was able to get it scheduled during the time we were here. Today was the scheduled surgery.

I drove him to St Charles for a 7am checkin at the surgery center. I was able to watch him in the waiting area for a little while, but eventually they took him back further in the center and I headed back to Gracie to wait.

He sent me a picture when he was all ready for surgery.

A couple of hours later, Dr King called me and said that the surgery had gone well and that Carl would be ready for me to pick up in about 20 minutes. Since I was about 30 minutes away, I jumped in the Jeep and headed back.

He has a protective shield over the eye to keep any foreign objects from getting into it (he says it really itches, so I guess one foreign object that is prevented from entering would be his finger!).

They also gave him good sunglasses as his eye was dilated and quite sensitive to sun.

He is back home at Gracie and we plan a quiet day. He will return to see Dr King tomorrow when hopefully the protective shield will be removed. He does not have any major restrictions on what he can do at this point. The eye has a lot of ointment in it so Carl cannot see clearly through it - Dr King said that may clear up some overnight as his body absorbs it.

Thank you for your prayers for us!

Toad wiring

I wrote that when we moved from Paul Wolff to Big Rock, we were not able to hook up the Jeep because the lights would not work. Carl found that the connector was corroded and the wires were not staying connected. 

We had gotten the new part, and on Thursday last week, Carl took the old connector off and put the new one on.

The old connector

Corroded and wires not staying connected

Since our big awning is not yet installed (it is awaiting our return to Dallas), Carl set up a big umbrella next to the picnic table at the site to do the work.

The new connector

Getting the wires connected

Plugged in -- it works... though the brake causes the turn signal (amber) to light (which was the same problem we had previously with the Jeep - more research needed to figure out how to fix).

We noted that the protective rubber casing on the cable was breaking down...

... so we did a little work on protecting it from further damage with Rescue Tape, though we're thinking that replacing the cable may be required in the future. We've read that others have had similar problems with the rubber casing breaking down after a few years of service.

We moved from Big Rock to Paul Wolff Campground today (Wednesday) and were able to hook up and tow the Jeep so we could ride together in Gracie on the short drive.

Family visit!

We were so happy to visit with Carl's brother, Steve, on Monday at Big Rock Campground. 

Miss Kitty seems to just like all the Williams men (she "took" to Carl's son, Scott, when he visited a couple of weeks ago, and, of course, she loves Carl too!)

Carl showed Steve the Silverleaf VMSPC engine monitor that he has customized for Gracie

Carl preparing his phone to take a selfie of the three of us...

 

 

... and there it is!

 

Miss Kitty got a gift from her "cousin" Boots (Steve and Karen's kitty) - and she really likes it! Many thanks from Miss Kitty to Boots!

We are so thankful for visits from family!