Sunday - September 11, 2022
We left at 8:30 am on our way to the midwest around the Great Lakes. We stopped at The Meadows to visit with Mom on our way. She was pretty lethargic and was not feeling well. The nurse told me that Mom doesn't always keep her oxygen line in her nose correctly. We left there around 10:00 headed to Lake Wappapello State Park in Missouri. We took I49N to I44E to 60E to 67N to 172E to the park. On our way we stopped at the Jolly Cone in Van Buren, MO to get ice cream. YUM! Missouri state parks have self check in online that is convenient and very easy. This is a nice state park with camping right next to Lake Wappapello. The site has electricity, but no water or sewer hook ups. We filled our fresh water tank, but only managed to get the tank half full. We need to do a better job of monitoring the level. The weather today was nice and the park was very quiet.
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| Our beginning of the trip photo. |
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| View of our campsite with Lake Wappapello in the background |
We got camp set up by 4:30 pm and used the oven in our RV to bake a frozen pizza for dinner since we were too tired to cook anything else. We really like the stove and oven in our RV. It makes everything easier.
Monday - September 12, 2022
We slept in this morning then I fried a couple of eggs to add to the sausage and biscuit that I had cooked before leaving home. After breakfast we hiked the Asher Creek Trail. This is a pretty trail that starts by the lake then climbs the mountain behind the campground. One part of the trail wasn't well marked and we hiked a spur that led to the park road before turning around. The last half of the trail was very steep. Mike got pretty unsteady so we stopped and ate some lunch that I had packed. The hike was 3 1/2 miles long and took us from 9:30 - 12:30.
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| Mike on the trail |
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| Mary on trail |
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| Enjoying the hike |
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| Mary by the sign on our detour |
Amy called, Mom had fallen again. The Meadows wants to add personal assistance to her care. I said to do it. Whatever it takes to keep her at The Meadows. (This is the beginning of why I titled this blog a Tale of Two Moms). We sat outside all afternoon since it was such nice weather. I cooked chicken alfredo for dinner then we sat inside reading before calling it a night. This was a good start to our trip.
Tuesday - September 13, 2022
We left camp about 9:30 am on our way to Red Hills State Park in Illinois. We took I57 to Hwy 50 to Hwy 250 to Red Hills State Park. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch. Traffic was heavy for about 50 miles after we got on I57 until taking the exit for Hwy 50 at Salem, Illinois. We stopped at a Dollar General to get milk and Tums and made it to the state park around 4:00 pm. The campground was nice with only one other set of campers in our section of the campground. Once again we had electricity, but no water hookup. We managed to completely fill the fresh water tank this time. It's really not a problem to not have water hookup since we have a large fresh water tank.
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| View of the small lake by our campsite |
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| Our campsite - Mike is enjoying the outdoors. |
We were glad that we had our own bathroom and shower because the facilities here were nasty. Mary took a shower then we had dinner and sat reading until bedtime. This is a very peaceful campground.
Wednesday - September 14, 2022
We slept in then I cooked sausage, egg, cheese burritos for breakfast. Anita called. Mom fell again. We are going to arrange for a service for her for four hours a day, seven days a week. It is kind of pricey, but will hopefully keep her at The Meadows. After breakfast we walked 2 1/2 miles around the park. Once again we had really nice weather.
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| The lake below our campsite. |
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| A pond on our hike that has wood duck boxes in it. |
In the afternoon a man set up camp with a trailer next to us. He fished at the dock a while, then broke camp and left. That was kind of strange. Maybe something happened that made him need to leave. I made chicken salad for my lunch. After lunch we sat outside all afternoon reading and watching the birds. This was a nice, quiet day.
Thursday - September 15, 2022
We left camp about 9:30 am after dumping the gray and black water tanks. We took a lot of small highways into Indiana to Tippecanoe River State Park. We stopped on our way to the park at a Wal-Mart to get supplies. They didn't sell alcohol so I will have to teetotal for a few nights. Oh well, it will do me good. We saw a lot of fields of corn and soybeans while we were driving. The state park is really nice. It had a gate for check in so we were able to get hiking information. There is lots of hiking with one trail starting right behind our site (#035). We spent three nights here so were able to have two days of hiking. Our site has electricity only again.
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| Entrance for the park |
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| Site #035 |
Saturday is a 'poker paddle' event so the park will be busy over the weekend. There are over 150 sites at this campground. We had leftover alfredo and corn on the cob for dinner. It was nice sitting outside under the large trees.
Friday - September 16, 2022
We slept in this morning until about 9:00 am. When I got up I cooked fried eggs to go with our frozen sausage/biscuits. After breakfast we hiked on Trail 4 that started behind our campsite to the Nature Center. Unfortunately the Nature Center wasn't open. We viewed the Tippecanoe River from a couple of overlooks by the Nature Center then hiked Trail 4 through the Tippecanoe River State Nature Reserve. This reserve is in a marsh and the hike was an easy 2.2 miles. We ate lunch on a bench by the trail and got back to camp by 1:30 pm.
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| Tippecanoe River |
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| Mike by the river |
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| Mary at the second overlook of the river |
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| Mike on Trail 4 in the marsh |
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| Mary on the same trail |
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| Beginning of the marsh |
We sat outside all afternoon because the weather was so nice. There was a chipmunk under the picnic table that eventually ran under my chair. I believe it was looking for a handout. Mike grilled pork chops for dinner and I microwaved corn on the cob and green beans. This was a good dinner. As we expected the campground got full this evening, but it still was a quiet area.
Saturday - September 17, 2022
We slept in again. I didn't sleep well, not going to sleep until well after midnight. I got a call from The Meadows, but didn't have cell service to talk. The message just said Mom didn't feel well and asked me to call. Amy talked to them and Mom just didn't feel well. Amy and Don were on their way home from a trip to Maine. Anita visited Mom and by noon she was dressed and ready to go to lunch. Mike and I hiked parts of Trails 3, 4, and 5 - mainly 5 - about 2 1/2 miles total. This trail went by the river most of the time making for a nice hike.
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| A picture of the river with some 'poker float' participants |
After lunch Mike got a text that his Mom had gotten worse. We decided to head home on Sunday and finish the rest of the trip some other time. So, a Tale of Two Moms.
Sunday - September 18, 2022
We got up at 7:00 am and I made breakfast to take with us. At the dump station, I failed to get the sewer hose attached correctly and the black water leaked out a lot before I could shut the valve. It made a big mess. It took me a while, but I got everything hosed down and dumped and we got on our way by 8:00 am. We took Hwy. 35 toward Indianapolis then I 65 to Louisville and the Western Kentucky Parkway to the Drury Inn in Paducah. We went by a lot of soybean fields in Indiana that were changing color to yellow. They made the fields a really pretty color.
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| A field of soybeans |
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| Another soybean field |
We decided to stay at a hotel on the way home so that we could do two long days and get home quickly. So far there was no change in the condition of Mike's Mom.
Monday - September 19, 2022 through Sunday - October 9, 2022
We left the hotel early after having the buffet breakfast. After we got home we found out that Juanita had died. She was just a week short of making her 98th birthday. Scott flew in on Thursday September 22 and we traveled to Sherwood on Saturday September 24. Eric joined us on Sunday, he had been in Virginia for a work meeting. Juanita's funeral was Monday, September 26. It was sad, but she had a long and good life.
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| The grandsons who served as pall bearers: L to R: Mark, Ray, Landen, Adrian, Nate, Scott, Eric, Trey |
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| The grandkids: L to R: Mark, Angie, Ray, Landen, Adrian, Nate, Scott, Eric, Trey, Candice, Kyla |
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| Sam, Michael, Carole, Joyce, Wayne |
We all four went back to Prairie Grove that afternoon and Scott flew back to Virginia on Wednesday, September 28. Anita and I had a meeting with Megan and Candice (the head nurse) at The Meadows to discuss options for Mom's care. We decided to get her on hospice care to see if that would help the situation. On October 4, Mike and I went to Sherwood to help Sam, Wayne, and Dianne begin the clean out of Juanita's house. We stayed there for 3 days and got a lot accomplished, but still have a lot to do. On Friday, October 7, I went to Bentonville to visit Mom. She was in her room and not doing too well. Mike and I decided to do another section of our Midwest trip beginning Monday, October 10. This has been a crazy month.
