Midwest Fall Trip and a Tale of Two Moms - Fall 2022 - Part 1

 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.

Our beginning of the trip photo.

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.

Mike on the trail

Mary on trail

Enjoying the hike

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.  

View of the small lake by our campsite

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.

The lake below our campsite.

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.  

Entrance for the park

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.

Tippecanoe River

Mike by the river

Mary at the second overlook of the river

Mike on Trail 4 in the marsh

Mary on the same trail

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.

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.  

A field of soybeans

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.  

The grandsons who served as pall bearers: L to R: Mark, Ray, 
Landen, Adrian, Nate, Scott, Eric, Trey

The grandkids: L to R: Mark, Angie, Ray, Landen, Adrian, Nate, 
Scott, Eric, Trey, Candice, Kyla

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.

Traveling with Grandkids: July, 2022

 Monday - July 25, 2022

Mike and I did something we had never done before - we traveled across country with three of our grandchildren.  We had decided to take Caroline (11), Carson (6), and Lilly (4) to Virginia to visit with Scott, Cristin, and the 4 cousins - Elli, Aslynn, Oscar, and Hunter.  Originally we were supposed to go on July 11, but Cristin, Aslynn, and Hunter got Covid so we postponed our visit for 2 weeks to let everyone get healthy.  Caroline, Carson, and Lilly spent Sunday night with us so we could get an early start.  We managed to get on the road before 8:00 am on our way to the first stop in Paducah, Kentucky.

Ready to hit the road - loaded to the ceiling!

Made it to Missouri.

The first day of travel was pretty uneventful.  The weather was good and didn't have any mishaps.  We ate lunch in the car and stopped a couple of times to let the kids stretch their legs.  We also stopped in Van Buren, Missouri at the Jolly Cone to get ice cream.  It was a good break.

Lilly and Caroline at the Jolly Cone

Bridge over the Ohio River

Made it to Kentucky

After about nine hours of traveling we arrived at the Drury Inn in Paducah.  We chose this place because it had an indoor pool and an included buffet dinner with drinks for the adults.  A win-win situation. After swimming then dinner we were all ready to settle in for the night to be ready for a long travel day on Tuesday.

The kids really enjoyed the pool

Lilly, Carson, and Caroline at dinner.

Carson watching his tablet

Lilly, Caroline, and Grandpa watching Dr. Pol on my computer.

Tuesday - July 26, 2022

This was another good travel day, but was longer than Monday.  We got up fairly early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and were on the road by 8:00 am again.  The breakfast was good and included waffles, eggs, biscuits, sausage.  Not much happened while traveling (which is not a bad thing).  We ate lunch in the car again and stopped a couple of times for leg stretching.  We spent most of the day travelling through Kentucky before stopping at Beckley, West Virginia at a Microtel Inn for the night.  The hotel didn't have a dinner so Mike picked up meals at the Cracker Barrel that was next door while the kids and I swam.  The hotel was under renovations, so was not the best.  It did the job though and was clean enough.

Entering West Virginia

The capital dome in Charleston, West Virginia.

Wednesday - July 27, 2022

We got up early again so we could get to Scott's shortly after noon.  I went down to get coffee and check breakfast options and found that the breakfast wasn't good. We just got ready, got in the car, and stopped after about 30 miles at a Hardee's for breakfast sandwiches.  

The 3 kids slept together in hotels.
It didn't seem to bother them much

Almost there - everyone is yelling 'road trip'

Because of that we actually got to Scott's about an hour earlier that we thought we would, arriving  in time for lunch.  Everyone was really excited to see each other.  Mike and I had booked a room for four nights at the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria. We let the three boys stay with us the first two nights and the four girls the last two.  This was a very nice hotel with glass elevators, an indoor pool, and a really good hot breakfast.  The only thing Mike and I didn't like about the hotel was the parking.  The spaces were very close together with posts next to many of the spots.  It only allowed about 6 inches of clearance.  We managed it though without incident.

Elli and I - love that girl!

Oscar, Carson, and Hunter enjoyed the pool

Oscar taking a big jump

Carson and Hunter jumping in together

Thursday - July 28, 2022

Scott treated everyone (except Cristin who was still feeling sick) to a day at Six Flags in Bowie, Maryland today.  We got to the park by 10:45 am so we would be ready to get in when it opened at 11:00 am.  It was a hot day and we hoped to get the rides done before the heat was too bad.  To begin the day Scott took the three older girls to ride the most popular rides.  The boys and Lilly were not tall enough for these.  Mike kept Lilly in the kiddy ride part while I took Hunter, Oscar, and Carson to ride the Wild One wooden roller coaster, but Carson was not tall enough, so we went to the French Quarters Flyer airplane ride.  Oscar and Hunter rode that together and Carson and I rode together.  It was a lot of fun.  Carson was scared at first, but enjoyed it so much that he ended up riding it two more times.  When we were finished there I took Carson to Mike and Hunter, Oscar, and I rode the Wild  One Coaster.  At first the gate shut after Hunter got on and Oscar and I were shut out.  I finally convinced the worker to let Hunter off and he had to walk around to get back to us.  I wasn't very happy about this.  Finally the three of us rode the coaster. It wasn't that scary, but was very jerky.  We all decided that once was enough.  While we were riding bigger rides Mike and Lilly rode the carousel and kiddy roller coaster.  Carson joined them for a while then all three boys rode the small roller coaster. It had gotten hot so I bought everyone a cold bottle of water and sat in the shade for a while.

Carson and I getting ready for the French Quarter Flyer

Oscar and Hunter on the flyer

Carson on the carousel

Lilly on the carousel

Oscar, Carson, and Hunter getting ready to ride the roller coaster

The boys on the little roller coaster

During this time Scott and the three older girls were riding the big rides like The Superman until it was time to meet up for lunch.  When everyone got together we got burgers and chicken tenders at Jimmy Rocket's Diner.  We chose this mainly because it was inside dining with air conditioning.  The chicken was good, but the burgers were not.  Luckily we had enough extra chicken for everyone to get filled up.  After lunch Mike kept Lilly and Scott and boys hung out while the three older girls and I rode the Ragin Cagin together.  This was a roller coaster that made sudden turns and eventually ended up spinning.  It was jerky also, but I had fun with the girls.  We all headed out to the opposite side of the park where the big rides were as well as a kiddy park.  Scott was able to ride with most of the older kids while Mike and I stayed with the younger kids and did rides together. 

Hunter and Carson on the Flyer

Lilly and I rode together

The girls and I waiting to ride the Ragin Cagun

Some of the kids on the little kids train

Hunter and Carson trying to climb the rope ladder to win a prize.

Lilly and Oscar giving the ladder a try.  Nobody won.

Finally Scott took me and some of the kids on the Renegade Rapids ride.  This was a good ride because it was fairly exciting, got you wet at the end, and all of the kids could ride it.  Lilly and Carson loved it.  While we were on this the older girls rode the Harley Quinn by themselves while Mike sat and watched.  We all had dipping dots ice cream then split up again so Scott could ride the Fireball with Aslynn and Elli while I rode the Renegade Rapids again with all the other kids.  We just got off of ride when it started raining.  We made it back to the covered area where Mike was sitting with our stuff when it started pouring.  Even with the large umbrellas we all got soaked because of the wind. Meanwhile, Scott and the 2 girls had accidentally missed getting on their ride.  Luckily for them because the rain started when they would have been on the ride and the ride got stalled just before it got back under the covering.  After all of this we headed out of the park and headed home about 5:00 pm.  Mike and I just took the boys back to the hotel and everyone else went back to Scott and Cristin's.  We ordered pizza, bread knots, and chicken wings to be delivered to our room because we were too tired to go out.  This was a very fun day.

Friday - July 29, 2022

We decided to have a down day after the excitement of Six Flags on Thursday.  After breakfast I took the boys swimming before heading to Scott and Cristin's.  Luckily Cristin was feeling much better today.   We didn't do much.  We had leftovers for lunch then later cooked dinner.  Cristin and some of the kids did some gardening.  The boys stayed at Scott's and we took the four girls to the hotel to spend the night after dinner.  The girls swam then we settled in for the night.  Not much to write about today.

Elli, Lilly, and Aslynn

Lilly, Oscar, Carson, and Hunter

Saturday - July 30, 2022

Today everyone went into Washington DC for the day.  Cristin felt much better so was able to join us.  Mike and I drove our car with the boys and Scott drove his van with everyone else.  We parked in a garage then walked across the mall to the Natural History Museum.  

On the mall with the Capitol in the background

Turned around so the Washington Monument was behind us

When we got to the Natural History Museum, Cristin took Caroline, Aslynn, and Hunter to the history of evolution while the rest of us toured the dinosaur skeleton area.  All of the kids enjoyed these sections of the museum stopping to look at and read all about the exhibits.  We met up at the cafeteria for lunch then all went to the rocks exhibits.  Once again all of the kids enjoyed seeing all of the gems and minerals.  When we were finished here we let the kids pick out souvenirs from the store using money Scott had given them when at Six Flags.  They all had used some at Six Flags, but had some left for DC.  

Scott and Cristin with the kids on their way into the museum.

Lilly by a large dinosaur bone fossil

Oscar, Elli, Carson, and Hunter

Oscar, Hunter, Carson, Lilly by the elephant

By the elephant as we are getting ready to leave

At the end of the day - Elli had to make Papa look cool.

We had planned to go to one or two more places, but when we were finished at the Natural History Museum we were all so tired that we decided to call it a day.  In fact, Mike's back had started hurting bad enough that he sat at the museum for Scott and Cristin to come pick him up and I drove the boys back to Scott's by myself.  We had dinner at Scott's then Mike, the girls, and I went back to the hotel for our final night there.  This was another good day. 

Sunday - July 31, 2022

This was our last day in Alexandria.  After we ate breakfast I took the girls to swim in the hotel pool one last time. When they were finished swimming we packed everything up and checked out of the hotel. 

Lilly and Aslynn in the pool

Aslynn, Caroline, and Elli enjoyed the hot tub

Lilly got a little cool so decided to sit out a while

We spent our last night in Alexandria at Scott and Cristin's.  It was a little crowded, but we enjoyed being there for one night.  We had a fairly lazy day mainly just hanging out at the house.  The boys played a lot of Minecraft and the three older girls rode their bikes to a park to play.  While they were at the park it started raining and they got pretty wet riding home, but still had a good time.  After dinner we set up sleeping arrangements.  Hunter slept with Cristin, Scott slept on the living room sofa, Carson slept in Hunter's bed, Caroline, Lilly, and I slept on the air bed, and Mike slept on the downstairs sofa.  One night of these sleeping arrangements was enough.  After Mike and all the kids were in bed Scott, Cristin, and I sat up a while and Scott and I even played a little Mario Kart on the Switch.  A very enjoyable last evening.

Monday - August 1, 2022

We all slept in, had breakfast, then we got the car packed for driving home.  We had a good time and were all a little sad to be leaving.

Elli had to sit in Papa's lap one more time

Lilly needed snuggles from Uncle Scott before 
leaving

We left around 10:00 am to miss all of the rush hour traffic.  We had a good driving day with only a little bit of rain as we drove through West Virginia.  We got lunch at a McDonald's and ate in the car.  We had stopped at a rest stop in Virginia and let the kids run around a little bit.  We stayed at a Best Western Plus in Charleston, West Virginia because Mike and I had enough points to pay for the room.  The hotel was okay, but someone had taken a massive dump in the swimming pool.  Luckily I noticed it before the kids got all the way into the pool.  YUCK!  We ordered a couple of pizzas from Pizza Hut to be delivered and ate in the room.  It was a pretty good dinner.  We called it a night pretty early so that we would be ready for a long driving day on Tuesday.

Tuesday - August 2, 2022

We got up and had breakfast at the hotel then left around 8:00 am.  Really, the only thing wrong with this hotel was the pool situation.  We spent most of the day traveling through Kentucky.  It was an okay travel day.  We just bought cheese and lunchables to eat in the car for lunch.   We got to the Drury Inn in Sikeston, Missouri about 4:00 pm.  We decided to stay here because of the included dinner.  This was a very nice hotel with a combination indoor/outdoor pool.  The kids were the only ones swimming for most of the time and and had a lot of fun.  They swam for about an hour then we got ready and went to dinner.  

Made it to Kentucky

Playing on tablets while we travel

Carson jumping in the pool in Sikeston

Lilly and Caroline jumping in

After dinner we relaxed in our room and had a fairly early night.  Ready to get the last day of traveling over with.

Wednesday - August 3, 2022

We got up, had a good breakfast, and were on the road by 7:30 am.   Everyone was ready to get home.  We had another pretty uneventful day, except that Lilly got gagged on a bite and threw up.  Luckily Caroline had a paper towel in her hand and was able to catch all of it.  We stopped and cleaned everything up then got on the road again. 

Back in Arkansas

We stopped in Bentonville at The Meadows and visited Memaw for about 30 minutes since it was on our way home.  She enjoyed seeing everyone.  We dropped the kids off in Fayetteville at their house at about 3:00 pm and Mike and I made it home by 4:00 pm.  The kids were very good for this trip and everyone had a really good time.