TRAVELER'S DELIGHT - BROWN COUNTY STATE PARK

Just over an hour south of Indianapolis is Brown County State Park sometimes known as the "Little Smokies." 
Now, compared to the Smokey Mountains, Brown County is a smaller, beautiful state park filled with activities for each reader. 

The park is the largest state park in Indiana with 15,696 acres to explore on bicycle, horseback or by hiking trails. 


The west entrance to the park is the park to be used by those with motorhomes, fifth wheels and trailers.




The east entrance has a covered bridge that has low clearance as well as a weight limit. 







The first landmark beyond the entrance will be an enjoyable location that enables great vistas, the West Lookout.  






Leaving the West Lookout, continuing into the heart of the park, you will come to intersections.  Just turn right.  Follow the well marked signs to the campgrounds.  


Our only complaint with the campgrounds is the parking spots are closer together than we would like in Buffalo Ridge.  If you continue past that smaller campground and follow the road, you will be in a more wooded campground sporting larger sites.  The drawback?  If you have a larger rig, I would recommend that you use the park map and make reservations for the site that fits your needs. 

A plus is there is a paved section entirely for disabled / handicapped.  It is in this area that in the summer of 2012 that we met the child, Amanda, who just had her last chemotherapy for brain cancer.



This is the latest photo, taken from her Caring Bridge site.

She is healthy, happy and growing.  She is also thankful for the readers of this blog that have prayed for her complete recovery.   

Amanda is a straight A student, participating in many activities.  

Back to Brown County State Park.  There is a four mile loop throughout the park as well as being able to ride on the road and even ride into Nashville, where you can shop till you drop.  

There are twelve miles of hiking trails with some starting from the campgrounds.  

The shortest trail, a half mile loop starting at the nature center is the first trail John walked after being released from the hospital.  What a happy day that was.  












The Fire Tower is another place to visit.  Do you feel like climbing? Add that to your hikes to have a great workout!





The seventy mile equine trail takes you through parts of the park that is only found on horseback.  You can find the perfect horse that meets your needs at the stately Saddle Barn.  







Brown County is a mecca for artists.  Bring you sketch book, oils, water colors and even your camera to capture outstanding views.  

Hesitation Point is just one of the terrific views that are calling for artists to capture.

When you are ready for some open air after being in the City of Indianapolis, hook up and move south to the Brown County State Park, our favorite state park in our home state of Indiana!   

Thanks for joining me today.  I sure hope it is warmer where you are!   It is thirty-three degrees, falling to twenty-six tonight.  

Your comments are a delight!  

What am I thankful for?  Each and every one of you.  

REPAIRS, THEN SLEEPY TIME TO SHEEPY TIME

Monday, we left the beautiful Brown County State Park in Nashville, Indiana and moseyed on up to the Camping World in Greenwood for an oil change, a new lock on one of our compartments and a new toilet.

Some of you might remember that we had "issues" with the toilet on our trip to the Southwest winter before last.  It was supposedly repaired by Edmundson RV in Taylorsville, Indiana.  Again, Edmundson let us down and we turned to Camping World for help.

Edmundson's service staff trash talked Camping World something fierce and had us convinced that their service technicians were terrible, the service was terrible, etc.  As it has turned out, almost every repair we had made at Edmundson's has needed to be re-repaired costing us thousands of dollars.

What we found the Greenwood, IN Camping World was a service driven  organization that believes that truth and honesty is the best policy! And we did not have to wait for days or weeks to have our work finished.   Kudos to them!

Tuesday, John had an appointment at Indiana University Health Sleep Apnea Education Center where he received a final review with Dr. Damien Patel who is doing his fellowship, and Dr. Shalini Manchanda.  After John was examined and questioned about his sleeping situation.

It has been about a month since he had his sleep study and has been waiting eagerly for this appointment.  Do you think he looks happy to be in their presence - finally?

The next step was to schedule a follow up appointment. Tammy took care of that business.

I looked at Tammy's identification badge and could not believe that she was the person pictured.  I do not remember how much she weighed prior to her bariatric surgery, but it was a lot.  Congratulations, Tammy!

Next, we were off to meet with Jeff Scott, a super energetic and enthusiastic Respiratory Therapist.  It is Jeff's responsibility to explain the need for CPAP.  I had no idea that the heart rate increases tremendously with sleep apnea.

A resting heart rate should be lower than when up and about,  John's heart "resting" heart rate was over the target heart rate if he were exercising!  John was at risk of having a heart attack!  Gee, can we add anything else to his list of problems?

John was given the choice of three methods of delivering the continuous positive air pressure.  The one on the left fits right above the top lip and covers the entire nose.  On the right you see one that covers the nose and mouth.  That mast reminded me of a scene in the movie Top Gun.  These two, were John's rejects.

 This is John's choice.  This has short "tubes" that fit just inside the nostril and has a "pillow" that forms a seal.

At the time, John thought that this would be best for him.  He has used this one every night and continues to have air leaks that wake me up so that I can wake up John and have him re-seat it.  John is sleeping better, but not me.  John now thinks he will trade it in for the one on the left that covers the nose only.

With both of these choices, a chin strap needs to be worn to prevent mouth breathing.

Surely there is a smaller chin strap out there!  This looks as if he has either a neck lift or a tooth ache!

On the positive side, John feels so much better.  He is less tired and his eyes have life in them rather than total fatigue.

Wednesday, was another doctor appointment!  This time John had a growth removed from his leg.  After leaving the doctor's office, we were off to Hayden Physical Therapy so John could say thank you and good bye.

Yesterday, we finished our business with Camping World and finally....I repeat, FINALLY on the road of fulltiming!  First stop?  Allegan Michigan.  More on Allegan and the Michigan Fiber Festival in next post.

For now, thanks for stopping by.  I love your comments .....   God bless!!

SETTLING IN AND MAKING IT OUR HOME

It is a bit of a mess here right now.  You can see that in the photo!  Being a short one, I use the stool in the upper right, but it is foldable and should have been put in it's  place.

Then there is Noah's litter box.  For a while, it was under our dining table, then we moved it in the space between the "navigator's chair and my seat, but that is where my case with my circular sock machine is now located.  The only place I can think to put the litter box is in the shower.  Any other suggestions?

And ladies and gentlemen, on the right just above and behind Oliver, you see a full trash bag.  That dandy item now hangs on the hand rail.  I REALLY do not like that!

With John's COPD, I thought I had to bring our small room air filter.  Again, there is no good place for it.  Last night, it went to the campground dumpster and I will look for a smaller, less obtrusive filter.

Now, for what we have accomplished.  First is our floors that John installed last summer when he felt much better than he does now.  Then there is the Karastan oriental rug on which  the fur kids love to rest.

Well, maybe not so much to rest all the time.  It is  also used as a wrestling mat for Noah (the cat) and Olivia (the dog).  And guess who always wins....Noah!

 Oliver just stands in the background and asks "when will these two ever grow up and be more dignified, LIKE ME?"

After the rug went down, John removed one of the light fixtures on the wall and hung my cherry Howard Miller wall clock.  It is no longer hanging crooked as you see in the photo.


Next to the clock and waiting to be framed and hung is a pen and ink drawing of Talley's Pub.


John also removed the traditional Winnebago watercolor that comes with every rig.  There, we are going to hang one of my pieces of fiber art work.  This "painting" is composed of hand dyed fibers then blended and laid out to create the picture.  


This "painting" won Grand Champion, Best of Show at the Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival. 


The holes left by the watercolor is where this picture will be hung. 

There is another fiber painting to be hung in the bedroom.  A few years ago, this was a Father's Day gift for John.  I entered this "painting" in the fine arts division at our county fair and won a blue ribbon.  What a surprise.

As we travel and John and I take pictures of scenes that we like, I will take the photo and recreate it by painting with the fiber.

I have my dye pot, dyes and all other equipment with me.  I guess we could say that our motorhome is an art studio on wheels.  From our traveling studio, I will be selling the artwork as Merikay and Karen in the Woods will be selling their works.

The final, so far, touch of home we have added is the last quilt John's mom made before her death.  This quilt was even made for John which gives it special meaning to him.

In the lower right corner is a small, portable washing machine.  This baby saves us a lot of money on laundry bills.  It was two hundred dollars and has paid for itself many times over.

As we begin our search for a newer motorhome, a built in washer/dryer is just one of my must haves. What is so funny is that although we have sold our house, we just have not felt a rush to purchase our next motorhome.  For me, that is a good thing.

Enough for today.  If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to head to the comment box!  Thanks for stopping by.

God bless!

So Happy to Have THAT Done!

I have been off studying and test taking.  In my other life, I was an insurance agent and I continue to do my continuing education and test taking.  Total stress time for this type A personality.  Of course I must get every question answered correctly.  Now, I ask "who cares other than me?".  Now that the test is over and I have my certificates to prove it, I don't even care. ha

If the studying enhanced my knowledge of health and life  insurance, that would be great, but what they place on there is junk.  Who gives a rip about the dates of early insurance, when Medicare started, etc.  That is not what makes agents good.  Useful knowledge of the do's and don'ts, the ways to use each policy, etc - that would help insurance agents.

I have been licensed  for 30 years and feel like I could write the continuing education materials.  BUT, do not ask me to.  I'm mostly retired.  I write for friends and family.  That is the only reason I keep my license.

Ok, enough of that!

The silk worms are making cocoons today.  It is neat to watch them work inside their cocoons.  The ones that have yet to start are just lounging around, not eating....just sleeping, getting ready for the big push.  I am going to have silk soon!  It has been an interesting experience, but not sure I will do it again.  Right now, I'm just tired and really don't want to do a thing.

But, tomorrow, I head to the studio.  I an positive that will put some excitement into my life.  I have yarn to dye, felting to do etc.  I have some neat ideas that have been cooking for a while and am ready to make some test pieces.

I found my camera!  It was "lost" in the Miata!  I haven't had the Miata out of the barn since Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival and I had the camera down there.  Mystery solved.

John is just a step or two from having the motorhome floor prepared for our new Allure floor covering.  He says that after removing the carpeting from the house for our hardwood and removing it from the motorhome, he never wants us to have carpeting again.  Even if one sweeps daily, grit gets though the carpet and just sits on the floor.  Yuck...and that is just what we see!  What about all the mites from our skin etc?  Double Yuck!

I do know that our allergies have been much better since we have installed the hardwood here in the house.

I'm ready for a trip again and so is John.  We haven't been home two weeks and we are ready to roll again.  Maybe next week after the Fourth of July stampede.  We really enjoy going to Brown County State Park and it is only 45 minutes from here.

Well, that's it for tonight so nite and God Bless!

Flood Warnings and Crank In

Right at this minute it is not raining.  We came to the Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN for the annual Brown County crank in.  We arrived in the rain and are supposed to return home in the rain.  Thank goodness for the motor home to keep us dry and comfy. We have even stayed a day longer than planned in hopes of no rain and the ability to hike through the park.  I wanted to get photos of the beautiful Dogwood in bloom.  That is not to happen this year.

I did get pictures of the crank in that was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Nashville library.

I was surprised to see 'crankers' from Canada, Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois as well as those of us from Indiana.  The crank in is for fellowship and for learning new techniques or like me, just learning how to use my  antique circular sock machine. 

Friday was extremely frustrating for me.  I had problem after problem.  Jenny Deters worked with the machine and found that I had 5 0r 6 rusty needles that were making stitches drop.  One problem solved.  I got so excited,  I forgot to follow the pattern and had to rip the sock out.  Back to the beginning # 1.  I started again and forgot the second step....dang, I was sooo excited and wanted to crank that sock out quickly!....Rip it out again and on to beginning #2.  Now, I thought,  I would remember the steps!  On I knit, ......  oops, I dropped another bunch of stitches.  Beginning #3, #4, #5...by now, I had a raging headache!  I kept going though, this silly machine was not going to get the best of me, no siree, not, no way!  Let's see now, I start again and again dropped stitches.  By now it was 6:30, I had not had lunch, had a raging headache, was so frustrated that I thought I could just scream. 

Instead of making a spectacle of myself, I chose to head back to the park and the safety and comfort of the motor home.  I was greeted at the door by John....all smiles!  "Well, how did it go?"  I held back the tears and grouched at him instead.  I grabbed a ham sandwich and was in bed before darkness fell. 

Saturday morning, I woke up ready to tackle that machine.  I walked to that dratted machine and thought, buddy, I'm BACK.....we ARE going to make socks today, so no more dropping stitches today, ya hear?   That machine didn't hear!  I kept dropping stitches until an angel from Illinois came over and asked if she could have a try at my CSM. Even she dropped stitches!

 She went over the CSM just like Inspector Gadget and found another problem.  When using the CSM and you are knitting socks, weights are supposed to create tension.  If the tension is too tight or to loose, the CSM will not knit properly.  Usually to drop stitches.  Barb Woodard, my angel from Illinois, gave me tips on placing the weights so that the entire sock is at the same tension. Voila!  I was off and knitting.  When the sock was almost finished, yep, I did it again, I dropped 3 stitches. I had not moved the weights up as the sock was knitting.  Lesson learned and another rip out.  BUT this time I was not discouraged.  I started the sock, stopped for the evening and went back to the motorhome for a delish dinner, thanks to dear John!  I didn't go hide in bed and we even played a game!  I took Oliver for a walk and we sat by the campfire that would not start.  What a nice evening...until more rain came! 

Sunday morning came and I was off to my last day at the crank in.  I cranked a bit, talked to a lot of crankers then came "home".  I set up the CSM in the motorhome and was off!  I'm to the toe now.  I have never come this far.  I dropped a stitch!  Guess why! HA!  I left it be and went to bed.  When I got up yesterday, I decided to take the day off and now, today, I am gonna pick up that stitch and finish that sock....hopefully, it's mate. 

When I purchased the CSM at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in September, I was warned that there was a huge learning curve.  I underestimated just how huge it is.  I feel that I'm over the hump, but will still run into road blocks.  It's just like when I learned to spin my own yarn and now I am a good spinner. 

Now, what did John do all week end?  He re-couped from a cold and tied flies in hopes that someday, it will quit raining and he can go fly fishing. 

What a memorable week end! 
Blessings to all!  This IS the day the Lord has made....Let's rejoice and be glad! 

Rain, Please GO AWAY!

It has rained so much that we have not had a day to mow the lawn.  It is about long enough that we could cut and bale it!  The rain started a week ago as we went to Greencastle, IN for The Fiber Event.  The Fiber Event was great!  Sales were up and I met many new friends and had such a great time talking with old friends.  Dinner at Greencastle's restaurant, Almost Home was again a treat.  A great big YUM! 

After coming home from Greencastle, I taught a felting class.  The class was using a resist in felting.  When one uses a resist, they can make an object with no seams such as a vessel, mittens, slippers, etc.  This time the student wanted to make a saddle pad for one of her horses.  By making the pad by using a resist, she will be able to add padding to the hollow inside of the pad.  This project is the largest using a resist.  I was very thankful that I have the felt rolling machine or we would have been totally exhausted!

Late Thursday, Edmundson RV called and said that the motor home would not be ready for our trip to the Fiber Arts Festival in Kendallville, IN.  (again)  We loaded the truck and were on I 69 heading north.  Since we had such a late call from Edmundson, we arrived with only about an hour to set up our booth, but we made it. 

Friday, we were greeted with more rain and a cold that was totally bone chilling.  Since my silk long johns were in the motor home, I was totally unprepared for the cold and drank more hot chocolate than I had all winter!  Surprisingly enough, the die hard fiber artists came out and shopped for supplies.  I was very pleased that our sales were as much as they were and looked forward to Saturday's sales since it was not supposed to rain before 7:00 p.m. and the show was to end at 5:00.  Saturday's sales were also good and for a first time show, I was mildly pleased with our sales.    We packed up and headed home and of course it began to rain as we approached Indianapolis.  

It has rained all day and we have had a quiet, thoughtful Easter.  Our California daughter, Jojo, sent me a picture of Joshua Tree.  They are camping there this week end.  Later, she called and we talked for a wonderfully long time.  It is so hard to have a child 2000 miles away.  Her phone call made the day wonderful! 

The rain is supposed to continue all week.  This will guarantee that I stay in the studio and get some work done.  I also need to order more pottery knitting bowls and the knitting lights.  I have sold about 50 lights in a week.  They are truly a hit with knitters, weavers, and those who do other kinds of needle work and reading! 

The end of this week we will be heading for Nashville, IN and the Brown County State Park.  John will be fishing and I will be attending a 3 day crank in for owners of antique circular sock machines.  This is going to be a great time.  I have yet to make a second sock because I keep running into a problem when I get to the increase portion of the heel!  There will be plenty of people to help this newbee cranker.  So far, I have just been a cranky cranker and I plan to leave as a happy cranker! 

Wow, this week is going to be really productive!  I'm going to felt hats and vessels in the studio and then crank some socks!  What else could I ask for other than 2 dry days to mow!  Hey, maybe we will meet some campers in Brown County! 

Till next time.....may the meaning of Easter bless your lives.....He is risen!