CHASING GHOSTS, FINDING NONE

After leaving the picturesque town of my father's birth, Centerville, Iowa, we went on a search of Monteith, Iowa.  I was hoping to find more family history. 

First, we found the quiet Monteith Cemetery adorned with numerous flagpoles and well tended grounds.                                       The cemetery was divided by the picturesque, rolling road we were traveling.  The newer on our right with a "Welcome to Monteith, Iowa" established in 1881 "Jest northwest of Dale City."  

The cemetery, contained not one Monteith headstone!  So much for family history in the cemetery.

We had looked at the town on Google Earth and discovered that it was extremely small with a U shaped road that intersected the highway at both ends.  We turned onto the U road.  Here is what I found.  

 It appears that before the town was Monteith, it was Leadville, Iowa.  It had a deserted railroad track, a grain elevator and three brick businesses.....all abandoned.  So much for Monteith, Iowa!  My dad would have been so disappointed.  

Now I wonder why the town was named Monteith.  It is odd that there is no history to be found, so far.  

Then off to Austin, Minnesota for a tour of the Spam plant...

Thanks for joining us today....I imagine your comments are going to be amusing today!  

God Bless

REJOICE!

Thursday, May 8, 2014
Methodist Hospital
Indianapolis, IN




As I write this, John has just been taken into surgery after a four and a half hour delay.  


The patient before John has some complications. As the surgical team came to talk to John, you could tell that they were pumped with the great outcome of the previous surgery.  Thank God for a great surgical team.


Prior to the procedure, Charles and Vicki Lake joined John and I for a visit and a time of prayer.  

We have known Charles and Vicki since we were all in our thirties and Charles was the pastor of our church.  They are precious friends.  

Saturday, May 10, 2014
Greenwood, IN

Now that was one short post!  Everything went great!  They predicted that John's procedure would take between an hour and a half and two hours.  (ninety to one hundred twenty minutes.)

In seventy minutes John's procedure was completed successfully.  His heart was beating in a nice, steady rhythm.

His heart was about the only part of my life that was in a nice, steady rhythm Thursday evening as I left John's hospital room to head to the parking garage, jump in the Miata and head back to the coach.  

The walk from John's room to the parking garage was a long two to three block walk. But, I made it and counted it as a portion of my daily exercise. Little did I know that there was more walking the halls of the hospital and tunnel to the parking garage in store.  

As I sat in the Miata, I looked in my bag for the parking fee. Oops! I left my debit card at home and had only one dollar in cash.  Geesh.  

I retrace my steps walking through the tunnel, up the elevator and through and down the halls to John's room, get some cash from John's wallet and retrace my steps to the car.  

At least I did not need to have my back pack containing my computer, power pak and other numerous items.

The trip to Greenwood is smooth driving.  The new road/ramp construction at the Interstate  64 and 465 "intersection" was not obstructed by rush hour traffic which was a blessing, to be sure.  

I unlocked the motorhome and was greeted by two rowdy Shih Tzus that were ready to go outside and take care of business.  

While out, the fur kids made friends with a camper at the end of our row who was working in Greenwood, but spends his winters in Lake Havasu City, AZ.  What a small world. 

Returning to the coach, I reach to open the door but it will not open.  No problem, all I need to do is to push hard on the door.  That will reset the door into the receiver and the door will open.

But it did not work.  I try over and over with no luck.  Well, I needed help, so back down to the fifth wheel where I met the camper. He willingly comes my aid, but he cannot get it to open either.

He finally says that the only way to enter the coach is to go through a window.  

There are only two windows open.  The first open window is above my spinning wheel and antique sock machine.  That location is not a possibility.   The other is at the dining table. That will work!  

But we have a short, three step ladder that I use while cleaning windows.  It will have to do, but how does one get from a three step ladder into a window.

Along comes hero number two and his wife walking his dog.

He stands on the first step of the ladder while hero one steps onto the handle/balance rail, slivers through the window and opens the door. 

Why would the door not open?  In the rush to walk with Oliver and Olivia, I laid my backpack on the first step.  It made it impossible for the door to shut properly.

John's procedure went without a problem.  He had cash in his wallet.  And I finally gained entrance to the motorhome. It was the end of a long, busy day and time to sleep. Ahhhh.

Thanks for being Amazon.com shoppers through my blog. For every purchase made through the blog, Amazon makes a small donation to us. 

A special thanks goes to God for making John's procedure go so successfully, for John always carrying cash where I do not like to, and for heroes who helped me gain entrance to the motorhome.

Until next time, may the God who loves each one of us as his own son or daughter, bless your day and provide you peace and safety.  

ANZA BORREGO FUN

Our intention was to leave Quartzsite, Arizona Tuesday after we checked for mail at the post office.  Medical supplies were to arrive from Roche that had been ordered the previous week.  

The postal employee checked the general delivery and there was no mail for John.  We returned to the motorhome and John called Roche to see when the supplies were mailed. Just like last year, Roche did not mail them.

Now, going to their website, you find this motto: "Doing now what patients need next"  I don't think so!  

Wednesday, after consulting with John's physician and 

new making arrangements, leaving Roche out of the equation, 

we left Quartzsite for another year and headed to Anza Borrego

State Park and Borrego Springs.  

There were predictions of high wind gusts and John drove with 

much caution.  We had just two mighty gusts as we ventured 

Coachella and Walgreen's to pick up John's medicine. 

After another quick stop at Walmart for a few veggies and fruit, 

we programmed our Verizon Navigator for Anza Borrego State 

Park where we planned to spend a night or two.

I had much laundry to do and wanted to make use of their 

never ending supply of water.

  

Friday evening, we met with Blogger friends Merikay and 

Craig McKenna at Carmelita's for a Mexican dinner.

   

What a nice couple.  They are very excited about beginning their full time life. Florida is their destination for next winter.  

I awoke up early  Saturday morning and took Oliver and Olivia for a hike.  

I was very aware of all the rattlesnake sightings that bloggers have had and was very aware of our surroundings and what the dogs were doing each time they stopped to sniff the pee mail or scent trail.  

A huge Jackrabbit scurried off to our right.  Thank goodness the "kids" did not see it.  I was a bit entertained by it's running pattern.  Starting off slowly and gathering speed. By the time he was out of site he was really racing through the desert.

A bit further on our hike, to my left, I spot something different and of course we are off to explore!  What is this???

It seems that there is an entrance.  I'm too short to see if there is a roof, but I do see a metal cylindrical tube of some sort sticking up at the edge of this stacked rock wall.    Any ideas?  

Yesterday, after shopping at the Farmer's Market on Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, we moved to our current location at Clark Dry Lake withing the Anza Borrego State Park.  This is a boondocking area called the "badlands."   

After the stop at the Farmer's Market, we are stocked with spring vegetables to last the week. I did not find my absolute favorite honey.  I purchased some last year and proceeded to run out by November.  This year I am going to double my purchase. 

Wind was in the forecast for today and the weatherman did not lie.  This is a photo of the mountains this morning.  What a lovely sight.  

The photo also shows our closest neighbors.  

A bit later, the wind began to blow.  And blow, it did!                                                   The wind and dust came roaring down the valley between the two mountain ranges.  

It did not get better for a long, long time.                                 The dust continued to blow and swirl up and into a backward spiral.                                                         Needless to day, we brought the slides in to protect the slide awnings.  

Here, inside the coach, I have prepared split pea, sweet potato curry in the crock pot.  We are just waiting for it to finish cooking.  

Thanks for stopping by.  And again, thank you for shopping through our Amazon link.  

God Bless!