JOURNAL OF TININTHEWIND

     The Jeep is hooked to the back of the 'Tininthewind' , everything is stowed, GPS is programed, and goodbye's have been passed along.  Our Spring visit to our old home area has drawn to a close as tomorrow morning we will be pulling out of La Crosse and heading West.  The hardest part for me is to have to tell my mom (shown above) that we have to leave, but will be back in September.  Somehow for both of us, that seems like a long way off!

     It has been a very busy visit to this area.  Other than visiting family and friends our focus is always our medical appointments.  Kathleen reached the milestone of 5 yrs. post treatment and has graduated to annual check-ups rather than the bi-annual, as all is well. 

     We traded our Jeep tow car for a newer model and had to deal with getting a new tow base plate and all the wiring installed so we can tow it.  We visited with all friends and family that we could catch up with, got to see all three of Jim and Alyce's boys and family's, spent many hours just visiting with Jim and Alyce and fell in love with a couple of kittens that live at 'Sunshine Acres'.

     In spite of the Mississippi being at or above flood stage and most of the river RV Parks closed we managed to get a spot on top of 'the hill' at Goose Island Park and managed to enjoy a few hours between rain showers photographing the surrounding area.

     We will not use our favorite northern route to get to the Seattle area as we have to stay a bit south to get our 'newer Jeep' registered at our domicile and new home base of South Dakota.  This means we will not get to stop and visit our friends, Alan, Jean, Kenny, and Debbie who once again will be workamping on Kabatogama Lake in Northern Minnesota.

     We leave in the morning with some sadness as we see the river valley disappear in the mirror but in front of us and at the end of this journey will be our boys and their family's.  I can almost feel those hugs already.

Posted by George at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     Of all our travels our all time favorite RV stop is Sunshine Acres.  This is a beautiful plot of land owned by my Brother-in Law Jim and his wife Alyce between Waukon, IA and Decorah, IA.  As you will see from the following pictures the view is spectacular with the fields of corn (now picked), and farms off in the distance.

     We have almost everything we could want here.  50 amp elect. hook up a few feet from the tininthewind.  We do have to go in to town (6 mi.) to dump our tanks but doing that is not much of a hastle at all.  We do have water hook up so that is good too.

     It is the hugs, endless conversations, reminiscing, drives through the country side, and quiet times that make us long for our stops here each spring and fall.  It is a short drive from here to visit my mom in an assisted living center.  Kathleen has many relatives in the area including an aunt (Goldie), who will be 101 in a few months.

     The grass is turning green, spring is showing signs of appearing (It was 80 degree's today), farmers are working their fields getting ready to plant, and the Mississippi River is on the rise.

     While we are here Jim and Alyce's three Sons, our nephews, will stop in with their wives and little ones.  There will be more hugs, stories to catch up on, rides around the yard on the scooter for the little ones who can, and new babies to get to know.  Life is good.

Posted by George at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)