The Journey Settles In

We have been at the Thousand Trails preserve called Lake of the Springs now since the 18th. It was 99 degrees today and my energy flagged after doing laundry and fixing the water intake leak. Kathy went to bed about 10 tonight. I stayed up to finish the dishes and start writing about our experiences. I had thought that I would blog about our journey.

We have a large number of DVDs since we often can’t get a TV signal where we stay. Kathy spends much of her day watching movies. This is what she wants most of the time. I try to get her outside every day. Not today.

She is playful and loves to tease me. She jokes with me and muses about the dogs and what they are thinking. It is a pleasant way to go through the day. There is little true interaction anymore and I mourn the loss of that connection we shared for so many years. We talk but the conversation is one-sided. The substance of her conversation is about the people around us and their motives or it’s about her past. I miss engaging her in real conversation where our ideas merge to form new insights and deeper understandings.

Yesterday I finally got busy fixing things that needed fixing. The radiator overflow was cracked so I thought I’d try out the spray advertised on TV to plastic seal everything. I pulled it out and sprayed it. Then I tested it. It held for about 5 seconds before the water formed a bubble then exploded. I dropped the container to avoid being drenched. The plastic overflow tank hit the ground and the cracks turned into an 8 inch hole.

After lunch I settled Kathy in and told her I had to go to the store. She didn’t want to go. I walked into a local RV repair shop holding the tank and asked them if they had anything to patch the hole. We all laughed at the statement and eventually found a small Chevy overflow tank that I used to replace the tank. Since the tank was small and did not have the right place for the bolts to put back on, I took the old tank and cut it away so that the new tank would fit inside the old tank. I strapped the two together with twine and put it back. It is a redneck fix but should hold up fine.

I put up a hammock between two trees and have enjoyed it 3 or 4 times so far. The hammock has a weight limit of 250 pounds and when I bought it, I was nearly 300 pounds. A few days ago, I got down to 245 pounds so I took out the hammock and put it up. It isn’t terribly comfortable being a cheapie but I enjoy it very much since I can finally get to use it.

The Ark is 23 years old and so parts are rotting off. The outside 110 V outlet has a plastic cover. The outlet doors broke off a couple of weeks ago so yesterday, at the RV shop I found a replacement. I put it on and this was one of the first things that actually worked without some modifications needed. I had to drill 2 more holes but it was easy and it works fine.

Our Shih Tzu dogs, Aslan (12) and her daughter, Koko (11) love travelling but still make messes on the carpets even though I take them out for a walk morning and evening. I have a vacuum and a carpet cleaner that I use regularly but the urine goes deep and I will have to replace the carpet with tile or linoleum soon.

They have dug a hole in the carpet by the bathroom because I put them in the back and open the bathroom door to block them from coming forward when I’m driving. Before I did this, the dogs would get under foot or jump on the dashboard and were a dangerous distraction. To cover the carpet hole, I bought a matching runner that fits nicely in front of the bathroom.

Aslan and Koko jump off the bed in the middle of the night and use this to pee on though so yesterday I sprayed the back of the carpet with the plastic coating that didn’t work on the overflow tank. I hope that it will stop the urine from passing through it to the carpet below. Then I can just take the runner out and hose it off every few days to keep it clean. Since Kathy is allergic to just about everything and reacts to cleaning smells, I have found that a solution of vinegar and water rids the Ark of dog smells and can be tolerated by her nose.

There were a number of projects I was able to accomplish yesterday and it made me feel good to finally get stuff done.

I froze the 3 blue gills I caught and cleaned the day before yesterday. The frying pans were stuck in a drawer that I couldn’t get open until tonight. I was able to open the drawer about half an inch and using a flashlight, was able to see that the handle of the 10 inch pan was hitting the front ledge. I was able to use a coat hanger to push the handle down far enough to open the drawer. Fish for lunch tomorrow!

I am so used to having a partner most of my adult life. We shared duties and I could trust that if one of us forgot something, the other would be there to catch it. This is no longer true. If something gets missed it is because I missed it. All chores, financials, planning and decisions rest on me. I must not only do all things to keep us going, I must anticipate Kathy’s needs and monitor her condition in case she can’t.

The decision to travel was a joint one but I worry that one day it won’t be something we can do anymore and without resources to count on, I won’t be able to get her into the best place for her.

One day at a time. Stay positive; stay healthy.

Life has risks. I need to accept the risks and keep going.