On The Road Again

Colorado City, Colorado
campground

I am happy to report we are back on the road again. We arrived in Shreveport in early February for a two week stay that lasted three months. The best laid plans don't always pan out, something we've had a good deal of experience with over the years. 

Since my last post of March 23, not too much has transpired. Mark's condition has been steadily improving. He was seen by a neurologist in early April, who finished the visit by advising him to come back for a follow-up in a year. That in itself encouraged us to start planning again for our future travels. He has not needed any physical therapy, other than hand exercises to help with strengthening his right hand, which was most affected by the stroke. We bought him some rubber grips and finger stretchers the doctor recommended for that purpose. He still has persistent tingling in the face and hand, but was told it would subside over time-- perhaps as much as a year. 

He tires more easily since the stroke and we talked about slowing down-- traveling shorter hours in a day, staying longer in the same place, and resting more often along the road.

...except our very first plan threw those determinations to the wind. And here's how that went:

Mark's grandson, Aiden, was to graduate from his homeschool group in Valdosta, Georgia, on May 7 and Mark wanted to be there. It would be a four-day trip for us, and since we were disappointed to have missed my sibling reunion that occurred the first week of March in Gainesville, Florida, we thought we'd add a stop in Gainesville into the bargain and at least see my two brothers who live there. We could pick up a short visit with my sister in Mississippi on the way back. We made all the necessary campground reservations and carefully mapped out our route, including fuel stops. The trip would be a very long one-- it would have us going from Shreveport to Gainesville and back to Pueblo Colorado in a four-week time span. Not only that, but it would bust our budget. 

We knew this trip we had planned went against everything we'd talked about, but we wanted so much to make it, we disregarded all the negatives and said (like every rational being that wants what he wants) that we would execute our new slower travel plans just as soon as this particular trip is done.

And so we prepped to move on Sunday, the 2nd-- disconnected water and power and pulled up the jacks. I opened the fridge to secure everything therein and noticed the light was off. Red flag! No power to the fridge. Our inverter, which controls power from the batteries, should keep the fridge running when power is disconnected, but it wasn't doing its job. We cannot travel all day with the fridge off, nor boondock without battery power unless we run the generator constantly. And that we cannot do. Mark went to work troubleshooting to find the problem and fix it so we could head on out.

Well, the long story would no doubt bore you, so I'll give you the short version:  We ended up driving back to Choudrant, Louisiana on the 4th, to see Ronnie Wolfe (our mechanic) who promised to squeeze us into his schedule. At that point we knew we would not make it to the graduation and decided, with great disappointment, to scrap the whole Georgia/Florida/Mississippi plan altogether. 

Wednesday, Ronnie looked at our inverter and with the whack of a hammer, got it working again. Don't ask me what was wrong with it. Don't ask me why whacking it with a hammer fixed it. Those details were never explained to me. As far as I'm concerned, the whole thing was a divine intervention. I can picture the Heavenly Father looking down at us and saying something like, "That, dear folks, is a very bad plan. Here, let me fix it for you." The fix (both of the inverter and the travel plan) cost us nothing and saved us a whole bunch of money, time, and stress.

And so, we went instead to Lake Tawakoni Thousand Trails RV Park in Point, Texas, where we stayed for half the month of May. About half of those days it rained. There is nothing in or around Point, Texas, worth visiting, so it was by all accounts a very quiet, restful fifteen days. While we were there, I finished up some crochet projects and started some new ones. Mark installed some new shades in the front room (pictures below). And we both spent a good deal of time sitting around doing more or less nothing. I guess you might call it "resting," "taking it easy," slowing down."

Lake Tawakoni near Point, Texas

This past Sunday we left Lake Tawakoni for Colorado City, Colorado, which is just a bit south of Pueblo. After a short two-day stay at a campground in Clayton, New Mexico, we arrived at our destination this morning. Mark has relatives here whom he hasn't seen in some years and wanted to spend a couple days with. 

And that catches us up. 

Safe travels to our traveling friends, and God's blessings to all!

More pictures...

Magnificent clouds
Amarillo Texas

Clayton RV Park
Clayton, New Mexico

We don't usually stay at KOA campgrounds, but
this one suited our needs and was somewhat affordable.

The new Legacy roller shades from 
ShadePro
Dining Area

Living Area

Over But Not Out - A Sabbatical

As many of you already know, a few weeks ago, Mark suffered a small stroke that sent him to the hospital. His symptoms were mild, as strokes go, but the residual effects left him with some difficulties managing the right side of his body. The first thing we noticed, on the very day he was discharged from the hospital, was problems walking without tripping. The second was slurred speech. And last, but not least, was an occasional problem with gripping things in his right (dominant) hand. The issues with the right hand and right foot told us that driving was out of the question for him, at least for now. 

Mark is the only driver of our rig, so we are essentially stuck where we are for the time being. And where we are is Shreveport, Louisiana. Not an especially comforting idea heading into summer, but it is our current reality. God always tucks blessings in with trials though, and the blessing in this trial is that we are "stuck" at Mark's daughter's home, in a spot where we have access to water, power, and sewer-- where we won't be pressured to leave before we're able, and where we have family support and grandchildren to entertain us. It could have been much, much worse. As Proverbs 16:9 says, we made our plans, but the Lord directed our steps. He brought us here and kept us here, and in his good time, we'll move on.

We had some trouble getting follow-up medical care for him due to all the bureaucratic rules (associated with the ACA, I expect) restricting access to medical specialists--in our case, a neurologist. You can no longer just make an appointment with a specialist; you must be referred by your primary care physician. Since we have no such relationship in Shreveport, we went back and forth for weeks trying to resolve this with his Minnesota doctor. The good news is, he has an appointment with a local primary care doctor this week and will see the neurologist the first week of April. Until those appointments are finished, we won't really know how long to expect for recovery. 

Heartfelt thanks to all our RV friends who have offered their help and support! Under different circumstances, we would have been in much greater need.

Now, about the blog. This pause in our life seems like a good time for me to take a break from it. Thank you to all my readers for your interest in following our life and activities. Without readers, writing is pointless.

Nevertheless, as you've probably noticed, my posts have been fewer and farther between, which shows more than anything else that I could use a break. I've decided to take a bit of a sabbatical from Finne's Follies. At this time, I have no plans to close it out entirely, but I won't be posting to it for the foreseeable future. 

In the meantime, Mark and I are both posting periodically on Facebook and will keep our friends and family who are still on that network updated with our situation. For everyone else, you can always contact us by email or phone to touch base -- that information is available on our "Contacts" page.

2021 is shaping up to be a challenging year for many of us. We wish you all the best-- health, joy, and safe travels for those still traveling, and may your troubles be few.

Until next time, God Bless!