Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Wait and See

Sunday June 3 – Wednesday June 6, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 40 Lithia, Florida

 

SUNDAY

 

What a beautiful burl on my favorite cypress

 

It is a lovely rare cool morning down on the river front. There is always something to enjoy.  The flowers along the water, the lovely cypress and its knees.

 

 

 

 

 

These knees may be back under water soon

 

Canoes are coming down by 8am. Probably the earliest I’ve seen them. Birds are singing all over. Wish I were a good enough birder to recognize them by ear. In this jungle it is very hard to ever get a sighting.

Looks like butterfly wings

 

This has been a very quiet week-end. I suspect everyone came out for Memorial Day Weekend last week-end and they don’t do two in a row. It’s been nice. Just the sounds of nature. Few voices, no radios.

 

the jungle

 

I’m not only reading Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country aloud in the evenings but in the mornings in addition to my journal I’m reading Lili Wright’s Learning to Float. It’s a memoire which seems a lot like a blog written after the fact.  It recounts a trip she takes down the East Coast from Rockport Maine to Key West. One of the characters she meets is an older woman who when asked her age says  “Too old to start over, too young to settle for this”.  I ponder.

 

 

 

MONDAY

 

Go running this morning. The temperature is 65 which lately is about the coolest one can expect at sunrise.

Today starts our second week of this stay in Site 40. We plan to leave Sunday and go probably to Oscar Scherer again although rain is predicted steadily for the next 10 days. Doesn’t make much sense to pay $50 more a week to stay there if I can’t use the beach.  I guess we’ll see.

 

 Driveway to site 40 Lithia Springs

As I reported in the last blog, we seem to have low voltage problems in site 40 every time someone moves into site 39.  It happened on Saturday.  Those folks moved out on Sunday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Site 39 Lithia Springs

When it happened again this afternoon,  just for curiosity, I walked up the driveway to see who it was this time.  Site 39 is just at the top of our drive and across the road.

 

 

 

 

 

1977 Brave

 

Turns out to be a distant cousin of Winnona.  A Winnebago Brave vintage 1977.  No AC, and they were plugged into a 110 volt outlet.  Things sure have changed with the Brave.  Winnona has two air conditioners. But it’s difficult to understand how such a low draw as 110 could affect our voltage.  There must be more than meets the eye.

 

Later that day, we are told that they will be closing the Lithia Springs campground this summer to upgrade all the electricity. The close down date hasn’t been announced although they plan to reopen September 1st so it will have to be soon.  Possibly this will  be our last stay at Lithia Springs whether we want it to be or not.  We still have time on our meter but they may not be accepting anyone’s money.  We had thought we would come back here for another 8 days before taking a last vacation prior to moving into the long term stay park on July 1st.  I guess we’ll wait and see.

 

Get you'd never heard of the Cornstarch Maiden

 

Since we have to stay inside anyway, I decide to do something that has been on “the list” since last fall.  We’d been told by the Winnebago technician in Forest City when we had work done there in the fall that there is no need to buy the special product for preserving and protecting your rubber slide seals.  He said just coat them with corn starch.  Great we think.  Until we try to do it tonight.  Even my small hands have a hard time getting to those seals. 

 

 

Notice my hands too

The pictures David takes are of the easy part, the bedroom slide sides.  He does not get me trying to put my hand between the living room slide and the pantry or standing on top of the sofa to reach up and back to get the top seals.  Not sure how much all this rain is going to affect our efforts here.  Not sure this was the smartest time to do it but it’s when we had the time.  Guess we’ll see.

 

 

 

great tree and roots in the green

 

Tonight is the full moon. I love to watch it rise over the water. Here in our jungle campsite at best I can catch a glimpse of it through an opening in the trees. Prior to the current situation, I always tried to do a full moon hike. It’s great being out in the dark when it isn’t really dark.

 

 

 

TUESDAY

It never got below 75 last night. I find that pretty muggy for sleeping so I have to run the fan. I’m wondering if others have a problem leaving the AC on all night with its noise waking them up when it comes on and off. Do some RV’s have quiet air conditioners?
Never thought it would matter that much as, like everyone, I intended to follow the weather and for the most part be where I needed neither heat nor air or at least not much.

 

I am sitting down on the river at sunrise this morning. Of course I can’t see the sun rise from there with jungle on both sides but the changes in the light are wonderful.

David’s next to last Velcade shot is scheduled for 9:45 so we get in the car. Drive down the road and before we even leave the park the “check engine” light comes on. I need NO MORE problems at this point so I insist that we stop and see what that could mean. If we are late then we are late.  I read in the manual that it means you need to go directly to the shop and don’t do any fast starts or high speed driving on the way.

Well now, what is high speed driving?? 50?? 60?? 70?? I decide 45 is good and since these are county roads all 10 miles to Brandon we are able to do that. We pull into Precision Auto Parts who rescued us when we had the problem leak in the fuel line back in March. Mike comes out with his electronic code reader and says it’s a pre heat on the emission control system and not to worry.  Bring it back at the end of next week and he’ll fix it. OK then. Wonder what that will cost?   I guess we’ll wait and see.

 

Florida Cancer Specialists Brandon
Since it’s the next to last visit to Florida Cancer Specialists and David has been such a good customer I take some pictures to remember them by.  The building and the people inside.  This is a hematology practice so there are lots of various cancers being treat here.  Dr. Wright was David’s hematologist and continues to do his induction therapy since it is closer to us and easier to get to than Moffitt where he would have the same drugs, it would just take longer to do.  He’s been coming here twice a week for 4 months now.

 

that's David's laptop.  He's a professional waiter. One that sits not one that brings water

 

An hour later we are on our way to finalize the plan for a campsite during the two month transplant period.. On our way. just after we get on the interstate, the skies open up and it pours rain so badly we can hardly see the lane markers. The water is splashing up all over the place. No place to pull off due to the constant work that never seems to end on I 75. No shoulder. White knuckle driving for about 15 miles. Being in Ruby is bad enough. I would have a heart attack if we were in Winnona.

 

We look at the sites available for 2 months beginning on July 1st, notice that although the park is over 2 miles off of the interstate, the road to it curves back around and I 75 runs right by the back of the park. Those who have read my blog know how very much I enjoy interstate and train noise. Most of the park is full with what look like people into long term stays. They allow year long stays for $270 + electricity a month. So it’s no wonder.  BUT this park is the best I could find within 20 miles of Moffitt.  We put down our $200 deposit and are signed up to move into site 15 at Quail Run RV “Resort” on July 1. 

 

Do those of you who stay mainly or some in private campgrounds find that the web site paints a much better picture of the place than it looks when you get there?  We’ve looked at about 5 private parks now and have found that to be universally true. Some look A LOT different, actually totally different and some only a little. But bear that in mind if you check out the Quail Run website. Were I recommending it, I’d say it would be a fine place for an over night even with the interstate noise especially if you could keep your windows closed or if you were visiting family and friends for up to a week.   Two months?  Guess we’ll see how it all pans out.

 

On our way back to Winnona we stop at Brusters but even they don’t have an ice cream flavor that will cheer up the doldrums. I spend $3.45 for one scoop of chocolate coconut almond that is OK.  I decide I won’t return until they have Jamaica Me Crazy.  I’m signing up on line to have them let me know. David goes around the corner to check tire prices.  Ruby needs two new ones before he goes in for the transplant.

I’m sure this will all make for some great stories Some Day.

 

 

WEDNESDAY

 

Live Oak with Resurrection ferns

 

Out running again this morning before sun up.  The air is full of water, the skies are full of water but the ground has sucked the all day rain from yesterday right down.   The river seems up a bit but not as much as I would have thought.  The resurrection ferns just above the awning on the gorgeous Live Oak by our patio are just loving this moisture.

 

 

 

DGB 001

 

 

 

DGB 002

Luckily I return and David is able to do his walk before the rain starts again.  We have tofu scramble and has browns for breakfast.  Because of the rain, it doesn’t make the rig too warm.  Tastes delicious.

 

 

 

FCS & Site 40 060P

 

 

Raining in the river - see the drops on the dinette window frame?

 

It rains all afternoon.   I sit at the dinette and work while watching the rain on the river.  I order a copy of a book entitled Stem Cell Transplants from a Patient’s Perspective by Pat Killingsworth.  Pat had his transplant done at Moffitt and has one of the same doctors David does.  He has pretty much dedicated his life to this disease since he was diagnosed and has made a life out of it.  He does a blog, maintains a website named Help With Cancer, is a columnist for the Myeloma Beacon and a correspondent for the International Multiple Myeloma Foundation.  He may know more about this disease than most doctors and he for sure knows about it from a patient’s point of view.  I hope it will help David to know exactly what will be happening as he begins this enormous assault on his body.

 

We have left over pizza for lunch.  I read blog comments – FUN.  I write and send the regular semi-monthly email “Update on David” to his family and friends.  David reads entries on a list serve from other myeloma patients as well as the latest information on the recent American Society of Oncology Meetings in Chicago this past week.   I do some minor clean up on my laptop whose free space is approaching 25%.  Things run much better if you have enough free space to work with.

 

During a lull in the rain I run up to the grocery for some supplies.  We aren’t close enough to Whole Foods for a quick trip so I go to Sweetbay and try to be careful what I buy.  Once we start our daily visits to Moffitt in Tampa, Whole Foods will be easier to use.  I do greatly prefer my foods without corn syrup, corn oil,  high fructose corn syrup, Monsanto GMO soybeans, potatoes, peanuts and corn.    The only way I know to do that is to shop organic.

 

view of the jungle from the patio rail

 

I have finally done it.  I’m all caught up on the blog. That is until tomorrow of course. J I suspect it only happens because of all the rain.  I can’t do much other than feel the jungle growing all around me.  It has rained all day long and is still raining.  I do a final check of the weather sites which again say the rain will continue all day tomorrow and Friday and…….  In fact, the 10 day forecast shows rain every day.  I think the drought may be over.  But it may doom a “vacation” trip to the beach.  Seems lots of things in life at this moment are up in the air.  Guess we’ll wait and see.

15 comments:

  1. Love the cool trees. You guys sure have your hands full right now, but hopefully it will all be a memory someday as you're out RVing it and doing exactly what you want, not what you need to do, if that makes sense.

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  2. Pictures are really great-----especially considering the weather you're having to cope with.

    Yes, private campgrounds often paint a less than realistic picture! We've put up with some really smelly bathrooms, showers where the water was knee-deep, trash running over for days. Oh, and the shower with a chain, above my head, let go of it and the water turned off! They don't tell you those things on their websites. I could also relate to the curved road. Last year we went to the KOA in Thunder Bay. What a shock to find out how the entry road to the campground took us a good distance away from the highway and all the big truck traffic, but when we got in, we discovered that the campground curved so that our campsite was literally a stone's throw from the NOISE! It was plenty cool, but we had to run the air-conditioner to try to cover the highway noise. Also, we found out the hard way that a "new" campground might be very OLD, but it's "new" as far as being a member campground. A big difference.

    I so much sympathize with you re all of the "wait and sees" that you're having to handle. And, it doesn't take much of reading Pat Killingsworth's blog to understand what a frightening prospect David's upcoming procedures present. If trials and tribulations make for strength, you two are some real heavyweights. All of us here are on your side---knowing that must help some. Just wish we could do more. Thanks for taking the trouble to include us in your journey. We continue to hope for a happy outcome.

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  3. Time stands still for no one, not even your blog :)! But it sure was fun catching up with you :)Hope there is nothing but good news to follow :)

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  4. Jamaca Me Crazy...just the name brings a smile to my face:o)) Great memories!!! We will have to celebrate when David has finished his transplant and recovery with a trip down the Silver River and then off to Brusters for that great flavor!!!

    We had care troubles Wednesday...it must be contagious. Ours turned out to be a battery. It was raining here as well...must be the weathers fault;o))

    I will NEVER get my blog caught up and have given up on that goal. Just enjoying the journey.

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  5. When it rains, it pours..literally & figuratively. Hoping the car issue is an easy fix and not too much $$. Glad you found a place to stay long-term, that does seem reasonable. You'll get back to your nice campground soon enough.

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  6. We've finally had 2 days without rain! Whohoo! No car problems for us; just that pesky leak in the RV. I have also found that, for the most part, websites for private campgrounds seem to embellish quite a bit. Blue Bell ice cream is great! You can get it at Walmart and they have a yummy coconut fudge!

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  7. We did the Whole Foods run yesterday. I really love their produce! Do you make your own pizza?

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  8. Don't fret too much about the rain. Hopefully, you are just getting into the summer rain pattern of afternoon showers. I know that area really needs the rain. There is a "Fresh Market" on North Dale Mabry . Dale Mabry and Fletcher I believe. Not as big as whole foods but still some good stuff.

    The pictures almost always look better than the actual park.

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  9. In Florida, during the summer the forecast is always rain! It's rainy season and you normally get some rain just about every day...just not all day like this week has been.

    Quail Ridge isn't great, but the price is right. I think all websites paint a better picture of their campground than what is really there. We will probably also be going there when we head back to Tampa.

    At night, we turn the bedroom a/c up to about 81 and the living room a/c down to 76. That way we aren't bothered by it cycling on and off all night. We reverse it in the morning when we get up. I also have a small fan on the nightstand to point towards the bed. We stay nice and cool.

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  10. Loved reading about your days, Sherry. All the detail. I laughed when you said a couple of things....the photos of private RV parks! been there done that and had to back out of a crazy place because it was so scary! and the other one that made me laugh...catching up on the blog. When we are traveling I always seem to be behind, and then I catch up and we celebrate, and of course the next day I am behind again. Reminds me of housework in the old days when I had little kids. Never caught up with anything. I ordered the kindle version of Shadow Country, geez, the hard back was expensive! Silly.

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  11. Good girl catching up on your blog! Hope your car is an easy fix, and with all that rain in the forecast, hope you'll get at least a few glimpses of the sun. At least you had a nice peaceful weekend. That's a plus.

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  12. Hi Sherry!

    Thanks for the updates, we have not had the time (for some strange reason) to read and comment on your blog, but we're still following along on your journey in our thoughts and prayers.

    I agree that most parks are pretty lame compared to their website pictures, wish they'd show pictures of their sites instead of the office and the swimming pool. I know the CG you're going to isn't great, but the price is good and you have wheels under you to leave when all is done.

    As for that low electricity, maybe the old Brave had some grow lights in it for their pot plants? ;c)

    In our Journey with the basement type a/c, I leave the fan on "ON" and set the a/c temp. When the a/c cycles off, the fan still runs so there is no change in the white noise.

    Make sure to leave some of that ice cream for others to enjoy!

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  13. Back in the day when everything was black rubber, rather than neon pink silicon, we used to dust our masks & fins with cornstarch. A Dive Shop Guy cautioned -- store all corn starchy dive equipment in air-tight containers to avoid attracting bugs. Keep on the look-out ;)

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  14. Thank you for starching the slideout seals! You did a better job than I would have, and you look MUCH better with corn starch on your face than I would. ;)

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  15. Sounds like you were very productive in the rain, in fact. I'll be curious to hear about the book you ordered and whether it provides hope or not. I hope that is an affirmative. I do hope all these activites will make for "good stories" not too far down the road.

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