The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #25 in MD, DE, VA, NC,
SC, GA & FL 12/11/98 only 2,795 miles, odometer reading now
31,335.
From Virginia Beach, Hi Everyone!
Good news! I saw the surgeon on Nov. 25 and he asked me how I
felt, I told him great, he looked over his handy work and told
me I could return to my normal activity but if I received any
signals from my belly to pay attention to them and back off a
little. He told me everything come back negative as to more cancer.
Boy!, did I feel good then, he said he wanted to see me again
in 4 to 6 weeks. I also have to see the Doctor for another Colonoscopy
to make sure everything is as it should be in about three months
after the first one. I see much improvement in my condition each
day that goes by. I swear, getting that cancer removed is like
drinking from the fountain of youth. Each morning when I wake
up I feel younger. It's hard telling how young I'll feel in February
when I celebrate my 74th birthday. I'm sure that getting behind
the wheel and heading down the road will back the clock up a few
turns also.
Thanksgiving time again and I have so much to be thankful for.
A few days in the hospital
and family comes to the forefront. I am so thankful and proud
of them all, including my in-laws.
Had thanksgiving dinner at my niece Susie, her husband John, the
twin teenage daughters Jennifer & Elizabeth and their brother
John Mason. They Deep fat fry the turkey and as I said last year
they are delicious. John fried three of them while we were there.
One was for a lady from their church, we ate the other two, there
was very little leftover. I know I ate too much, it happens every
year.
After recovering from overeating I got the motorhome out of the
shed and headed south. I hadn't even got through Salisbury, MD
and the tranny was acting up, shifting into 2nd gear for no reason.
When I got to Jenny's I checked some things that could cause it
and decided to by pass the Thermal vacuum switch that changes
the vacuum to the vacuum modulator on the tranny according to
the temp. of the engine. It worked OK all the way to Virginia
Beach but when I got in the city traffic it started acting up
again. I decided to make the trip to Orlando, FL during the cool
temps at night. This worked well till I was about 100 miles north
of Jacksonville in the afternoon the temp. was in the 80s and
she dropped into 2nd gear, I slowed down and drove the 100 miles
in second gear. I checked into the RV park on the Naval Air Station
to let her cool down and wait for Karen & Jack to get off
work and get to their home in Jacksonville Beach. They were home
by about 5:30 so headed there and had a nice short visit before
heading to Orlando. When I had gone a short way down I 95 it started
to get foggy. I don't like driving in fog and needed fuel. When
I was fueling I asked the guy at the next pump if this would last,
he said "yes, it will get worse and should burn off by 9:00
AM". I went a little further and decided to park it till
the fog lifted. I pulled into a mall parking lot and shut down,
was going to get some sleep but thought about the new weather
radio, turned it on and was advised that most of the fog was north
of my location. Orlando didn't have fog so I headed south and
sure enough I was soon out of the fog. The new weather radio paid
off. Also got to test the CB radio when I stopped at COOP Engine
Works to visit with my new friend Jim Bounds. Another new friend
Dave Greenberg showed up to pick up his Motorhome after repair
and he informed me that he was heading to the rally park. he had
been there before and Gus couldn't pin point it for me so I decided
to let Dave do the navigating and we could keep in touch via CB
radio so the radio paid off again.
Dec. 4, 1998 I heard that from here we would be able to see the
shuttle as it went up at 3:30 AM. I woke up in time, turned the
TV on and got dressed. I stepped outside as it started the liftoff
and looked to the east. Unfortunately there were trees to the
east to block my view. I could soon see what looked like a bright
star coming up through the trees, I knew it was the shuttle but
by the time it got up above the trees it had arched over and was
heading away from me and it started getting smaller and was again
dropping down in the trees. So much for the shuttle launch, I
had my camera but didn't get a picture.
I decided to disconnect the wire on the tranny that comes from
the kick down switch on the throttle linkage. The experts agreed
that this could cause the problem. After leaving the camp ground
I had no more problems with the tranny so when I get back in the
shed at Jeff & Alexis' place I'll check out the wire from
one end to the other and reconnect it. I also found out from one
of the experts that the vacuum line from the manifold to the modulator
on the tranny was not supposed to be teed into the thermal vacuum
switch. I can believe it, as the engine runs much better now and
I picked up better gas mileage after disconnecting it. It has
been connected wrong all the time I have had the coach.
After leaving the campground I headed to Sarasota to visit my
good friends Dick & Janet Headley (an old Navy buddy) They
had just survived their daughters wedding, the newly weds were
on their way to Hawaii for a honey moon but when the plane took
off from the airport in LA there were a couple explosions in one
engine and it returned to LA. It looked like a long delay, what
a way to spend a honey moon. This is where the best oranges and
grapefruit come from. Dick informed me that the oranges are not
yet ripe but he did pick one bag of the riper ones and I hope
they will ripen in the motorhome. He picked three bags of grapefruit
from another neighbors tree and they are delicious, they seem
to have more seeds than a watermelon but I can live with that.
I may have to make another trip down there when the oranges are
ripe.
I saw something new in a grocery store in Sarasota and I expect
to see a lot more of them soon. Would you believe, a self service
grocery check out counter. There were two of them, it was not
crowded and they were not in use. It looked like a computer, a
credit card reader and a bar code reader, I don't recall seeing
a scale, there could have been one. If you recall, the card reading
gas pump showed up in a few places and now they are every where.
After an overnight at the Headley's (they still work) I headed
north to Niceville, FL to visit my sister Marilyn and Bill and
two children Kelly & Charlie. The rain caught me on I 10 about
50 miles east of Niceville. It was pretty hard at times and I
had to slow down for a visibility problem but by the time I got
to Niceville the rain was about over.
After a nice visit I told Gus to take us to Virginia Beach, VA
the fastest way. I didn't check his travel plan and this was a
mistake, he took us the long way around. I guess he thought I
wanted to drive on Interstate roads all the way. He took us all
the way to I 95 near Jacksonville on I 10. I know it would have
been a lot shorter and faster to head Northeast instead of going
East and then North. I'm just going to have to check every thing
he does.
I'll spend a few days here in Virginia Beach before paying another
$18 payment on the bridge tunnel to get over to Jenny's for Christmas.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!
Till next time, Dallas or Dad if it fits. 12/11/98