A goodbye to an old friend

The December 2007 ice storm has taken another casualty. About 14 years ago my youngest son, Alan, and I planted a Bradford Pear Tree in our front yard, hoping that when it matured it would shade our front entryway from the harsh afternoon Oklahoma sun in the summers. I have always called this "Alan's Tree" since he helped dig the hole and worked hard helping plant the tree. This has been even more meaningful in the past couple of years since my relationship with Alan has become very strained. This picture was taken right after the ice storm and shows the remains of a Youpan Holly Tree that had been growing directly in our entryway.

Alan's Tree has done very well over the years and was one of the better looking Bradford Pears in the neighborhood. Up about four feet from the base it forked out into two major branch groups. This is where the storm caused the damage. With it completely covered in ice, especially with most of it's leaves still attached, the weight caused the branch groups to lean out, causing the tree to split right in the fork. After the ice melted the tree came back together and I thought I might be able to save it by putting a large bolt through it, pulling it snugly back together. After looking it over very closely it was determined the split went almost all the way the the base. With the wind we have experienced lately it is a small wonder that the tree has not already broken over. Anyway, I spent today cutting it down, piling the brush at the curb and cutting up the tree for firewood. (Now we have two piles of brush since the city still has not made it's way to this end of town picking up the storm debris.) The wood was added to the other we have been scavenging from the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks. So far we have been able to collect over three ricks of wood that we will be able to use next winter after it has had time to season.

A review of 2007

Well, 2007 has come to an end so it is time to look back on what has happened. This was our first full year of retirement and we were able to put a lot into it. We saw much of this great country and made a bunch of new friends.

After celebrating the holidays with family and welcoming in a new great nephew in December 2006, we made plans to travel. We left Oklahoma on January 10 and headed toward Florida. After stops at the Outlet Mall in Gainesville, TX, and an overnight stop in Alexandria, LA, we arrived in Duson, LA. There we met up with six other couples that had been trekking across country from way out west in their motor coaches. The leader of this group had laid out our route and based our stops around a list of restaurants he wanted to visit. After Duson we spent a couple of nights in Robertsdale, AL.

Our Florida trip lasted a little over two months and we were able to spend time in DeFuniak, Lake City, Titusville, Orlando, Jacksonville, Brooksville, Tampa, Key West and Pensacola. We traveled with our little group of seven coaches for most of the first month. We also attended three motor coach rallies during that first month. Also, we were able to meet up with my parents, who had traveled to Orlando for a convention, and with my cousins, who were wintering in the Pensacola area to get away from the Cleveland, OH, winter. We then spent a couple of days in Gulfport, MS, on the way home.

During our time in Florida our older, but smaller dog developed some health problems. The local vet in Tampa determined that she had a serious bladder infection. She had become incontinent and we had to nurse her along until we could return home for her to see her own doctor. After returning home in late March we had her seen by our regular Vet and he agreed that she probably had a bladder infection and treated her accordingly. It was not until May that it was finally determined that her bladder was almost fully eaten up with cancer. She was a real trouper and, although she had to wear diapers for incontinence, she kept her spirits up and it was otherwise hard to tell she was sick. Toward the end of October she suddenly became worse and passed away on October 26.

We spent the end of March and all of April at home taking care of routine doctor appointments and the things that go along with owning property. We also got to spend a weekend each of these two months with our local RV camping club at their monthly meets. May found us back in Louisiana for another motor coach rally. We spent about two and a half weeks in the city of Rayne at the Spring Monaco America rally. It was good to get back with our main RV club and see many of our old friends. From Rayne we returned home in time for Memorial Day. We spent our time doing maintenance around the house including opening the pool for the season.

July took us north across Kansas and Nebraska to South Dakota. We spent about a month in the Rapid City area. We visited with RV friends and did a lot of sightseeing. We even made a day trip over into Wyoming to visit Devil’s Tower. We returned to Oklahoma via Dodge City, KS, in early August. The rest of August and the first part of September was spent at home.

In early September we headed out on another adventure. After spending a weekend with the local RV club we headed east again. This time we were going to spend some time on the road before attending RV rallies in Virginia and North Carolina. We crossed Arkansas and Tennessee before spending two weeks in Georgia, spending time at Stone Mountain and Savannah. From there we went north to Charleston, SC. We also spent some time seeking out historic lighthouses. After a week in Charleston our plans were to take us north to Virginia but that did not work out. The day before we were to leave we received a call that Joanne’s mom had been diagnosed with cancer and needed surgery. We decided that we must head home and three days later were back in Oklahoma. By now we were into October.

After the surgery in late October, Joanne spent most of her time at her mom’s house. This took us well into November. During this time the coach was taken to Tulsa to a dealer for some maintenance and final warranty work before the one-year warranty ended. Also, it had to have a new windshield installed to replace the one that got broken on the trip home from the east coast. After the repairs the coach went into storage. Things then became pretty routine around the house until mid-December when a major ice storm hit us. Due to the ice on the trees bringing the limbs down most of the city lost electrical power, including us. We were without power for seven days. During that time we brought the coach home and lived in it in our driveway. With the generator we were able to have lights, TV, and heat that was not available in the house.

We ended the year with enjoyable times with family and friends over the holidays. We are very thankful for our families and glad that they are so understanding about our time we spend away from them traveling. With that, we want to wish everyone reading this a very happy and prosperous new year.Safe travels to all.

Merry Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007 is about over but we want to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry and Joyous Christmas. Christmas this year was spread out over three days so that we could get everyone in.

On Sunday, 12/23, we had our grand daughters and their mothers to our house for dinner and exchange of gifts. Aurora's mother had to work during the day so Aurora came over around 11:30 am and spent the day with Grandpa Rick and Grandma JoJo. Her mother, Maegan, had to work late and missed the rest of the bunch. She did get to enjoy a late dinner when she did arrive after 9:00 pm. Emma, who was two years old this past July, arrived around 4:00pm with her mother, Shelly, and her little sister, Lily. Emma's stepdad, C.J. also had to work. Joanne's mom, Mardell, also joined us as we shared a good Lasanga dinner together.

Christmas Eve we had our traditional gathering with Joanne's family. In addition to her mom we were joined by her niece, Carrie, and her family, husband John and son J.J. We shared a full blown turkey dinner and then had a good gift exchange. J.J. celebrated his first birthday earlier this month. John and J.J. had a good time playing with J.J.'s toys and entertaining our dog, Buddy Joe.

Christmas Day was spent with the Stone family at my oldest brother's house in Purcell, Oklahoma. My parents, George & Max, were able to celebrate with all four of their sons along with their wives. Pictured here are us four boys, Bill, Chester, David and Rick with our parents. The wives decided we should all sit together in the dinning room while they and the grandkids that were there sat at a table in the living room. We weren't sure if this was to give us a chance to visit and catch up or they figured this would be the loudest table. The wives there today were Nancy (Bill), Susan (Chester), Elizabeth (David) and Joanne (Rick). Also we had David's daughter, Lisa, and my oldest son, Alex. Later in the day Chester's two youngest sons, Jason and Justin, and Justin's wife Tiffany dropped in.

Some pictures of the day are below:
George &

Max

Bill & Nancy

David,

Elizabeth

& Lisa

Chester

& Susan

Rick,

Joanne

& Alex

Buddy Joe

Back to fairly normal

The winter weather has left us, at least for a few days, and we have gotten back into our normal routine. The temperatures this week have been in the high 50's and it got up to the low 60's today. It is supposed to hold like this through tomorrow and then we have a new winter storm coming in. So far we have only lost one tree from the ice storm. What is left of our Youpon Holly is now piled by the curb, waiting for the city to pick it up. This type tree is mostly brush/bush and it had very little usuable pieces for firewood. The house sure looks different with this tree gone from the entryway.

The Bradford Pear tree was also heavily coated in ice and this caused it to split at the fork. We were afraid that one side or the other was going to toppel over but it never did. After the ice melted off the tree pulled back together. I'm checking with a local nursery to see if the tree can be strapped together somehow in an attempt to save it. The Bradford Pear trees are very popular here but they really took a beating during this storm. It is normally accepted that 15 to 20 years is pretty much the life span of these trees. Most of the these trees in our neighborhood are between 12 to 15 years old. I hope to save this one because my youngest son and I planted this one about 13 years ago and really had to nurse it along to get it to take root in our very thick red clay soil.

Almost all the houses in the neighborhood have piles of brush and tree limbs piled by the curb. Although most of the houses have fireplaces it appears not very many people actually use them. I have taken out my trusty chain saw and have been liberating some of this timber for future use in our wood stove fireplace insert. Without a pickup in the family I have to use my HHR as a truck. This is the third load I brought home today. Was able to pretty much fill up one of the wood racks in the back yard with today's haul.

Winter finally hit Oklahoma

Although we had experienced some cool weather here in Oklahoma since we returned from the East Coast in October, it had really not gotten "winter" cold. That all changed this past week. On Sunday evening, 12/9, we started getting rain mixed with sleet. As this continued the temps got colder and the ice started forming on all the trees, fences and the electrical wires. By Monday morning the tree branches started crashing down, bringing down the electric lines with them. Joanne's mother lost power around 11:00 am Monday morning and ours went out about an hour later. The house and trees were coated in ice by this time. After listening to the radio news reports it appeared that this was a major strom and we would be without power for a day or so. At that point we decided to get the motor home from the storage lot, park it in the driveway and move into it. With it's generator we would have heat, lights, TV, microwave and all the other comforts we did not have in the house.

As the week drug on we realized the enormity of the situation with over 600,000 homes and businesses without power in Oklahoma, over half of that number in the Oklahoma City area. We kept a fire going in the wood stove in our fireplace to keep the house from getting freezing cold and to protect the water pipes but it was not enough to get it warm enough to stay there. In the coach we were warm and comfortable. We did elect to go out to eat each evening rather than try to cook in the coach. Jo's mom accompanied us to dinner but elected to stay in her house at night, having gas logs in her fireplace to keep warm. Jo would take her a pot of coffee each morning, in a thermal pot, that would last her most of the day. Her power came back on Wednesday.

By Wednesday we were made aware that it would take some time for them to get all the broken lines repaired in our neighborhood. I took an assessment of our trees and shurbs in our front yard and saw the damage. A large Youpan Holly tree in our entryway was completely broken down and was ruined. This tree was approximately 25 years old and protected our front door from the western sun during the summer months. Also the other shurbs in the entryway were coated in ice and leaning over. It made it almost impossible to get to our front door. Also, we have a rather large Bradford Pear tree in the middle of the front yard that my youngest son and I planted about 15 years ago. It was now loaded with ice and had split in the fork of the main branches. (As the ice melted off the branches have come back together but it appears that the split goes almost half way down the trunk of the tree. Not sure yet if this tree can be saved.) On Wednesday the temps came up some so I took this opportunity to get my chain saw out and take out the Youpan Holly and the other damaged shurbs in the entryway. The house really looks different without that large Holly tree.

As the week drug on most of the ice melted away but we still did not have power. On Thursday we were informed that they had found at least a dozen different broken power lines in our neighborhood and it would probably take at least another week or possibly two before we would get power. Concerned about a freezer full of food in the garage, I ran a cord from the freezer out to the coach and operated it off the generator. We did lose some food that was in the two refridgerators. By Friday another front was moving in with snow forcasted. This strom did not come in as strong as predicted and we got about two inches of snow on Saturday morning.

Although we had most of the comforts of home in the coach we did not have access to the internet on the computer. Our internet access is through DSL and the modem requires electricity and a phone line. After going six days without being on the computer I was starting to have withdrawals. On Saturday evenings we normally travel to my parents home, about 45 miles south, to play cards with them and my brother and sister-in-law, who live close to the folks. We decided to go down early in the day so I could log on to my brother's in house WiFi with my laptop and check my e-mails, pay some bills and get my computer fix. (When I logged on I had over 530 e-mails, not counting the over 300 in the Spam Box.) I took care of the necessary stuff and then we joined the folks for our card games.

Later we headed home and, after dropping Jo's mom off at her house, we were discussing how great it would be to drive into the neighborhood and find the power on, even though we had been told it would still be a week or two before that happened. Well, miracles do happen. As we turned off the main street onto our street we noticed some houses had lights on. As we came around the corner we saw that our porch light was on and there were lights on in the house. We are not sure what time it came up but it had been on long enough that the furnace had kicked on and the house was warm. So, we are now back in the house and getting settled back in. Tomorrow I'll take the coach out to Flying J and re-fill the propane and fuel tanks and put it back in storage. At that time we'll know how much this power outage really cost us considering the price of diesel fuel.

Baby, it's cold outside!

Winter has definitely hit here in Oklahoma. The ice storm moved in last night and has not let up. They are predicting this to continue through the first part of the week. So far the firewood is holding out so we are staying warm. Buddy has decided the best place in the house is directly in front of the wood stove with it's forced air blower.

We celebrated our favorite nephew's first birthday yesterday. His mother, Carrie, is Joanne's neice and is one of the joys of our lives. A great party was held at her in-laws house with as many family members we could cram in there. This is a picture of Carrie, John and the birthday boy, JJ.

Goodbye to a family member

Brandi Jane Stone
12/27/97-10/26/07

We said goodbye to our precious dog today. Although she originally got sick last January and was later diagonosed with bladder cancer she was a fighter and kept up her spirits to the end. On her many visits to the doctor this past year the doctor and his staff were just amazed at how good she looked each time and how much spunk and energy she showed. Rest in peace little girl. We will miss you.

East Coast--Heading home--Day 20

We're having to cut this trip short and head home. We still had at least four weeks left with two Monaco RV rallies to attend but it is not to be. We have just learned of a major medical emergency within the family and must return to Oklahoma. The new plan is to leave Charleston, SC, tomorrow morning and head west. If all goes well we should be back in Oklahoma City by Friday evening.

East Coast--Charleston, SC--Day 18

Another light house, another plantation. That was today's sightseeing. Earlier we had found a modern light house on Sullivan Island, across the river from Charleston. We were also aware there was an old light house, no longer in service, on the southwest side of Morris Island. This island is not accessible except by boat. From everything we had seen it appeared you could not get close enough by car or on foot to get a good view of this light. The closest point on our maps was from the far east end of Folly Island. This morning we drove down to Folly to see what we could see and were pleasantly surprized with a good view. This light, the Morris Island Light House, is very old and has not been used for many years. It was originally on Morris Island itself but over the years the waves have washed away the sand and now it sits on a small patch of land of it's own. When the tide comes in, as when we were there today, the little island is under water. It is now starting to lean toward the sea and continues to deteriorate. There is an organization trying to raise enough money to save this light but it may already be too late. It would be a shame if it is lost and would be missed by light house freaks like us.

Later we drove out west of Charleston to the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. This is one of the few plantations that have been in the same family hands for many centuries. The Drayton family has owned it since the 1600's. The original planation consisted of 2000 acres. During the Civil War it was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops. At the end of the war there were many renegade union troops running loose, buring all the plantation houses they came across. This was the fate of the house on this plantation. After the war the resident Drayton found himself destitute and had to sell off 1500 acres of the land. The gardens, which had been world famous before the war, had survived and to raise funds the owner opened it up to tourist, which they have now been doing every since. The current house was built over the foundation of the original house after the Civil War. Touring the gardens took well over an hour. There were some plants blooming but it would be a much better tour to come in the spring or summer. There are several areas on the grounds to tour including a petting zoo with many animals to see up close and personal.

East Coast--Charleston, SC--Day 17

Old Charleston, a boat ride and Fort Sumter. Not a bad day that got started late. Yesterday's touring of the aircraft carrier Yorktown wore us both out. I had forgotten how many ladders you have to go up and down to get around a ship. (For you landlubbers, what we call a ladder is what you call a set of steps.) Anyway, we slept late and let our bodies try to catch up. It was close to noon before we headed out. First stop was the older part of Charleston south of the downtown area. This is an area of beautiful old homes and an area referred to as "The Battery". This is on the very south end of the peninsula that makes up Old Charleston. We wondered along the sea wall and through the White Point Gardens. Most of this park, like about everywhere else in the deep south, is dedicated to the Confederacy, including a large statue in honor of the defenders of the south. It should be noted that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and was the location where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

Later, we boarded the harbor tour boat for the ride out to Fort Sumter. The fort is located on an island at the opening of Charleston harbor and was very vital in defending the main shipping channels from the Revolutionary War forward. It was not decommissioned until 1947. When South Carolina seceded from the Union the fort was manned by Federal Troops. South Carolina immediately demanded the fort be turned over to the state since the U. S. government was no longer recognized. The Federal commander refused. The southern troops then started firing on the fort from four directions, thus becoming the first shots fired in the war. It did not take the commander of the outnumbered Federal troops to realize he was in a bad possition and he surrendered. Surprisingly, there was no loss of life during this initial battle of the war. During the last two years of the war the northern troops laid seige to the fort to take it back from the south. The fort originally was three stories tall but after two years of shelling it was pretty much turned into rubble. Even with that the southern troops did not surrender and did not give up the fort until after the surrender of the Confederacy in 1865. The fort was rebuilt by the United States but only as a single story site. There is still a lot of damage left. The barracks and officer's quarters were never rebuilt and only there foundations remain today.