Retirement……LOVE IT!

With winter fast approaching, we decided to go back to the STL area to spend some more time with my parents.  We planned to stay a month once again at Belleville Mobile Home and RV Estates in Fenton, MO.  We had our spot reserved from October 14 through November 15.

We didn’t have a lot of plans for this particular time in STL. We helped my dad sort through some Christmas decorations and other stuff and helped him get a little more organized on the unfinished side of the basement. As a result, Jack and I reorganized and moved the things we are storing there to the unfinished side of the basement.  I visited my mom in the nursing facility often.

This was a time we had planned to experiment with cooking in the RV.  It’s not really a lot different.  Outside grilling is about the same except we have a smaller, portable Weber gas grill that uses the small one pound LP gas containers.  It has a smaller grilling space but that is not that big of an adjustment.

However, inside the RV there is A LOT LESS space for food prep. It also has a three burner gas stove and a microwave/convection oven combo.  I’ve cooked with gas before, but it was a REALLY long time ago.  I liked it back then, so I’m sure I’ll like it again. I’ve never used a convection oven, so I’ll be doing some experimenting with that in the near future. Jack grilled some steaks, hamburgers, and hot dogs, and I cooked chili, spaghetti, and breakfasts. As you can see, I am not a gourmet cook at all! Each time we cooked a meal, food prep became easier, so I guess I’m adjusting to the smaller work space. We also had my dad over to eat with us several times. Once again, I forgot to take very many pictures, however, I did get one of the chili I made in my new electric skillet and one of our breakfasts:

Here is a pic of Zoey cuddling up to my dad on our couch.

At the end of October we had a special trip to Springfield, MO, planned. Jack’s mom (who lives in Springfield) had her 90th birthday on Nov. 1st. We planned a family celebration the weekend before her birthday at the Walnut Street Inn. All of her children, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids were there for the celebration. Our oldest son, Jeff, flew in to STL from FL and rode down with us for the weekend (we took the car and left the RV). Other members of the family drove in from various places. Here are a few pictures of the celebration:

A few days after we returned from Springfield, I noticed some water on the floor between the refrigerator and the bathroom door. Jack thought it was just from the water he spilled that had not dried yet in the seams between the tiles. However, after a week of water seeping up through the seams between the tiles, we decided it must be a leak somewhere. When we couldn’t find the leak ourselves, we decided we needed to get a repair shop appointment at Camping World just outside of Springfield. We scheduled that appointment for Monday, Nov. 13, which meant we would be leaving the STL area a couple days earlier than planned just in case the RV had to be in the repair shop for a day or two.

Things didn’t quite go as we planned. On Sunday, Nov. 12, my mom became very ill and was admitted to the ICU at Mercy hospital. Jack and I decided he would go on to Springfield to Camping World for the repair appointment. I would stay in STL at my parents’ house with dad and spend a good portion of the days with mom in the ICU. Mom had picked up the norovirus (which is a dangerous virus for the elderly and very young children and infants), and after a few scary days she began to get better. She was well enough to leave the ICU by Wednesday. They moved her to a TCU room (Transition Care Unit) on Thursday when a bed became available because her dementia prevents her from being able to use the call button. On Friday the doctor told us she would likely go home on Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, I decided to leave early Saturday morning to drive to Springfield and join Jack.

We planned to drive half way to our next destination Saturday afternoon and finish the trip on Sunday. Again, things didn’t go as we planned. On my way to Springfield that morning the winds were terrible (20-30 mph sustained winds with 45 mph gusts)! It is unwise to drive an RV in that kind of wind! We stayed in Springfield Saturday night and then made the 7 hour trip all on Sunday. That was a really long day, however, I’m glad to report we made it safely to ……..

…….. I’ll let you know where we are in the next post. 🙂

So, for now … “On the Road Again!”

Betty