December 17, 2015

November 16, 2015

The other day Joyce and I joined the USA Fitness gym here in Palatka.  We both have been gaining some weight so we hope using a gym will help take some of it off.

December 5, 2015

Where the heck has the time gone?  It seems like just yesterday that we arrived in San Mateo.

During the examination of my feet by Dr. Pereira, he had a problem finding a pulse in my left foot.  He also thought my feet were excessively cold so he referred me to a cardiologist to get checked out in case I have developed a problem with my heart or circulatory system.

At my first appointment with Dr. Caracciolo, he did an EKG and found that I have an abnormality in the electrical impulses in the heart.  He then scheduled me for a Nuclear Stress Test and several appointments to do some tests on my legs.

I had the stress test done on Wednesday which went well, or so I thought.  After leaving his office Joyce and I went to the Blue Hen Cafe in downtown St. Augustine for some lunch.  While we were eating, the Dr. C’s nurse called to say the doctor wants to see me before I had any other tests done.  Not good news.

I went back to Dr. C’s office and he has decided to do a Cardiac Catheterization to find out if I have some blockage.  In his words, “I am not looking for something a stent will fix, I am looking for something might cause us to do bypass surgery”.  More bad news.  So, I am scheduled for that procedure on Tuesday.

On Wednesday evening, we picked up Abigail and Skyler, took them to dinner at the Cantina Louie (which they picked) and then out to Palatka to see the Palatka High School Musical Theatre Department’s production of “Elf Jr., The Musical”.  It was a great show which we all enjoyed.

Yesterday, Joyce and I drove up to Jacksonville to see the new Tom Hanks movie, Bridge of Spies.  Tom plays James Donovan, the lawyer who defended the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in the 1950’s.  In 1962 he negotiated the exchange of Abel for Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot shot down over the USSR.  Joyce and I both think this is one of the best movies we have seen in a long time.

December 14, 2015

Man, have things changed around here since I last wrote.

On Saturday evening we went to see the Regatta of Lights in St. Augustine harbor.

Pictures were taken with my phone.

On Monday evening to took a Night Of Lights harbor tour in St. Augustine.

I had that heart cath done last week and the doctor found that I have some blockage in two of my arteries.  He said that the blockages are about 50% and that I needed to have another cath done, which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Today, I am having an ultrasound on my carotid arteries to see what is going on in there.

December 17, 2015
On Tuesday Joyce took me to the Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine where I had another heart cath which was much more extensive than the last one.  During this one the doctor looked inside my heart and the arteries. During this procedure, he also gave me some medication to speed up my heart.  I can tell you that part of the procedure was a tad uncomfortable but since it lasted only two minutes, I got through it alright.  The doctor did find a fair amount plaque buildup but not enough to do any intervention at this time.  That’s great news since the alternative would have been bypass surgery.

Yesterday, I went back to the cardiologist’s office to have a portable EKG monitor put on which I will return today.  Then, on the 21st, I’m having an ultrasound done on my legs to see if I might have a blockage there.  On the 23rd I’ll pow-wow with my cardiologist to find out if he is going to change my medications, install a pace maker or just leave everything alone for now.

Gettin’ old is not for sissy’s folks!

Family Pictures

Harold & Michelle

 Abigail

 Harold & Skyler

 Skyler

 Justin & Travis

 Travis

Barry & Joyce

November 16, 2015

October 29, 2015

On Saturday the 24th, Joyce and I flew up to New Haven, CT to see our son Justin, his wife Adrian and our new grandson, Travis Duskin.  Justin is attending the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University to get his Masters Degree in national security strategy and diplomacy in Central and South Asia.

November 12, 2015

On the 29th we had supper with JB and Gale Rickert at their beautiful home in Summerville, SC.      Gale and I were stationed at Travis AFB, CA flying the C-141 as flight engineers and JB was a flight engineer at Charleston AFB, SC.  It is always good to break bread with “old” friends.  Thanks JB and Gale for your hospitality and friendship.

On the 31st, we hooked up the CRV and headed south to Brunswick, GA where we spent one night.  While there we visited Jekyll Island.

After 4076 miles and burning about 442 gallons of diesel fuel averaging $2.21 a gallon, we finally made if to Florida where we will spend the winter.  As you can see on the map, we covered a lot of territory and saw a lot of interesting places.

We are now parked at Lynch’s Landing RV Park in San Mateo, FL, about 35 miles from Harold and Michelle’s home in St. Augustine.  Although the park is a little far out and doesn’t have a lot of amenities, it will serve our needs.  And, at $420 a month including electric and taxes, the price is right.

Harold and Michelle have a new pool and hot tub so of course we are enjoying that.  We will be spending a lot of time with Abby and Skyler while we are here as well as making some “day” trips.  We have already made reservations at McDill AFB so that we can attend the Tampa RV Show.  As I mentioned in the last newsletter installment, in January we will be going back up to Americas, GA to attend President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School class.  We hope to make a trip back up to New Haven and also maybe down to Key West.

On Monday we drove over to Ocala to have lunch with Rodney and Susan Ziehr who we met at Cody’s RV Park in Weeki Wachee, FL back in 2008

Yesterday,  Michelle, Abigail, Skyler, Joyce and I went to the Jacksonville Zoo where we took advantage of the free admission for veterans.  After a few hours there we stopped at Olive Garden where Joyce and I got a free meal.

November 13, 2015

For the past couple of months I have been having some problems with my left foot hurting a lot when I walk and especially when I first get out of bed in the morning.  I finally made an appointment with a podiatrist in St. Augustine and he confirmed what Joyce and I thought was plantar fasciitis.  The doctor gave me a cortisone shot and I feel much better now.

“Nuff for now.

Barry & Joyce

October 23, 2015

October 22, 2015

On the 19th we drove over to Plains, GA to visit the President Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.  We began our tour at the old high school where the President and Roslyn went to school.  After that, we drove out to his boyhood home.  On the way out there, we actually passed by his home that he the President and Mrs. Carter built in the 1960’s and where they still live.  Of course, you couldn’t see the house for all the trees, the Secret Service fence and gate.

 The President does some painting.

This is the store or commissary that the Carter's owned.

 These signs are all over town.

After that we drove back into Plains and stopped at the Plains Historic Inn and Antique Mall.  Miss Jan, who is the owner, once worked for the Carter’s and spent time with them in the White House.  She also plays the organ at the Maranatha Baptist Church where the Carter’s are members and where the President Carter teaches a Sunday school class on selected Sunday’s.

After talking to Miss Jan a little while, she told us that lasts Sundays class had over 400 visitors.    The President’s classes are so popular, folks line up at 5:30 in the morning to get a good seat.  However, if you stay at the inn, you are guests of Miss Jan and she saves preferred seats.  Joyce and I thought it would be cool to do that so we made reservations for January 30th.

Next on the agenda was to check out Billy Carter’s service station.  Miss Jan told us that the station was closed but guess what?  She gave us a key to the place.  And yes, there are several cans of Billy Beer on the shelves.

After all that sight-seeing we were hungry so we had lunch at the Buffalo Grill at the Old Bank.  We didn’t see anything on the menu that would help you maintain your diet but the food was great.

We left Americas about 10AM and made the short run up to the Honeysuckle Farm RV Park in Dublin, GA.  This was just a stop to break up the drive over to Charleston, SC.  Nothing fancy here but with our Passport America discount we got a full-hookup, 50-amp site for twenty bucks.

Yesterday we made the drive to the Foster Creek RV Park and Villas on the Naval Weapons Station, Joint Base Charleston.  We’ll be staying here until the end of the month before heading down to Florida.  While we are here Joyce and I will be flying up to New Haven, CT to visit Justin and Adrian and to meet Travis, our brand new grandson.

More later!

Barry & Joyce

October 19, 2015

October 12, 2015

We left Lynchburg on Saturday the 10th and made our way to the Raccoon Mountain RV Park in Chattanooga, TN.

Yesterday, we went down to the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Battlefield.  After seeing a very informative film about the battle, we took the seven mile driving tour.

October 13, 2015

Yesterday was a kick back day.  First, we did our laundry and then Joyce had her hair done.  While she was gone I did some work on a genealogy project I’m working on.  Later we went to Sticky Fingers in downtown Chattanooga for some really good BBQ.  Yeah, it’s a chain but it came highly rated and it turned out to be outstanding.

October 14, 2015

Joyce and I took a cruise on the Tennessee River aboard the Southern Belle Riverboat yesterday afternoon.  It was billed as a Fall Foliage Cruise but since Chattanooga hasn’t seen much “change” yet, the fall color’s were mostly just some yellows.

Lookout Mountain

Some very nice homes were along the route.

After being served a so-so lunch, we made our way up to the top deck to take pictures and listen to Hubert, the Historian/Narrator for the cruise.  Mr. Hubert was very knowledgable about the Chattanooga area and especially the Civil War.  We could have listed to him for hours.

October 15, 2015

Yesterday we hooked up the CRV and headed down the interstate to Lake Tobesofke-Claystone Park near Macon, GA.  On the way out we stopped at Walmart for some of the $1.96 diesel fuel, the least we have paid on this trip.

Claystone is a very nice county park but most of the parking sites are not even close to being level.  We had to park in the back end of our site, use several leveling blocks under the right wheels, then almost max out our leveling jacks to finally get level.


October 16, 2015

Yesterday, after doing some grocery shopping we went to see the new Matt Damon movie, The Martian.  Although a little hokey and predictable, it was exciting in places and the special effects were spectacular.


While here, I toured the Robbins Aviation Museum.

C-141B 65-0248

This lady was once stationed at Travis AFB, CA.  I flew a lot of hours on this very airplane.

 Named the Caboose because it was the last C-141 to have depot level maintenance at Robbins.

October 18, 2015

On Friday we had supper at the Fish n Pig on Lake Tobesofke and it was one of the best, if not the best meal we have had on this trip.  For an appetizer we ordered the Blackened Alligator which was very tender and tasty.  Joyce then ordered their Low Country Boil which she said was delicious and I had the Fired Catfish Fillets with a baked tater and collard greens.  Delicious!

After a leisurely start, we made the 85 mile run south to Americas, GA yesterday, arriving at the Brickyard Plantation Golf Club and RV Park.  This is a great little park with full hook-ups that is Passport America affiliated so our daily rate is $20.  The laundry is great with free washing and only $2 a load to dry.  The monthly rate here is $495 which includes unlimited green fees.

October 19, 2015

There are a couple of things in the Americas area that were on my bucket list so yesterday we went to check off a couple of them.

The Andersonville National Historic Site, National Prisoner Of War Museum and the Andersonville National Cemetery are all co-located a few miles north east of Americas.

After getting a briefing from the ranger we watched two films, one about Andersonville and another about American POW’s.  Both were very informative and very graphic.

The POW Museum is dedicated to POW’s from all our nation’s wars.  The displays are both interesting and moving, especially the ones associated with Vietnam.  Having been at Clark AB during Operation Homecoming, touring this outstanding facility brought back a lot of memories.

We then picked up a CD audio tour and then drove to several sights around the perimeter of where the prison walls once stood.

Next, still following the CD, we toured the National Cemetery.  This hollowed ground contains the graves of almost 13,000 soldiers who died at Andersonville.  The cemetery is still active and performs abut 100 burials a year.  If interested, you can read more about the prison and cemetery here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersonville_National_Historic_Site

One of the guys broke the rope.  The guards made sure he died when he was hung the second time.

The dove figure "miraculously" on this stone the same day as the Maine monument was dedicated.

This web site has more pictures:  https://www.google.com/search?q=andersonville+national+cemetery&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CDwQsARqFQoTCPKlrtS0zsgCFY-ViAodvVAHNA&biw=1680&bih=948

Later.

Barry & Joyce