2016 Oct 18 - Gary's vitrectomy (eye surgery)

I had surgery on my right eye on Tuesday, October 18. The jelly material that fills the eye is called the vitreous. For most of our lives, it's attached to the retina, but in us older folks, it separates from the retina as it did in my left eye. My problem was that the vitreous separated from the retina in my right eye everywhere except around the macula, the central vision point of the eye. This caused the vitreous to pull on the retina so hard that it created a macular hole, a hole in the retina around the macula.

Soooo, they made an incision in the white of my eye through which they inserted instruments and a laser to separate the vitreous from the retina and repair the hole in the retina. They watched what they were doing through my pupil. That was the easy part! They filled my eye with a gas bubble that is intended to put very slight pressure on the macula/retina to hold the repair in place so that it heals correctly. Since the macula is on the back of the eye, the only way to make the bubble put pressure on the correct area is to remain face down so that the bubble "floats" to the top and presses against the macula.

So, for the next 7 days I was face down 24 hours a day. I was told that I could straighten up for a maximum of 10 minutes per hour to do things like eat or take a shower (no water in or near the eye). Marsha put 3 kinds of drops in my eye 4 times a day and that was the most time I was not face down. I figured the more face down time, the better. At my second checkup, 9 days after surgery, the surgeon confirmed that my extended face down time contributed to the eye's healing exceptionally well.

I have one more (hopefully the last) checkup 4 weeks after surgery, but for now, everything is going well. My only restriction is that I'm not  supposed to bend over or lift over 10 lbs. Right!

2016 Oct 13 - 16 AOC Rally at Lincoln's New Salem State Historical Park

We arrived on Wednesday is an on and off drizzle. The showers house was surprisingly clean and I was spouting kudos to the state park system until someone told me that John had gone out and bought cleaning supplies, then spent over two hours cleaning the facilities. The sinks were black when he started and white when we got there. Thanks, John.

The weather was cold and drizzly, but Rally Central was right next to the pavilion and we had plenty of firewood, thanks to the AOC.

On Friday evening, we had a potluck and a pancake and sausage breakfast on Saturday. Saturday evening, John and Jan said their good-byes as AOC Regional Directors and were presented with a token of our appreciation for all that they have done over the past 9 1/2 years.

2016 Oct 09 - Grayson's 7th birthday party

We left LBL early on Sunday so that we could get to Grayson's birthday party by the time it started at 3:00. When it became evident that we were going to arrive about 2 hours early, we stopped in a southern Illinois rest area where I took a nap and Marsha read her book.

We were only a few minutes late for the party. There were lots of people there. All the kids had a great time and Grayson finally got the dirt bike he's been asking for for over a year. Good thing Uncle Dustin has 40 acres to ride on!

Side note: It was after dark when we got home that night and, since we were leaving on another camping trip in a couple of days, I parked the rig in the street. Next day, I went out to unhitch the car and found a flat tire on the left side of the camper. It had two punctures in it, one of which was on the shoulder of the tread, so we now have a new tire on the camper.

2016 Oct 05-08 - Land Between the Lakes, Piney Campground, Perry, TN

I don't know how many years we've been going to the LBL Rally at Piney Campground. Probably 6 or 7. We've had the same campsite for the last three years.

Nothing new this year other than a few new friends. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Enjoy the pics.

2016 Sep 07-11 - Camp-Inn Camp-Outt, Juneau County Castle Rock Park, WI

In August, when we were at the Tear Jerkers outing in Pontiac, IL, a couple of the guys told us we should try to go to the Camp-Inn Camp-Outt in Wisconsin. They said it was a big deal put on by the Camp-Inn tear drop camper company. We looked at our calendar and, believe it or not, we weren't booked, so we signed up when we got home.

The Camp-Inn Camp-Outt is sponsored by the people who build Camp-Inn teardrop trailers. Craig and Cary are the two principles in the company whose total employee count is about twelve.

There are two Castle Rock County Parks on the shores of 16,000 acre Castle Rock Lake. We were in the one in Juneau County. It's a 160 acre park with 300 campsites, 150 of which have electrical hookups. Although the festivities didn't officially begin until Friday, we arrived late on Wednesday afternoon in the middle of a heavy downpour. There were several rigs already there, with the owners socializing under their tarps, tents and canopies.

The rain let up just as we were getting ready to set up, so with Marsha's guidance, I backed the camper between a couple of trees and next to a power hookup. As you can see in one of the pictures, I soon learned that these little teardrops are so small that it's common practice to park 2, 3, or 4 of them on the same campsite. Nice and cozy, but not very private!

Well, it rained Wednesday night and on and off on Thursday, but that didn't dampen anyone's spirits. By Saturday, there were about 190 people and 100 rigs, 56 of which were Camp-Inns. In fact, it rained every day we were there, but some days were a lot wetter than others.

This camper outing was somewhat like all the others we've been to, but the subject matter of the campfire discussions was centered around teardrops rather than Aframes.

Friday evening a portable wood fired pizza shop rolled in just before the meet & greet. Everyone brought appetizers and the pizza was the main dish for those who wanted it. It was very good. Also, it was interesting to watch the pizza people set up shop. I could tell they's done it before.

Saturday morning, Marsha and I went on one of the three Camp-Inn factory tours that were offered. Very interesting! The Camp-Inn story below was written by Lisa Mann and can be found on the tinycamper.com website.

Back in the day…there was a red-haired boy named Craig who liked to build things……really COOL things.

“Wouldn’t it be cool to have a two story tree house with running water, electric lights, an upstairs bedroom AND a secret lookout tower WAY up high?” he thought. And so, at the age of 11, Craig built one.

Fast forward to 2000, Craig is 36, an engineer, inventor and family man. And, he still LOVES to design and build cool things, but these days his inventions are very sophisticated with Patents and all. Craig works with his kindred spirit, Cary…a guy at work who loves to design and build things too. In their free time, Craig and Cary helped each other build kitchen cabinets for both their homes, and a custom car.

Craig decides he wants to take a sort of kooky 3 week “retro” trip with his family along the original Route 66, from Chicago to the Grand Canyon, then up through Utah’s National Parks before heading for home… and being Craig… he also wanted to hit every cheesy tourist trap along the way for good fun.

Craig was a tent camper. But with such an aggressive travel agenda…he wanted overnight accommodations that were quick and easy.

Being an Engineer, Craig did some quick math… 3 week trip = 21 nights …. One hour setup every night + one hour teardown every morning, times 21 stops = 42 hours of work in a 3 week trip…. That sounded like work!

Craig looked at various small travel trailers on the market, and couldn’t find one that worked for him. He wanted to be able to pull it with the family car. He reasoned, that if he had to buy a truck, it would double the cost of buying the trailer, and then he had a truck he didn’t need except to pull this trailer. Everything was either too heavy, or too much wind resistance….

On this particular day, we find Craig in his typical “pre-amazing breakthrough” situation: He wants something that doesn’t exist.

Remember, Cary…the other inventor guy? At this moment, Cary tosses a magazine across the desk to Craig. Upon seeing it, Craig’s breath caught. His heart jumped. Was it a centerfold? No! But to Craig it was love at first sight and much more exciting…. It was a photograph of an old 1938 Teardrop Camper.

This was it! The “Eureka Moment” If you know an inventor…you’ve seen this. (and its cool). Craig’s started designing in his head.

Craig researched all the existing vintage designs for teardrops and all had their shortcomings…. The bed was too small…only one door…no sink or stove… So, after quickly concluding that a Teardrop Camper of his dreams didn’t exist, Craig and Cary built one. Of course, like his childhood tree house...it had all the cool stuff (running water, electric lights…etc). There was no secret lookout tower…but it had something even cooler…. It was Irresistible.

All along Route 66 it received thumbs up. At Cadillac Ranch…it drew a crowd of curious and delighted folks. At the Grand Canyon it became the hit of the campground. Everyone wanted one. Craig secretly delighted in all the smiles and waves he got as they drove along. And, cooler yet…it fit right into the Americana that still exists along old Route 66.

After returning, Craig and Cary discussed and dreamed of creating a business building these unique little trailers. They spent a couple years refining their design and setting up shop, and in April 2002, quit their jobs and followed their dreams…….

I told Craig and Cary that they should tell their story to the world, and being Engineers, they wrote something that read like assembly instructions for a jet engine. I offered to help them, since I was their first customer. That’s why I wrote this story.
                                                Lisa Mann

Saturday evening there was a huge pot-luck dinner after which Craig dished up various flavors of fresh Dutch oven cobbler topped with a large dollop of home made ice cream. There were nine gallons of it!

Sunday morning, with the pot-luck barely digested, we lined up for omelettes-in-a-bag. If you've never experienced it, here's the deal. You crack two (or three) eggs into a Zip-Lock bag. Then you dump in all the goodies like cheese, mushrooms, green pepper, onions, etc. Carefully squeeze all of the air out of the bag and seal it up. Throw the bag into a pot of boiling water and, after 10 to 12 minutes, you have a delicious omelette.

Needless to say, we hit the road on a full belly. It was a great (long) weekend. We'll do it again.