911 Memorial

Today is 14th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York we will never forget this.



I remember being at work in Lake Sherwood and watching the TV broadcast with Linda my dispatcher ,who is now deceased, and Mary the Office Manager who’s husband was a fireman and she was crying when she saw the destroyed Fire Trucks. I later  found out one of the guys I was stationed with in HC-2 in the Navy , Jim Cherry, lost a brother, Vernon Cherry when his entire company of NYFD Ladder Company 118 was killed and their truck destroyed in the collapse of the WTC.


Firefighter Vernon Cherry 10-10-51,to 09-11-01,
Please never forget the sacrifices these men made for their country we will never give in to terrorism of any kind.
Donna and I are doing fine she s feeling better, no more dizziness. Sam went to the doctors for his 3 month physical that turned into a 6 month physical because we were gone all summer, all turned fine and I am good for another 3 months or 3000 miles. I can only hope I can talk Donna into another trip this winter so we don’t have to worry about any snow or another Mo winter. Hope all is well with all our friends out there. Be safe. Sam & Donna….

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In another heat wave.

We are now in our fourth day of 95 plus heat here n the bustling burgh of Dardenne Prairie. wish we were a big enough town to have a city swimming pool.Have let the blog sit for a couple weeks, WE have had some trying days with Donna’s health. she is having breathing problems and attacks of dizziness. Saturday my Son called the  paramedics to the house when she passed out in the kitchen. They checked her heart and determined it was doing fine, they then checked her medications and determined a new prescription was causing the problems.  She made an appointment for yesterday with her Doctor and she had new medication prescribed, we shall see how this goes, she said she still had some dizziness today.

WE are having the hall bathroom redone, new drywall, tiles and flooring due to leaks over the years, that should be done this week, the carpenter who is doing it is working hard and he will be repairing a wndow and sash n n Kitchen bath, and other repairs before he is done. He was supposed to do it while we were out of town this summer, but he was in a bad car accident, and is just now back to work on a reduced schedule, these jobs here have no time limit, and we told him if he gets tired or stressed to quit for the day and relax.

I have some pictures of my Grand girls in New Jersey.

Dude & Meghen

Meghen & Turtle.

Meghen and newborn donkey.

Katie on board.

Meghen & Katie canoeing.

Rigg’s and Charlie chilling.

That’s about it for today, while Donna is feeling under the I am putting off any more camping until she feels better. I was going to take a week or so and Rigg’s and I go out by the railroad and then swim at the campground but I will wait until Donna’s health improves. Hope all our friends are doing fine out there. Be safe.  Sam & Donna………..

On the home front.

Now that Donna & I have been home for a few days we are getting back in the groove of being in our own home and sleeping in our own bed , not that the bed in the fiver is any different, we have the same pillow top mattress in it as we have n our bedroom, I slept like a log on the entire trip, except for the first week when my back was acting up.

Good to be back on our home DSL and not have to depend on our Verizon Mifi which ran out of Gigabytes in August just as we were heading home. In most cases we had the campground wifi- but the two weeks we were in Indiana on the farm we had to use the MIfi since we were so far from the house and with two laptops it just sucked up the usage.

                 The two boys laying by Sam’s feet at the table. 

Rigg’s, Charlie, & Sadie are back to their old selves, playing and vying for attention from Donna & I. Sadie is on Grandma’s lap as often as she can and Rigg’s and Charlie fight for Sam’s attention. they both play tug and are back like thy were before we left.

Still unloading a little at a time from the fiver, once it is unloaded I am going to look or a place close where I can spent a few day and swim and just lay around before summer is over. Since Donna doesn’t share my love for trains and the water she will stay home for this one.

Noticed a headlight burned out on Max luckily I have a spare in the cabinet in the garage, I will change that tomorrow.

That’s about it for today, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……

Home Again.

Well after 2 !/2 months Max & Chappie pulled into the drive at the Weeb Ranch in Dardenne Prairie MO.Not to say we weren't looking forward to being home, well Donna was Sam probably could have stayed out another month till summer was over. I may take a short trip just to get out to a lake for some swimming before August is over. Hardest part of getting home is unpacking, Donna’s two piece oxygen machine contains two section, one for supplying her air 24-7 in the RV and the other for filling her two portable tanks for when we are away from her life support in the RV. But what a job to get those back in the house and setup for her. we were extremely fortunate aside from a converter failure in the first week of our trip, which had to be replaced ($400). our trip was trouble free kept a check on the oil and tire pressures and Max & Chappie just kept rolling along through 7 states. found out we could get almost two weeks out of our holding tanks when we stopped at relatives in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. All but one campground was a pleasure to stay at. the one, Green Acres in Lake Milton, wanted to move us away from an electric  site when we wanted to extend a day, even after us asking if that would be okay when we checked in, what part of your wife needs her O2 24/7 didn’t they understand. I was getting ready to hitch up when they sent a peace emissary to tell us to go ahead and stay put, Donna was pissed.
Sam got his pool fix at just about every stop. Last stop was in Terre Haute N. instead of staying one night we stayed three, a little pricey since it is a KOA, but as Donna said they made up for it in great customer service.


Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

Now the unpacking begins, mostly Donna’s clothes, I will leave  some of mine for a short trip latter this month,maybe some train pictures and some swimming. I  want to go to a veterans reunion in Oct.in Va Beach but we will probably just drive and stay in hotels.
Not much more for today, Be safe out there. Oh yeah Rigg’s is glad to be home with Sadie and Charlie, but I think he is spoiled by being a camper dog and the only attention getter.
Sam & Donna…………………….

Travel Day

Yesterday was a travel day we said our goodbyes to all the Nieces and nephews at Larry & Dianna’s in Auburn In.and headed south and west toward St Louis and home, we stopped at The KOA in Terre Haute IN.

This is a really nice friendly park, besides being a typically pricey KOA, Rigg’s loves it because they have a doggie area, and of course as soon as we were set up Sam headed to the pool for a couple hours, we have decided to spend two nights , that will put us back at the Weeb Ranch on Monday with just over two and a half months of travel, and catching up on relatives and friends. in Illinois,Ohio,Pa. New Jersey,&Indiana. We have been gone most of the summer after leaving on June 1st.

Can’t wait to see how Charlie &Sadie, react to us coming home.

That’s about it for today, we plan on a little sightseeing and then later today some more pool time. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……….

Down on the farm in Indiana.

After spending a week in Sandusky we headed south for Auburn Indiana where we have spent another hectic week on our Nephew and Nieces farm. Larry and Dianna have graciously hosted us and we got to meet some more of our Asian nieces who are living with the Paynes as exchange students. The highlight of the stay was the Saturday wedding of Edgar Aleman to Larry & Diannes daughter Sheridan. It was a beautiful affair and then it was followed by a great reception.

                                               Our spot by the barn.


                                                       Rigg’s in his yard.

                   Abby,Many, &Dani, Sam’s Asian nieces.

                                       Sherdan & Edgar





                                          Sam&Donna.

Our Great-Great nephew Sergio playing with Rigg’s.

            The Payne horses keeping an eye on us.
We will probably stay until Thursday and then head west toward home stopping in Illinois for a night or two Then we will head back to the Weeb Ranch after two months away, I’m sure Charley and Sadie miss us and Rigg’s. Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna………

Sandusky OH.

Another week has slid by and we are now officially two months into our summer trip, no schedules no deadlines just go where we want and at out own pace.
We left Lebanon(Cincinnati) on Tuesday and headed north on I-75 to Sandusky OH.

                                                     Dayton OH.
We left at 09:45AM and arrived at Camp Sandusky around 02:45PM

                           Rigg’s and Sam enjoying a rest stop.

                                                     Sandusky Bay.
The first day we went to Catawba and took the Miller Ferry to Put in Bay OH. great place lots to see, but make sure and rent a golf cart there are hundreds of them roaming around the island.

                                                        Miller Ferry.

                                           Put in Bay OH.





                           Sam &Donna selfie in golf cart mirror.

Sitting on a bar stool minding my own business.

                                            Sam’s Lunch Platter.



                             Sandusky Camp Ground.
Later we went to the African Safari Land in Port Clinton Oh.











We will be leaving here on Tuesday and then heading down to Auburn In. to my Nephew and Niece’s Larry & Dianna’s we will driveway dock on his horse ranch and attend his daughter Sheridan's wedding, not sure if we will go straight home or make a couple of stops, last time we stopped once in Illinois. That’s about it for now, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……….