OUT WITH THE OLD…IN WITH THE NEW

Thursday, September 1 – We gave our Jeep Liberty a good bath yesterday, inside and out. While working, we discussed the idea of weather or not we should consider replacing the Jeep.

THE OLD

It has about 100,000 miles on the odometer, has a few mysterious shake, rattles, and rolls, and gets pretty bad miles per gallon. So we decided to shop around a bit and see what's out there. We narrowed our search down to a Honda CRV and a Chevrolet Equinox – both towable four-wheels down. After reading reviews on line, examining them extensively, driving both several times, and negotiating with sales persons, we decided on purchasing the Honda CRV.

Dealership

The presentation of the keys.

THE NEW

Now we need to move our Air Force One braking system to the new car, get the Blue OX base plates installed and move our bike carrier to the back of the Honda. A little unexpected upgrade but one we'll probably be glad we accomplished in the future. If any one out there tows a CRV, we would enjoy hearing from you. We have all the steps in towing the vehicle, but if anyone has any insights they would like to share…PLEASE do!

Marsha also found out today that the surgery to correct her eyelid droop won't be taking place until December 16! She was told that both eyelids will need to be done, and our insurance carrier is so slow that it will take over six weeks for approval. We aren't going to wait around until that date, so everything gets shoved around. Now tell me about Canadian Heath Insurance and how people are forced to wait for medical care. This is the second time, in less than a year, that our insurance company has delayed medical care.....CRAZY! It won't do any good to change insurance companies. We are retired school teachers from Ohio, now making our residence in Texas, and until we qualify for Medicare we're stuck. Looks like Marsha will have to fly back to Ohio to have surgery unless she wants to jump through all these hoops again with another doctor in a different location.

One quick note:  THANK YOU to all those who leave us comments. We appreciate them so much, but sometimes we have a reader leave a comment anonymously. That is just fine, but we do like to reply to all of the comments. So if you don't get a direct reply, it's because we can't find your email address. We thank everyone for all the wonderful comments. Please keep them coming.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

DRIVEWAY BOONDOCKING

Tuesday, August 30 – We have moved to Marsha's brother, Rick's, driveway. We stayed here last year for a month. We had one problem. Last year we experienced "brown outs'' or low electrical voltage problems. So this year we plugged into a different 120 volt outlet and are now experiencing high voltage spikes. Luckily, we have a Electrical Management System that knocks us off line to prevent any lasting problems. Paul's a little concerned about this electrical issue for Rick and his family. Hope it doesn't lead to future homeowner problems. Since we are only staying a week we can work around this electrical anomaly. After all, the price is VERY REASONABLE….$0.00.

 

We really enjoy staying with Rick and Chris.  We have the best visits with lots of food, drink and laughs. We will be celebrating Labor Day here with the entire family.

Marsha is going to have eye surgery. This was not expected! Her left eyelid has been drooping for the past two years and is now affecting her sight. She will see the surgeon on Thursday to set the surgery date. It looks like we may be here for longer than planned.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

OHIO'S ONLY REVOLUTIONARY WAR FORT

Friday, August 26 – We're heading to Marsha's brother's house next week for some driveway camping.  We need to put down some boards under our stabilizing jacks so we don't crack his cement driveway.  We park along an edge that doesn't have very thick concrete.  We normally don't carry many planks, so we didn't have any place to store them.  Paul had read online about storing them under the propane tank.  So he purchased some closet wire shelving and installed them under the tank.

 

There was already a ledge around the opening to set them on so all he had to do was cut them to fit and drill some holes to secure them in place.

 

He will add a couple bungee cords to secure the four 2x2 plywood boards for transportation.

NOW FOR OUR SIGHTSEEING ADVENTURE:

We have lived in Ohio all our life and never visited the historic Fort Laurens. This FIRST and ONLY fort of the Revolutionary War established within the limits of what is now Ohio. It was named in honor of Henry Laurens, President of the continental Congress.

Fort Laurens was constructed in 1778 as part of an attack against the Native Americans assisting the British stationed in Detroit. Troops lead by General McIntosh marched from Pittsburgh to present day Bolivar to wait for supplies.

During much of its existence the fort was besieged by British soldiers and Native Americans who sided with the British, making gathering supplies difficult and unsafe. By March 1779, with their rations depleted, the troops were forced to eat anything they could find, including boiled ox hides and in some legends their own moccasins. This lack of supplies and attacks by Indians led to over 20 American deaths. In the summer of 1779, Daniel Broadhead was ordered by General Washington to evacuate the fort.

Outline of Fort.

In 1917, the Ohio Historical Society assumed control of the site and has kept the land open as a museum and a park. Today, only the outline of the fort remains next to a museum which tells the story of Fort Laurens.

The museum features a video with the history of the Fort, weaponry, artifacts found on site during archeological digs and other items from the Colonial Era. While at the Fort, you can visit the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution which contains the remains of an American soldier who gave his life at Fort Laurens.

Twenty-one men died at Fort Laurens and were buried here.

Fort Laurens is surrounded by a large park used for military encampments, events and picnics with two shelters that can be used by the public.

Visiting Fort Laurens is a great way to look into the past and get an idea of what it meant to be a soldier during the American Revolution.

We finally got an opportunity to get together with Paul's brother, Dave and wife, Linda. We had a great dinner with lots of catching up conversation. It was wonderful talking with them and hearing how our nieces and nephews are doing.

Dave, Linda, Marsha, Paul

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!