It's all about sharing.

2/23/07 Friday
A good marriage is all about sharing. Now I am sick too with a sore throat, nasty sinuses and the sinus headache that goes with it. With us both sick we will have to rethink staying with Wayne. Not only does he have MS but he is diabetic on top of things. For him a cold can be much worse than it is for us. I think we will find a cheap hotel. It will really stretch the budget (that’s an understatement) but it’s the right way to do things. Like I always say, doing the right thing comes with a cost.

Looks like there’s some weather ahead. The weather channel shows storms and freezing temperatures. We will run into it on the way but Toledo is on the edge of the winter storm warnings so it may not be too bad. Let you know. We’re going to get moving now. After a shower and some breakfast we’re going to visit the Walgreens across the street to get vitamin C, mouthwash, and anything else that will help these colds. The mouthwash should help clear my throat so I can talk. Time to move

This is so much fun!!! No it isn’t, at least not much. Other than the fact Cherie and I are traveling together this has not been a good day. Of course being sick is a big factor in that. After grabbing muffins, coffee, and a glass of orange juice we went across the street to Walmart. There we planned on getting some Sudafed to help me clear my sinuses. We picked through the various card displaying what each product did and chose the one that would best fit our needs. The instructions were to take the card to the check out where they would get it. I knew that things have been tightened up a whole lot because of the Methamphetamine problems. When she asked for my ID I handed her my VA Identification card and the piece of paper that we had been given by Texas that was to suffice till the state mailed our regular driver’s licenses. That wasn’t good enough. The clerk took it back to the pharmacist and I heard her say that this was not on the list of acceptable ID’s. It didn’t matter that the VA card is a federal identity card with my picture on it. Of course I didn’t take this well and the emotional control issue became apparent when I said in a rather loud voice “It’s a shame that I can’t get a simple cold medicine because of the F---ing drug addicts”. It was a good time to leave before I really got upset.

So we went to the McDonalds that was at the end of Walfarts parking lot. They did not have it together at all. The girl taking the order seemed to have a problem understanding English so I had to explain what we wanted several times. “I’d like an Egg McMuffin with sausage” I said. “That would be a number 2, do you want coffee or orange juice” she replied. “No, just an Egg McMuffin with sausage”. I had to do that with everything Cherie and I ordered. When she brought the order it was wrong. It was a regular Egg McMuffin and had no sausage. She took it back and when she showed the manager she gave it to whomever in the back and I heard her say “Just take the ham off and put sausage in it”. That’s not how you’re supposed to do it but I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it. Just wanted my food and out of there. I watched the guy snagging sausage and other stuff off the racks and putting it in his mouth, eating as fast as he could and at the same time putting his fingers on my food. I did good, resisted the strong desire to raise hell abut it and, mostly for Cherie, kept my mouth shut and we left. She’s a real motivation for me to behave.

So that was the start. Now we can hit the road. It wasn’t too bad, but gas prices are way up there in Illinois. We stopped at one place because they have this killer high caffeine coffee labeled “Kenya”. When I saw how high the gas was I just put in ten bucks figuring we’ll find it cheaper down the road. I pulled off at two other exits where there were an assortment of gas stations and, after driving up to the pumps to see the prices, got back on the highway. Finally I gave up and paid the price. I checked the oil and found that this trip has been hard on the engine as it used over a quart of oil. That’s not good as it used none for the months we have been in Texas. It’s allot of work for this V-6 to pull this trailer.

Cherie snapped some pictures on the way up. The first shows some of the swampy conditions there are out this way. We missed the Cypress woods with the trees standing in water.

The next picture is of some of the snow out here. It was great to see that and the flocks of ducks and geese that were standing on top of the ice covering the ponds. We very much enjoy this country. Love the trees and hills. Of course we love the farm and will enjoy making something of it but if offered a decent amount of land out here would have to think about it. Not a problem as I doubt it will ever come up. Time to post this. We are at a rest stop were we pulled in so I could take some meds for this migraine, another reason this isn’t a fun day. It’s 4:00 so we have to keep moving to get into town before it gets real late. I think we are about four or five hundred miles away.

We made it. It is late and I am tired so I’ll write tomorrow. Here’s a picture of the eyes on the trailer as they look at night with the lights on. Sure it drew some attention all the way here.