Head 'em up, Move 'em out!

Six weeks and two days--that's how long we've been here.  We've seen doctors and dentists, Denny has had his back adjusted and I've had my boobs smashed (October is coming up; have you gals scheduled your mammograms?), we've been issued medications for Denny's new diagnosis of diabetes and told by our family physician to check out the Zone Diet to follow along with beefing up our pretty much non-existent exercise routines.  We haven't made a lot of extra trips into our home town so we missed seeing a few folks this time around.  My back wasn't up to it for a long time and then time got away from us.  

We've sampled local sweet corn, green peppers and tomatoes, picked up goetta and favorite meats at the butcher shop in Cincinnati where Denny's family has purchased meats for the last sixty-five plus years.  Our favorite local restaurants and eateries were visited and enjoyed and we picked up cans and jars of foods that we can only get here.  And we found a supplier for bitter lemon--at least for the times we visit Cincinnati.  We'll still be out of luck once we leave here so we stocked up.  We've shared meals, laughter and hugs with friends and family, avoided getting poison ivy while walking the cat (a biggie for me) and watched the leaves slowly start to change colors.  It's time to go.

Next up is a visit to see our youngest son near Columbus, Ohio and then the two of us are off to the Niagara Falls area where we'll be based to visit our oldest son and his family.  There are chores planned for Denny there and maybe a day of golf with his son.  From there we turn the nose of the truck southward again, taking a few days to work our way down to Myrtle Beach, where we'll plant ourselves for three months.  That's an incredibly long time for us to stay in one place but fortunately our youngest son and his wife will be coming down for a week-long visit and then our friends Don and Vicki are going to show up in December so we'll have a month together before Denny and I decide whether to stay longer or move on.  Because at this point I haven't decided where we're going once we leave Myrtle Beach, only that we won't be heading anywhere north until all chances of snow have passed. Then, who knows?

In the meantime, it's time to be like a tree and leaf.  Ba-dum-dum.

Adjusting

I don’t exercise.  If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor. - Joan Rivers

Over the past few weeks both Denny and I have had to do a lot of adjusting.  After Denny's episode with the kidney stones we discovered that he is pre-diabetic so we are learning by trial and error what foods will affect his blood sugar.  Of course normally we pretty much eat whatever we want and so this is a big adjustment for Denny and to keep him on track I am trying to eat the same way.  When you get right down to it, a pre-diabetic way of eating is very similar to the Atkin's diet so that's familiar to me.  The instructions for someone who is pre-diabetic are pretty simple; lose weight, watch what you eat and make sure you exercise.  Ah, exercise.  That's the tough one.

And so we are trying to get out to walk.  A few trips to the chiropractor have made that much easier for Denny as he was having issues with his hips.  Now he can walk much more easily.  I was told by the ER physician in Wisconsin that the best exercise for my back after the compression fractures started to heal was to walk.  So it's win-win for the RV Vagabonds.

Denny has indeed lost weight; he is doing not only his chores around the rig but mine also.  It's amazing how the simple everyday movements and chores involve bending and/or twisting and those are two things I cannot do at this point.  Thus, Denny has taken over my chores also and he has lost weight to show for it.  The good news is, he has discovered that now his knees don't hurt as much going up and down the stairs.  So there is a benefit to all this, but I'm sure he'll be glad when my back brace comes off and I can resume some of the housework once again.  Heck, I can't wait either!  

So that's why we've been flying under the radar lately.  We drive into town to see doctors and family but basically are hanging around the campground which doesn't make for exciting blog reading.  It will be a few more weeks before we hit the road again so I'll only be popping in here occasionally.

Happy trails!