Trials and Tribulations

 This should be a pleasant story about the latest fishing trip my buddy Joe and I went on. It's not.

 

June 12^th: Fishing buddy Joe and I drove 450 miles (13 hours) north to the little town of Clova in northern Quebec. Pretty uneventful, apart from our usual confusion in getting through Ottawa. Local construction and closed roads meant yet another new route for us. (Shortly after exiting Ottawa, a misread sign also called for a u-turn.)

We checked in with Caesar’s North Camps, paid for our licenses and Goin Reservoir permits, and straightened out details for our flight out to our cabin the next morning. Then we had dinner at the only place in town where we also got our room key for the night.

 

June 13^th (FRIDAY the 13^th): Slightly foggy morning so our departure was delayed. Still, we were in the air in a slightly cramped Cessna before 10 am and at the cabin about 45 minutes later.

The pilot walked us through the usual instructions and helped launch the boat. The boat was a 16-footer with a 20 hp motor; larger than usual, but that’s because there was more open water around this site.

After a quick sandwich for lunch, we prepared to do some fishing. I was in the boat while Joe passed the gear to me and this is where my first injury occurred. Joe reached over with his tackle box. I was unaware of just how heavy it was and the weight jerked my outstretched right arm violently. I was pretty sure I had damaged the joint but was determined to fight through the pain even as I pulled the engine’s starter rope. (After that first afternoon, the engine was left in idle all day as we drifted with the breeze just so I didn’t have to pull that damn rope too often!)

June 14^th through June 17^th: The mornings were smooth as glass and the afternoons a little too choppy for much fishing. The fishing was also a little slower than we were used to. That may have been due to the clear skies or the fact that we had never been there this early in the season before. Still, we boated a few keepers which Joe filleted. We had walleye for dinner once and froze the rest. (We were allowed to bring home 8 walleye each and were determined to limit out.)

Tuesday, right after lunch and before the wind chased us off the water, we were visited by the authorities. For the first time in 30+ years we had our paperwork checked and our boat casually inspected by three Goin Reservoir officials. One female and two male officers pulled alongside and asked for our papers which we had tucked in our tackle boxes. They asked how the fishing was (slow, we had thrown back a few shorts and had no fish on board) and where our camp was (right over there, we were almost in sight of it) and that was it. They wished us luck and motored off. Not another boat in sight—which was true for most of our trip.

June 18^th, Wednesday: We needed five fish to limit out and this would be our last day. And it started out overcast with a breeze producing a little chop. If it got worse, we would be forced to concede and start packing up. It did not get worse. In fact, in an exact opposite to the last few days, the lake smoothed out and we found just the right spot. We boated several small walleye but also caught several of the biggest of the trip. When we had five nice fish on the stringer, it was time to call it quits and head in to pack for our departure.

I pulled the boat up to the dock to unload our gear then swung back out to ride the boat back onto the ramp to get it out of the water. I drove the boat as far up the ramp as I could and Joe pulled on the bow rope to get it a wee bit higher before throwing the rope around a tree.

I moved up to the bow, put my left foot over the gunnel and on to firm land---that’s when the boat decided to slide back down the ramp—with me straddling the gunnel. If you’ve ever seen the cartoon of a fisherman/sailor in that predicament you probably laughed. I’m here to tell you it ain’t funny! I literally (and I use the word correctly) heard something tear--and it wasn’t my pants. I screamed as stars and little canaries circled my head and pain shot through my groin. Now I knew how the turkey’s wishbone felt on Thanksgiving.

Joe asked if I was alright and I said I would get back to him on that. Several minutes later, I was able to crawl over the gunnel on to dry land. I made it back to the cabin and was surprised I had not actually torn my skin. There was no discoloration. I should have put ice on it immediately, but what little we had we needed it to get our fish home. I didn’t even have any extra strength Tylenol just the arthritis pain formula which would have to do. I also had eight cans of beer which were now to be used for medicinal purposes.

June 19^th: Departure day. Still in pain, the black and blue started to appear. Not surprising as I’m on blood thinners. I managed to get my gear all packed the night before and the rest went smoothly. We were told we would be picked up between 7 and 8 am but, for the first time all week we had rain overnight and continued drizzle through the early morning hours. Could be worse back a Clova. In any event, we didn’t hear a plane until near 9 am.

Plane got loaded (Joe had hauled all our stuff down to the dock) and the pilot did his inspection. Then I had to get in. Avoiding any movement of my left leg in the wrong direction, trying to get up from the pontoon to the Cessna’s rear seat via two overly large steps, squeezing into that seat which started off having no leg room and got even less when the pilot’s long legs required his moving his seat back…I don’t think I screamed aloud, but I could be wrong. Back at base camp, getting out of the plane was almost as difficult and painful.

Eventually (around 11 am) we got on the road home with me doing the driving plenty of room on the left when you’ve an automatic and need only to use the brake and gas pedals. Thirteen hours. I only got out at the duty free shop.

June 20^th: Friday  1:30 am Home! Alone. Joe has headed home down south near Jersey Shore, PA. Terry is still in Gettysburg on a stitching retreat. I’m in too much pain to sleep though I try in the recliner upstairs.

6:30 am I’ve had enough and head over to the emergency room at Troy Hospital where It’s confirmed I may have a damaged rotator cuff in my right shoulder and a torn/strained groin muscle. Blood drawn for tests, X-rays and CAT-scan for the shoulder, ultrasound for the groin. The latter two required I lay down which I initially could not do. Some IV pain killer helped, but because I drove myself to the ER, I couldn’t get the good stuff. I was home by 10 am with instructions to set up an appointment with an orthopedist but come back to the ER should it get worse.

Set up an appointment via an online portal for Tuesday. But the pain got worse in the shoulder, and the technicolor display in the groin had me, if no one else, concerned. (Apparently this is “normal” for us folks on blood thinners. I know I’ve bruised like this before, but the pain! They didn’t seem to grasp just how badly the groin muscles hurt!)

June 22^nd: With the shoulder pain worsening, I went back to the ER on Sunday morning. Saw the ER doc (not a PA or NP) who pretty much repeated my Friday morning instructions and fitted me with a sling.

June 24^th: Tuesday I visited the orthopedic department at Robert Packer Hospital. After a series of range of motion tests and a little poking and prodding, I was told I probably have some damage to the rotator cuff (DUH!) but an MRI will be scheduled to determine if surgery is needed. (Unfortunately, not being an emergency—for them—it won’t be until July 11^th that the MRI can be done.

 

No one seemed to know who I should see about all the pain and black-and-blue in my groin. (Probably should have called the vascular people, but the left foot still has a pulse.)

In any event, and to keep her informed, I rescheduled an appointment with my primary care from September 16^th to June 30^th.

 

After several nights in the recliner, I finally got to sleep in the bed last night. And the purple is receding somewhat. It's still painful and a yucky yellow-green. 

 

Keep me in your thoughts 

 

 

Another Day: Travels of 2024 Part Two

 Now where was I.... Oh yeah, we had a very quiet Thanksgiving with just the two of us and the cats. 

Hunting season was a bust as the cold drove me crazy--as did the two doe that snuck up behind me on my off side on opening day. I spent most of the remainder of the day shivering and hoping to hear shots nearby. The same was true for day two. No activity within a mile I would guess. 

Terry mentioned my getting skunked and discouraged to one of her sewing friends who happens to live on a 250 acre farm where her husband, son and son-in-law have special permits to take as many deer as they want/need to remove. I got number 11 for this year. All I had to do was haul it to the processor in Cherry Flats and pay to have it butchered. Which I did the day before we were to hit the road to go west.

This trip was to visit Brian, Vicky and George: Terry's nephew, his wife and son. They live in Whitefish Bay just on the northern edge of Milwaukee. Normally they come to the Aerie for Thanksgiving but we were going to switch things around so we could see their newly renovated and expanded home--until I mentioned deer season starting the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So we were going to do an early Christmas. 

Terry and I were in the same vehicle this time but the first stage of our trip was the same. On the 18th of December west we went to stop in Elkland, Indiana and dinner at the Chubby Trout.

On Day 2, we traveled west of Chicago before turning north on I-355 toward Milwaukee. Best way to avoid the real heavy traffic of Chicago but still not of my liking as far as number of vehicles on the road. I like to tell Terry--or anyone that will listen--that I'm not just driving MY vehicle, I'm also trying to anticipate what the drivers around me might do. That gets more difficult as the number of drivers increases. That's why I really, really hate driving through cities and will go miles and miles out of my way to avoid doing so. And why I break out in a sweat when I must. 

We survived the ordeal that only got worse when snow started falling when we crosse the Illinois border into Wisconsin. Not much--yet--but enough to cause a few slips and slides and a few cars in the ditch. We got to Whitefish Bay with little no difficulty--except when I got off I-355 one exit too soon and we wandered around the backroads for a while before we got on a highway east bound toward Milwaukee.

We spent Days 3 and 4 (December 20th and 21st) just hanging around the house, shoveling snow, cooking, drinking and watching football. 

Day 5 (Sunday, December 22nd) Would have been more of the same but Brian had managed to score some tickets at the arena where his company had a box to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Terry went nuts! She is a huge fan and watches them every time they are on PBS. (Brian wasn't aware of this and cautiously brought up the topic. Brian also scored tickets to see the Celtic Women a few years back. Needless to say, he is her favorite nephew!) What a show! Classical music meets heavy metal accented with lasers and pyrotechnics. WOW!

Day 6 (Monday) We bid farewell and started our journey home. Retracing our way down I-355 to I-80 and then east bound. This time we stopped in the town of Elyria, Ohio just west of Akron. 

Day 7 (Tuesday, Christmas Eve) We were traveling in the tail end of a dusting of snow that was slightly deeper in the hills of western PA. My onboard computer kept telling me it had a shorter route home than the I-80 trail I was following so I finally gave up and agreed to veer off onto a two lane road, PA-66 just west of Clarion, PA. We had never been in this area of PA before so it was virgin territory to us. This eventually took me up to US-6 in Kane. From there it was east bound and down to home.

Since then, things have been pretty quiet around the Aerie. Except for the little bit of snow on the ground when we got home and the accumulation at the end of the driveway from the plow, I've not had to shovel anything--yet. Mostly I've been doing puzzles and tending the fireplace, while Terry has been doing Zoom meetings--and a few face-to-face ones as well.

We were supposed to go to NJ last weekend for a grand-niece's birthday--and a belated exchange of Christmas gifts--but illness in NJ prevented that and snow may prevent it this weekend. 

That's all for now. I'll try to be back sooner.

Two Months?

 Wow, I can't believe it's been two months since I wrote about going to Jess and Jack's wedding out in Lisle, IL. Time to make up for that, I guess.

TO Lisle, Illinois and Overland Park, Kansas in mid-November, 2024

On Monday, November 11th, Terry and I (driving different vehicles, remember?) headed west and met in Elkhart, Indiana the first night of our journey because it was fall and night comes too early for us old folks! And we were familiar with the area. We drove a couple of miles into the center of town and found a motel and a beautifully named restaurant, The Chubby Trout. Excellent food and beer in what is a sports bar/restaurant setting. A little loud and very crowded. Twas a good thing we were there early!

Next day we continued our journey to Lisle and the hotel Terry had reservations for. We were again a little early but had time to call the kids and see what was happening. Unfortunately, with both of them having tested positive for Covid (Jack's test came on that morning, Tuesday the 12th) they didn't want to take the chance of getting us sick too, so our interactions were going to be limited. 

Terry and I had dinner at The Bavarian Lodge in Lisle. It was Schnitzel for me and Sauer Braten for Terry who also had liver dumpling soup. Beer selection was eclectic, but I can never remember what I order.

We had plans for Wednesday but with the kids being ill, we just lounged around the hotel all day. (Should have packed my bathing suit!) Dinner that night was at Cooper's Hawk Winery just a short drive around the corner in Naperville. Excellent wine selection and food! (Shrimp and scallop risotto, and pretzel encrusted pork chop)

Finally, the big day arrived and we all drove over to the county courthouse for the nuptials. It turned out that there were about eight or so couples doing the same thing and it was like watching an episode of Night Court. Nearly all the brides were in wedding gowns of a variety of styles. Jess' was, perhaps, the most traditional minus the train and veil. And she wore purple sneakers to match her purple flowers. We four were the only ones wearing masks. Couples and their witnesses were called into chambers one at a time to exchange vows in front of the judge and his clerk. Jess and Jack were the last to be called because many of the others required a Spanish translator, and rather than having to call him for each couple, they did all of those one after the other. There was one Polish couple, but they needed no translator. 

One couple--yeah, the Polish couple--hadn't picked up their license the day before and the bride and groom had to hustle their butts downstairs to do so while the bridesmaid took care of the little one waiting to see his parents do the right thing.

Neither the judge nor his clerk were masked up but Terry and I played along with the kids and kept ours on. The ceremony was brief and without a sealing kiss. And the judge even took our picture afterwards.

We drove back to the kids' apartment, handed over to keys and title of the RAV4 to Jess. Terry and Jess (still in her wedding gown) then drove to the DMV to transfer the title. Jack and I stood around in the parking lot of the apartments chatting for half an hour. When Terry and Jess returned, we hugged and fist bumped, and bid adieu. Covid prevented them from enjoying a celebratory dinner at Fogo de Choa, a fantastic Brazilian style steakhouse. 

On the 15th, Terry and I departed for Lucille and Doug's home in Overland Park, Kansas. Lou had recently had brain surgery to remove a growth that impinging on her pituitary gland and Terry was naturally concerned. Laura and Joe (Lucille's daughter and husband) live nearby so we could visit everybody at once.

I had not been to either house, just as I had not seen Jess since she moved to Lisle. I think the last time I saw Laura and her kids was over eight years ago when her youngest boy, Matthew was still in a carry seat and Julia had yet to be born. That visit took place when I was on a solo journey around the country and they were still in the Napa Valley area. 

We arrived late in the afternoon at Lou's home and were given the grand tour. And "grand" it was! I thought our Aerie was more house than two people need, but Lou and Doug have double the size. Of course, they also have the three grandkids just a couple of blocks away and they can occupy lots of space when present as we found out at dinner and breakfast. 

After a very brief but happy visit, we were on our way home travelling I-70 north to I-71 north until we could get on I-80 east. Then it was PA Route 220 to Route 15 north and home with one overnight stop in Cloverdale just west of Terra Haute, Indiana

We retraced a good portion of this trip in late December but that's a tale for another day. 

On the Road Again!

Terry and I are on our way to our daughter's wedding out in Illinois. We're traveling in two separate vehicles because

A) we are giving the 2017 RAV4 to Jess to replace(?) her 2006 Yaris, Bob. Bob has done yoemen's work hauling Jess and her belongings from New Jersey to California and then to Illinois. He's been showing his age lately, however and it's just a matter of time before something major goes wrong and, lets face it, Toyota hasn't made a Yaris in years. Parts might be a bit scarce.

B) the RAV4 is jam packed with some of Jess' "stuff" that she left in our basement and attic. Although the tuba and some of the other instruments are still in PA awaiting her directions. And I'm holding on to some books because I want to read them.

We left PA around 6 am and agreed to meet at the RV Museum and Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana. We did run into one another twice along the way speaking only when we both pulled into one of the rest areas in Ohio. Even so, we got to the museum only about 15 minutes apart (around 2:30 pm) before going on to a nearby motel.

 

I can't remember the last time i drove out this way. Must be at least 6-7 years ago. (Justin was able to walk and was climbing all over the logs and rocks on the Pacific Ocean's Oregon beach when Terry and I visited. Before that it was my solo cross-country journey a year or so before that.)

It's a much shorter ride from here so we'll get to sleep in, shower and breakfast at our leisure before hitting the road.

About That 2024 RAV4 vs Deer Thing

 Okay, I should have written about this earlier, but Terry's car got repaired in what I would have to consider record time. One week after the car accident, the folks at Gerber Collision & Glass called to say it was ready for pickup. The next day we were up in Horseheads to retrieve the beast and had to pay...nothing. No deductible or anything because AllState has a forgiveness policy. And because we were with them--home and auto--for 50+ years with no real claims (18 with the agency here in PA) we got TWO forgiveness awards. I can only home we do not have to use the second anytime soon!

And the car looked like it was right off the showroom floor. Which it was back in the spring.

I can highly recommend Rennie Renaldo (AllState) and Gerber Collision & Glass enough!

 

Now, About another INTERESTING Weekend

 Friday night, Terry and I were sitting down to dinner at approximately 5:30 pm. The winds were howling as they are wont to do during November when there was a loud POP! and a flash of light down the hill and our electricity went out.

I called the outage in to the offices at Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative using their automated system and (my mistake!) told them I didn't need to be called back when power was restored. I figured it would be, at most, two hours or so. When Power wasn't back on at 7:30, Terry and I went to bed. 

I woke up at 12:30 am to find power still had not come back on so I called Tri-Co again and this time spoke to a real person who told me they had 44 folks on the initial power outage and that they had all gotten their power back. I told her we had not and that there was no one else on our little spur except for some hunters from New Jersey who were not at their cabin this weekend. She asked if I had checked the main breaker because if it was on our end we might get a charge on our bill. I told her to send a crew to investigate and I would pay the charge if need be. Then I went to check the breaker which was NOT the problem.

The truck showed up around 1:00 am and two guys started to look over the line. First, they found a fuse box with its door open and they went about checking the line between there and the Jersey guys' cabin to see if a tree or branch lay on the wires. Around 1:30 am the lights came back on. Too late for me to go back to sleep.

******

Saturday I was in the basement groggily working on a jigsaw puzzle and watching Rutgers football when I noticed the shallow water pump we have to move water from our 500 gallon cistern to all the faucets in the house just would not stop running. I checked it out and concluded there was something wrong with the pressure switch so I tried fiddling with it to no avail. (Turns out nothing I did would have done any good anyway and might have done even more harm.) 

Deciding the switch was defective, I hauled Terry down to Lowes to get a replacement. (Misery loves company!)

I installed wired the new switch only to have it behave just like the old one. Rather than try to fiddle with this one, I told Terry to find a plumber. She went on line and found one guy who said they could    n't get to us for TWO WEEKS! She must have sounded desperate because he then recommended she call another guy who specializes in well drilling and Gould's Water Pumps. A shallow water pump just like the one we have.

Terry called and this guy said he would be right over. He showed up around 7 pm with his wife and while he started trouble-shooting I asked if she was his helper and her reply was, "No. I'm his boss." Well, they worked for three hours before showing me what was wrong: Clay deposits in the pipe leading to the switch and in the main outlet (plenum?) were constricting water flow. The pressure switch wasn't getting enough ummph behind it to shut sown and the waster coming out of the pump wasn't getting to the faucets with the correct pressure. He spent two more hours chipping out the build-up and replacing the small pipe leading to the pressure switch before he said they couldn't finish because they had to go home and make a gasket for two pieces to be put back together. "What time are you going to be up tomorrow [Sunday] morning?" "What time can you get here?"

They were back at 8 am Sunday morning. Everything was put back together and checked out several times before Bob Burrows said he was satisfied and, most importantly, his wife Sissy was satisfied too. 

While he worked we talked about Alaska, New Orleans, Nova Scotia, Montana, and RVing around the country. Ice shops old and new in the area. Lots of other stuff too. I learned his son usually does the repair work while he does the well drilling. But the younger Burrows spends the weekend with his kids while Bob covers as repairman.

He had, essentially, rebuilt the pump and water was flowing like it was new. All of Saturday night and part of Sunday morning. When I asked, "How much?" I was ready to pay whatever it was. Then he said,  "$400." and I couldn't write the check fast enough. More good people. And an answer to a prayer.

Interesting Day

 

Yesterday (Tuesday, October 15^th) was one of those “interesting” days you hear about.

Terry planned to go to Hampton, VA for a stitching convention and I wanted to go to Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA  to use my accumulated points to “purchase” a late birthday present for myself.

She got up at 4am and, having loaded her stuff into the new RAV4 the previous night, was off soon after.

I got up at 5am and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee for my trip.

That’s when things got “interesting.”

Terry walked in the door and I was all set to make fun of her for forgetting something when she said, “I got an 8-point buck.”

Three questions popped out: “Are you okay? Where? How bad is the damage to the car?”

She’s fine and only wanted to transfer her stuff to the older RAV4 so she could get on her way ASAP.  She hadn’t even gotten to the entrance to the new I-99 (Route 15) in Bloss when the deer jumped out in front of her. She managed to turn around and come home but didn’t see the deer on the side of the road on her return. (I didn't see it on my way down to Loganton but spotted a carcass on the side of the road later in the day when I passed through that section of roadway on my way home. It didn’t have a head when I saw it.) Damage to the car was significant. The left front corner was all busted up and the driver’s door couldn’t be opened (I used a prybar to get the door open this morning when the tow driver got her to pick it up.) Terry had climbed over the console to get out the passenger's door.

 

I called Allstate when I got home and they were very helpful in filing a claim and contacting a Good Hands repair shop in West Elmira, NY for me. In fact, they were so efficient, I got a call from the repair shop BEFORE I was finished talking to the claims agent. The repair shop arranged to have a tow company come first thing this morning to pick up the vehicle—a process that went smoother than expected once I pried the door open.

Terry called while I was still on the road home from Hamburg to report she had no further “adventures” and had arrived safely at the hotel in Hampton.

As for my day… I picked up buddy Joe in Loganton, PA (just outside of Jersey Shore). I was a tad early what with the nerves running on edge after Terry’s little escapade and had to wait for him to finish dressing. The map system in my truck (Siri) wouldn’t give us directions to Cabela’s so I pulled out my phone and let Google maps do the job. It took us on a route we had never used before but we got there despite the several construction sites we had to go through.

At Cabela’s we went right to the gun desk and, after signing in to be #1 on the waiting que, finally got to look at the three lever action rifles I had in mind: S&W1854, Marlin 1895 and Henry Golden Boy. I liked all three but had a special feeling for the Henry. That’s when the clerk said he would hate to have to keep all that brass clean and brought out a Henry Big Boy X. Blued steel, fiber optic sights, tapped for a Picatinny rail, M-Lok accessory slots if I so choose, and an easy to keep clean synthetic stock--what’s not to like? Especially since it was one to two hundred less than the others. That difference allowed me to purchase a sling, hard-shell gun case and a couple of boxes of ammunition. And I’ve still got unused points on my account! The only real money I spent ws for the gas my truck used to travel down and back.

Joe didn’t buy anything but was shocked at the price of brass and powder for reloading. He figures he made a wise investment when he purchased in bulk a few years back. We also picked the brains of, and offered sympathy to, the people behind the counter who processed my paperwork for my background check. We learned that in the state of Pennsylvania alone there were 640,000 background checks performed this year. Sure, 40,000 were rejected or put on hold for one reason or another, but still, that’s at least 600,000 guns sold in less than ten months! This particular Cabela’s processes, on average, 100 background checks a day.

All in all, I had an enjoyable day. Terry? Not so much. But after a rocky start she managed to salvage the day and is having a good time with friends old and new down in Hampton. VA.