Guitar Fest at Vincennes University

 Friday, April 29 - Thursday night Judy and I attended a Guitar Fest at the Red Skeleton Performing Arts Center on the campus of Vincennes University.  Red Skeleton, acclaimed as one of America's greatest clowns, is undoubtedly Vincennes' most famous home town star, and this center was built to honor him.  His widower has donated a lot of his memoirs, clothing, photos, etc., to this center, and it is a beautiful building, built within a block of his birthplace.  My sister-in-law's sister performs with the St. John's Folk Group, and they were special guests at this Guitar Fest, which featured music students and faculty as well.

Friday I had lunch with two of my high school classmates, Brenda (Lane) Nowaski and Faye (Hacker) Hess.  We had a great visit (and a pretty good lunch) and it as fun to catch up with both of them and relive some of our high school memories.  Of course, much of our talk centered around our kids and grandkids, and retirement (which I highly recommended).

Friday night we met up with some of the other classmates for dinner.  Five couples met at a local restaurant and we had a great time laughing about old times and catching up on our lives.  We closed the restaurant so we finally headed our separate ways.  We finally had a break in the weather, and Friday had a hint of spring in the air.

Another Rainy Night in Indiana

April 27-28 - Indiana is not putting on its best face for our visit this year.  It continues to rain and storm, pretty much every day and night.  Enough already!

 On Tuesday, we drove to Princeton to the cemetery where most of my family is buried, and put some flowers on the graves.  We stopped at a KFC for lunch, and a ceiling tile fell onto a customer at the counter.  Obviously, the flat roofs are not handling all this rain either.  We quickly finished eating and got out of there, just in case the whole ceiling collapsed.

 
The tornado warning radio continues to go off every day, but now it includes flood warnings for the surrounding counties.  Fortunately, Lucille does not live in any flood zone, so we don't have to worry about that.  But they have put the flood gates up in Vincennes (which sits right on the Wabash River, for those non-Indiana readers).  We drove in to Kimmel Park, which is right in town, and saw the flood gates, put in place where there is a break in the levee for a driveway or entrance to the river.   They have more to put up, and the newspaper every day has something about the flooding and rain. 

In this last picture, you can see where the levee comes right up to the concrete wall.    The situation is really serious back here, and it's hard to imagine when the farmers will ever be able to get out in their fields.  We are supposed to have some sunshine tomorrow, but there is more rain in the forecast.  But we have much to be thankful for, since we didn't get hit like Georgia and Alabama.  Yet.  My niece Dana called me from Chattanooga and told me they are under tornado warnings there.  I talked to her later and they were without power, but they were safe.

We used to use the boat ramp here to ski on this river, back in the day.  The river at Mt. Carmel, where we crossed into Indiana, is at 31 foot, and flood stage is 19 feet, so obviously there is water, water everywhere.  We have not driven back down to where the rivers meet because we assume some of those roads are under water now.   This is the other side of the flood gates, at Kimmel Park.  I think they have camping here, so I'm glad we didn't plan on using this as our campground. 

Yesterday we drove to Terre Haute to visit two of our friends there.  Audrey, who helped me raise my kids (she was my babysitter for both kids for those early years) has recently moved from her big old two-story plus basement house into an apartment, so we got to see her new digs.  She is very comfortable in her new place, and seems to be adjusting well.  Then we drove to Brazil to visit my ex co-worker Diane, and had a good visit with her.  She actually had lilacs blooming in her yard, but it was pouring down rain when we left so I did not pick any -- much to my regret.  We met one of Audrey's grandsons, and got to see Diane's daughter, Amy, and Amy's her sons, so that was fun.  We drove back in the rain, and then the wind hammered us all night long.  I never imagined myself back here living in a trailer, and that is basically what we are doing now, since we are sleeping out in the RV.  Every night I think maybe we should move inside, but we would have to brave the storm in order to do that (and I'm not sure I could talk Joe into running out in the rain in his jammies, and I won't go without him), and so I just don't have any good choices.  I would be pushing Joe to leave here if I could figure out where to go, safely. Cathy told me today that Branson, Missouri, is flooded.   Alaska is sounding like better every day.

While we were in Terre Haute, we drove past the junior high that Tiffany attended (Woodrow Wilson Junior High School).  It is really a beautiful building and they have maintained it well.

We also drove past the house we had built back there, in 1976.  It too has been well-maintained, which was nice to see.  Some of the trees we planted there are huge now, but the old oak tree is the front yard is still standing proud.

Joe got his white castle hamburgers while we were in Terre Haute.  If they would have had this in Terre Haute when we lived here, Joe might not have ever moved.  Just kidding.  After two weeks of this weather, there is no way I would ever consider moving back here.  Just in case anyone is wondering.

Joe continues to have a "to-do" list from his mother, and he got a few more things taken care of today.  But the list never seems to get shorter.  She's getting a lot of sand in her water system, so that has been a big concern here.  Joe has changed the filter a couple of times, and until the well driller comes up with a solution, it appears that they will have to be changed about every week or so.

Easter Sunday

April 24-25 - Since the Good Friday post, it has continued to rain every day.  Cathy and Joe drove down Saturday afternoon, and we made  a drive just before dark back down to the Decker Chapel area to show them the power lines that were down. 

There were also several irrigation lines that had been turned completely over, or on their side.

There were service trucks lighting up the landscape down there, the fields are flooded, and it continued to rain.

We topped the levee at one place and the river was right at the base.  Fortunately, there was room to turn around, because there was some kind of pump station right there on the creek, and that creek was running full into the river.

It rained all night Saturday, all day Easter Sunday, and all night Sunday night.  The lid to the trash barrel on the carport blew away Saturday night, and it still hasn't shown up.  We all looked for it, but I told them I thought it was probably in Kansas, along with Toto.

We didn't make sunrise service (which was just as well, since the sun failed to show itself all day), but we did attend the 10:00 service.  We've been to church 4 times this week including last Sunday.  Lucille was up in time for the early service, but none of the rest of us were.  However, a family from church had car trouble and pulled in here about 6:15 to borrow her car to get to church in time for the early service.

We had a big Easter ham dinner, I think 20 people were here.  You don't do meals on a small scale here.  I'm having a little difficulty converting my meal planning from 2 to 20, but it all worked out (except that I forgot to make the gravy).  Lucille loves to have family around, and the little ones were able to play outside part of the time, when it was only sprinkling.  We finished the day with 5-handed euchre with Fred and Judy, so a good time was had by all.

Joe wants to take his mother on a drive, either down through the Decker side to let her see all the places she lived, or on the Decker Chapel side to see where the two rivers come together, although those roads may be flooded now.  The river was raising 6 inches per hour yesterday, and since it rained all night again, I would guess that it's continuing at least at that rate, if not faster.

Today is Kaylee's 10th birthday, so we are very sorry not to be home to share that with her.  Being 10 is a pretty big deal.

In the meantime, I am working on my exit route from here to go try to find the sun.  I was thinking we would head toward St. Louis and Branson, on our way back to Texas, but St. Louis had tornadoes this weekend, so I'm not safe there either.   I've learned that in retirement, weather has taken on a new level of importance, and it's either too hot, too rainy, too windy, or too cold.  I'm thinking Hawaii is sounding pretty good.

Good Friday in Vincennes

Friday, April 22 -- Today's thunderstorm, including hail, has just passed, but now Grandma's Tornado Warning Radio is going off, for the county just south of us.  This is "Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 178," so you can see why I no longer live back here. 

Yesterday, we stopped by the Verizon store and educated ourselves on aircards and mobile hot spot cards, and today, we cancelled our home phone service and went completely mobile.  So I am now on the blog at Grandma's, on my own hotspot card.  Anyone that has our home phone number in their contact list should remove it -- it's no longer active (480-380-8877).

 While in town, we stopped at the Tractor Supply Store to look for a wheel for Grandma's little red wagon.  They have some things for sale here that we don't usually see in Arizona -- baby chicks, ducks and bunnies (remember it's Easter Week).

We had lunch across the street at Hardee's, and a pair of geese waltzed across the parking lot.

Last night we went to church service, then had an early night -- no card playing and no thunderstorms.  Fred stopped by and ate dinner with us (chili), and a high school friend stopped by while we were in town, but otherwise, it was a quiet day.  Today, we spent a couple hours at the Verizon store, and I even have a new cell phone, with a texting keyboard, so we are becoming more modern all the time.  We did take a little drive today to see where some of the power lines were down, and then got back just in time for today's storm.  I think there are storms forecast for the next 4 days, so we will probably have more excitement before we leave here.

Vincennes

Thursday, April 21 - This blog will try to catch up from Monday morning's blog.  Sunday, families started leaving, and by Tuesday afternoon, all that was left at home was Joe, Lucille and me.  We haven't been on our own here for several years, so we will see if we can keep Lucille in line. 

Natalie and Hannah are both very athletic, and they entertained us with a gymnastic routine Monday afternoon.  Hannah is a diver (formerly a gymnast), and Natalie still does gymnastics.  Here's Natalie perched on the sink watching the nightly entertainment (euchre game).

Paul left on Monday, taking his air card with him, so we no longer had an internet connection.  It was great getting to see him again, and he generously spent some of his time consulting with me on computer and blog stuff.


Monday for lunch we got to have our first breaded pork tenderloin -- one of the treats we look forward to when we come home (yes, it is served with mustard, dill pickles and onion).

After lunch, we took Collins and Marilyn on a drive through our past.  First we drove through Joe's history (Decker), with Joe narrating the tour of different houses and "old home places," including a drive past Decker High School (where we met).  Then we crossed the highway and drove through my old stomping grounds, Decker Chapel, otherwise known as the "neck," or the "boondocks," where the Wabash and White Rivers meet.  We stopped by the farm of my old school bus buddy, Mike Carter, who happened to be outside, and visited with him a few minutes, then we went on to Claypool, an old fishing spot that used to have rental cabins, boat rental (row boats) and a bait shop when I lived here, which was when I was in the 5th and 6th grades, and it's one of my fondest memories of growing up, including having to be taken out to the levy in a boat by my dad when the river was flooded, which in turn flooded Claypool.  It's now a Wildlife Habitat, posted for no trespassing, and so we didn't go past the signs this year (unlike other years when we have ignored those signs, knowing they didn't apply to "me").  This is my image of "peace and quiet."

We continued past the six different places I had lived (only one house still stands), then drove the river road all the way around, which must be about 30 miles.
The trees in the middle of this picture is where one of my houses was (they have since torn that house down, and there is a new house across the road).  This picture was taken from Claypool Pond, and after we moved to this house, I used to walk over to Claypool after school quite often.

 We found some interesting spots along the river, including something that looked like a place barges might have tied up, but none of us ever remembered anything about barges this far up on the Wabash River, and the trees growing in the middle of this space must have been more than 40 years old.  We did see some wildlife -- a turtle in a flooded ditch, and 6 whitetail deer running across a field.   Lucille and Fred did not go on this ride with us, but they both have expressed interest in this trip -- they had never seen where the rivers met, so we will probably take this drive again in the next few days. 

Dixie and Jim took Hannah and Natalie with them when they left on Tuesday, to meet up with Becky's mother in Michigan on Wednesday.  Cathy took Joy and Rachel to the airport to catch their Tuesday afternoon flight.

Collins and Joe finished installing the new storm door on Sunday.  Here's the finished project.

Marilyn and Collins replaced a curtain rod on Monday morning also, but I didn't get a picture of that project.  They said their goodbyes Tuesday morning and headed to New Castle, to see their granddaughter and meet her fiancee for the first time.  Our campground is losing half of its occupants.

I walked out to burn the trash before dark and came upon a turtle, so my wildlife quest continues. Joe tried to pick it up, but it showed how quickly it could snap at him, so he dropped it.  We don't think it was a snapping turtle, but it sure didn't like the attention he was giving it.

Tuesday night, Indiana did its normal spring event -- tornado warnings, which is one of my two greatest fears (the other one being the dentist). Storms started early in the evening a little farther north (Terre Haute area), but we got our turn around 11:00 p.m.  The electricity went off 2-3 times, but only for maybe a half-hour total.  We had really strong winds, sometimes sounding like a train (which they say is what a tornado sounds like).  But we are only maybe 1/4 mile from the railroad track, and you are not supposed to be near the windows, so I was never sure if we were having a tornado or a train was going by (every thunderstorm back here is a potential tornado in my mind).  We survived, with only minor damage (three plastic lawn chairs blew into the yard, all three breaking, and a couple of tree limbs down), but there was a lot more damage about 1 mile south of us, and 18 power line poles went down in the swath that cut through here.  I never have heard that it was a confirmed tornado, but I think it must have been.  We stayed in the house until the storm passed, about midnight, then went outside to survey any damage.  A neighbor stopped by to check on Lucille, and then Mike drove up to check on us.  It was after 1:00 a.m. when we finally went out to the RV and got to bed. Carmi, Illinois, where we stayed our last night on the road, had a tornado touch down so this was a pretty severe storm.

Wednesday was a much better day, but it was cooler with a high of only 50.  Thunderstorms are forecast for the next 4 days, so we are going to have to be on the alert again.  I told the family that we are going to start celebrating Lucille's birthday in September instead of April, hoping for better weather!

This morning, we heard from our friends Jeff and Brenda that his mother passed away during the night, and we send our deepest sympathies out to them.  We count our blessings daily that Lucille is in pretty good health at age 95, and this family knows how fortunate we are to still have her in our lives.  We hope we have many more years to enjoy her presence!

Now I'm off to town to the library to see if I can get this posted.  It will probably be another few days before I have the opportunity to post again.

Arriving in Vincennes

April 15-17 - As we drove through these rural communities, Joe started talking a poll on men vs. women driving the riding lawn mowers.  He thought there were more women than men, and now he is inspired to go home and plant some grass just so I can mow it.

We drove into Carmi, Illinois for dinner tonight.  As we came back into the campground, we saw 4 white-tail deer just inside our campground entrance.  It rained during the night, and Joe had to get his chicken suit out to hook us up to get on the road, while raindrops fell on our clean windshield.  He called Collins and asked if he was Flood Control, and would he please control the flood.  (Collins and Marilyn arrived at Lucille's on Thursday). 








We got on the road about 9:15, with 67 miles to go to Lucille's house.  We crossed the White River, which was out of its banks, and the lowlands were flooded as well, not unusual for Indiana this time of year.

We got home about 11:00 a.m., and Collins was busy working on Lucille's screen door, which had gotten damaged last week in the wind.  Joe had intended that Collins have all the chores here done before we arrived, and he considered driving on past and maybe circling for a while, but instead he pulled into the driveway.

Shortly after our arrival, the rest of the family started showing up.  Lori pulled up, then Jim showed up with Joy and Rachel whom he had picked up at the Indianapolis airport.  Cathy got here around then too, I can't remember the order of the arrivals.  Angie and Tim, with Alivia, Xavier and Sonia, came in, Fred and Judy came out, and Mike stopped by with Mallory, on the way home from pre-school.  The house continued to fill, then everyone spilled out to our motorhome.  Lucille had fallen asleep in her chair, and when she woke up, she called Fred (who was in the motorhome with us) to see where everyone was, so we all moved back into the house.  We enjoyed Bobe's pizza for dinner -- a treat we all look forward to when we come home.

I told Paul I needed some consulting time with him, so Saturday morning he and I went out to the motorhome for a private lesson on blogging and posting pictures, etc., working on some of the problems I have encountered.

 But we didn't have any privacy for long -- we got up to 14 people in the motorhome at one point.

Here's Fred, trying to solve world problems.

And Paul, sharing a seat with daughter Hannah.

Then David stopped by with a couple friends.  He thought maybe he would take our motorhome to the Indy 500 next month, but Joe told him we had to leave Indiana before then.










Dixie put the kids in charge of decorating, and we started getting ready for the big 95th birthday party.  I think Angie has already posted some pictures on Facebook, but here's some we took.

Here's Natalie, Lucille, Alivie, and Hannah, with Sonia the short one in front.















Of course, there's birthday cake!

Here's the first generation of children, with Tommy filling in for his dad.












Then the spouses got included.

Here's Jaclyn's youngest, Adalyn, enchanted by a balloon.

And lots of people, scattered throughout.  (We were glad to have our own bed in the motorhome.)  Probably somewhere between 60-75 people came through, and it was "limited" to immediate family, which included lots of cousins, nieces and nephews.

Marilyn Stuckey was a surprise visitor from Virginia, and Jan from Michigan.  It was great for us to get to see all of these relatives whom we haven't seen in years and years, and it was truly special for Lucille to have so much love showered on her by her extended family.  She is definitely the head of this family.