April 16th-24th

I thought it was time to catch-up on our doings, although it seems like we're just living life on the day to day and there's nothing much to tell. We've been working with Sugar's diet to find a dry food that she'll readily eat without the addition of canned food. She had lost weight, but we've got her bulked back up, and eliminated the canned food. We still have a ways to go, but we're making headway. She's made two advances emotionally. She will now sit on the couch with us, and she let me take this picture without running to hide! She looks pretty worried in this picture, but she just accomplished these skills in the last few days.

I'm also working on my health. I quit drinking coffee on Friday, April 16th. I've been trying to quit for about a year! Maybe it's a change in me or a change in the growing or processing of coffee, but it seems to have begun affecting me negatively. My head has been in a fog for a week, but I'm feeling better overall without it. I'm still waiting for my back to heal from my previous physical fitness attempts. Roy has been working out playing golf with my brother. Roy and I have tried about nine restaurants in the area.

Besides working on health issues, we have been doing some projects. I have prepped some cloth and webbing for making cat hammocks. I want to get several made for donation to animal shelters. Roy has improved our camper organization by building 6 shelves into a closet that only had a bar for hanging clothes. Hanging clothes, as opposed to folding them sure wastes a lot of space. All we wear anymore are jeans, shorts, and tee shirts!

On April 17th Roy was at Wal-Mart shopping and came out to find that someone had scraped the front passenger side bumper, light, and fender. Thank goodness for a witness who called the police and had the person who hit the truck report their information! With a parking lot fender bender, it would have been so easy for them just to drive away. It ends up it was a 15 year old boy with a learners permit driving with his mom. They seem like real nice people. The truck is going in to be repaired April 27th & 28th. The family has offered to loan us a vehicle to drive. As minor as the damages look, the estimate for repair is $586. The plastic bumper can be painted. You can kind of see the long strip where the paint was gouged. The dealership says that if a bumper needed replaced that they come to them unpainted. The light cover was scuffed in the yellow area. It can be mostly buffed out. That will lower the repair cost by $200. Roy says he will go with that, otherwise, the whole light unit has to be replaced! There is a minor dent and scuffing to the left of the light on the fender. I guess now we're seeing what it's like to deal with vehicle accident repairs on the road. It's only been a minor inconvenience. The Dodge dealership is just across the creek from our camping site.

April 17th was also the kick-off to Kentucky Derby festivities. It starts with "Thunder Over Louisville" a military airshow and fireworks display. The fireworks show is one of the biggest in the United States. About 700,000 people were expected to attend. Below is the crowd on the Indiana side of the Ohio River looking toward Louisville.

The hill the folks below are sitting on is the levee along the river.

We had a prime viewing spot from the parking lot of my nephew's mother-in-law's workplace. It had the advantage of limiting the crowd in the parking lot, and easy entry and exit from the event. It was a big tailgate party. The temperature that evening got down into the 40s, but Roy and I stayed warm and cozy in our reclining lawn chairs.

My pictures don't show it, but the fireworks are launched in two places along the river and are syncronized. There is also music on the radio syncronized to the firework displays.

They go all out like one grand finale for about a half hour!!!

There are lots of events all week in Louisville prior to the big race!

Flowering Trees

Corydon has an abundance of flowering trees! The white flowers are fading and purple and pink are on. This is another street beside Corydon's courthouse square.

Medical Care

Medical care as full-time RVers has been a concern, but we can now cross that off as a worry. I've pursued chiropractic and dental, and Roy has pursued a medical exam for a prescription update. In all cases the doctors took us without question. The main agreement was that they would receive payment for services at the time rendered. They all were able to quickly figure how much our insurance would cover, and took care of the billing for us. Where we had not yet met our deductable, the doctor's office submitted our bill to the insurance company to be applied to our deductable. Prior to leaving Michigan we had gotten our dental and medical records. That was good for showing prior documentation of a condition before asking the doctor to write a prescription. We have created a list of doctors and phone numbers for future trips to the same area.

Rice Island

The patch of land in the creek is Rice Island. It is the old location of a couple of baseball fields. It's just big enough for that purpose, and a parking area. The new baseball fields are located at a beautiful YMCA complex. The paved path goes right behind our camper!


The vehicle bridge going to the island is interesting. It is a concrete slab that may be above the water level when the creek is at its lowest. This seems to be the way low-usage bridges are built in this area. Heavy traffic bridges are like common bridges. It's fun to watch minnows swimming over this bridge! The old metal foot bridge has open grating. I've taken Sugar to it twice, but she doesn't have any interest in crossing it.


This is the Rice Island field. Wouldn't it make a perfect dog park? Prin and Sugar sure enjoy it! The only buildings on the island are the dugouts and stone concession stand. They could all be put to use as part of a dog park. I've mentioned the idea to a few people and may pursue it with a few other town officials.

Bicycling

Roy has been exercising by riding his bicycle. He is training Sugar to run next to the bike. We thought with her skittish nature she might not like it. It turns out that she is a bit of a natural, and loves it. She comes back from a run with her eyes shining and grinning from ear to ear!

Prin had some practice running next to the bicycle last Summer and is real comfortable with it. She has quite a tantrum, if Sugar gets to go first. When my body recovers from my previous exercise attempts, I'll join the biking group.

Roy found the steep hill pictured below to train on! He can make it to the top without stopping! I'm sure the picture doesn't depict just how steep this hill really is! It's a pull on the engine in a car!

A 21 speed bike is just what's needed for riding the numerous steep hills of Corydon!

Charles and His Easter Chicks

I bought a box of Easter chicks at the Goodwill, and brought them home for Charles. I shook them in a bag of catnip, and he seemed to really enjoy playing with them. He played until he was worn out. Doesn't he look like he has a smile on his face and may be dreaming of yellow chicks!

Corydon Picture Tour

Welcome to Corydon, Indiana!

Here is the old courthouse on the downtown green.

There are lots of nice shops along the streets surrounding the courthouse square.

Here's another street along the square.

Corydon has a superb library! Check out the old time street clock. Corydon's downtown is way cute and quaint!

Here's another example of some downtown charm! This cabin is for sale. It is beautifully finished inside with shiny hardwood floors throughout. It has two bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It can be purchased for only $599,900! If I was rich, I'd pick it up for one of my part time homes!

The fairgrounds has lots of lush green grass and is beautifully enclosed with a white fence.

The fairgrounds are across the creek. Check out the expanse of green and the Forsythia bushes in full bloom!

There are lots of regal homes of years gone by in the area. Isn't this one gorgeous!

Roy, Prin, Sugar, and I hiked a bit in Hayswood Nature Preserve.

This is the open area within the wooded preserve.

Here is the trio. The girls were so good on their leashes!

These are May Apples. I was told as a kid that mushrooms like the same area as May Apples. We looked for a few Morel mushrooms, but didn't have any luck. Roy and I think maybe Prin or Sugar could be trained to sniff out mushrooms. What do you think?
I always find these rock cuts along the highway pleasant to look at. I've always assumed they were created when the mountain was cut away to build the highway.

There is so much history to this area. It makes me want to learn more!

There is a special feeling just walking the grounds of the Battle of Corydon Park.

Ahhhh! It's good to be back home in Indiana!