Two Hams on the Road

October 1, 2014

We are in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on our way to New Bern, North Carolina.

This is our six week swing on the east coast to visit parents and let Steve attend an amateur radio symposium in Baltimore.  Our original plan was to take around 10 days to get to Baltimore, visit Steve’s dad and Steve could attend his symposium.  Then we hoped to head down the eastern shore and outer banks as far as we could before heading to my parents in New Bern.

Doing my research, I found out that all the National Parks on the Outer Banks close October 1.  I think that’s a good sign that it’s a bit late in the season to be on the Outer Banks.  So we revised our plans.

And then on Sunday, they got revised again.   My mother fell and there was a lot of blood, so Dad called an ambulance.  They ended up taking her to a regional medical center for care and observation.  So we’re headed for New Bern.

Mom is stable and out of danger.  They’ve moved her to a nursing home in New Bern, where she will stay.  Dad can no longer take care of her.  She has dementia, doesn’t want to eat and won’t do any remedial exercises they give her, so it’s time.  We’ll see her and help Dad get settled without her and then Steve, and maybe me will head for Baltimore.

Some good news is that Dad does have a new dog.  Missy was in too much pain and was put down, but Dad’s groomer found him a new dog.  Woody is an old Yorkshire Terrier who only barks to be let in.  But he likes to play with toys and should provide some entertainment.  He’ll be a lot of comfort to Dad, I’m sure.

The drive so far has been beautiful.  The leaves are beginning to turn and the hills in the Ohio River valley were gorgeous.  The scenery only got better as we drove through West Virginia and Virginia.  We crossed over the Blue Ridge Highway.  I’m hoping to get to drive at least some of that on our way home.

I forget from one trip to the next how beautiful vistas over valleys are.  About the time I was admiring one, a gust of wind hit the rig and I was reminded I was driving!  It’s a good thing we had driving lessons last week.  While it did take him two tries to get into the driveway after the lessons, he managed to park us in our back-in campsites in one try both nights this week!  Yeah!  And he got a thumbs-up from a driver watching him make a sharp turn today as well.