Our Turkey trip

The country of Turkey, unlike what some of you may think, is a friendly, USA loving country. Turkey stands with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia/Middle East. The country has been connected to Islam, Judaism and Christianity since the beginning of time. But the country is 95% Muslim now. Our trip started in Istanbul which the new modern blended with the very old.The country was overrun by many armies through the centuries from Greeks to Romans and more. They all left there architecture and bits of culture there which still linger. After a few days, we traveled South along the coast to other cities and towns, getting a feel of the local people, foods and culture. Visiting a school and staying in a home with a great farming family. The trip also enclosed a four day and night cruise on a Gulet along the famed South Turquoise Coast of Turkey. It was gorgeous with its crystal blue waters and the numerous rocky coves for anchoring the night. Daytime was taken up with hiking up the hills to ruins and visiting nomadic families. The last couple days of our trip took us to some of the weirdest rock formations I had ever seen. Sandstone castles called Fairy Rocks. Century old people dug homes and whole cities into them for shelter and sometimes protection from raiding troops. Except for the flight back to Istanbul, our trip ended there. It was a eye-opening trip to the culture and misgivings we in the US believe about the TURKS. It just proved to me, all Muslims are not what we see on the TV. Those are radicals and NOT the norm. They are actually very peaceful and caring people. I am glad and honored to have met them and came back with a much better understanding of them and hopefully, they have of us.

A few things that burn my a** !

There are some things that should have NEVER been allowed on TV... Lawyers and pharmaceutical commercials. Lawyers have changed the laws and verdicts in our country (for the worse), and pharmaceutical commercials have forced doctors to order unnecessary meds which raised insurance costs. The other thing that drive me nuts is the amount of advertisement commercials between a single show segments. I once counted 10 commercials which lasted nearly 10 minutes before the show continued. REALLY? When you pay more than $90 a month for 250+ channels, you should not have to be forced to watch junk. When I watch TV, I want to watch a show, not continuous advertisements!

2014 Summer travels and happenings

I know, I have been slacking on our posts. No excuses. I just get caught up in different things and forget. Well anyway, here's what happened since the last one. In mid-June, Nancy, Scooter our dog and I left pulling the 5th wheel for the Great Lakes area. Eventho I lay-out a route, it's got to be flexible, and it was. We tend to like the secondary roads more than freeways unless we want to get to somewhere fast. This is the condensed version of our stops. We stopped in Dodge City Kansas and then on the Springfield Illinois and visited the Lincoln Museum and his home. A day well spent.

I got a chance to visit with the family. Then off to Starved Rock State park. Don't know where they got that name. Hiking was fabulous. Waterfalls, canyons and, of course, A LOT of trees and green stuff. Not like Arizona.

Then on to near Chicago to visit with our youngest son and his family, some dear friends and the couple who bought my 36 Ford street rod last March.

Continuing North to Milwaukee and the Harley-Davidson Museum. WOW! What a place! Motorcycles, history, interactive exhibits, restaurant and shopping abundant.

Nancy told me she wanted to look for these quilt barns. I thought it was a quilt with barns on it, but it was barns with quilts on them. OKAY!?

Following the west side of Lake Michigan shoreline, we arrived at the Mackinac Bridge. Boy, is it big! We took a ferry over to the island and spent the day touring around. No motor vehicles allowed on the island except emergency vehicles. Did you ever see UPS deliver by horse?

The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron that we saw on this trip) have huge shipping lanes between cities and Canada. And for decades have depended on lighthouses to guide their way. Now GPS takes that job, so the lighthouses are sold to organizations to preserve or they decay away. We took several tours and learned a lot about what a "Keeper" life was like.

Now heading southwest toward home, we stopped in Pipestone Minnesota where, for centuries, Native Americans have travelled to mine for a certain rock to hand carve "Peace Pipes" (as we have called them). Had to buy one. 5400 miles and 4 1/2 weeks. Great trip, good to be home.

The passing of one great guy

On May 19th, Bev (my mother-n-law) received a call no mother should get. Her son, John Huelsman, passed away after complication from surgery. This was also my wife's older brother.

John was a real outdoors guy who loved to fish, boat and camp, usually with his family. He loved his family. John had just retired a couple years before and his wife just in December of 2013. They had bought a big 5th wheel and truck to start traveling around the US. One of their first long trips was to come West and meet up with us. We never got that far. Two years ago, Nancy and I traveled back to Tennessee and met with them for a week. They were still getting use to pulling the big 5th wheel and Debbie (his wife) had not retired yet. John was get anxious to travel since he was already retired. John will be deeply missed by his family in Ohio and here is Arizona.

Tony's project

It was a VERY long and stressful three months when Tony was hospitalized for a very severe MRSA infection last year. He has come a long way and still more to do until he is 100%, but he trying. I thought to inspire him to get up and move more, was to have a project he would love and wanted ALOT. So I bought him a 1969 Mustang Coupe, that ran, but still needed some help. One he could put his ideas and personality into. Of course, it going to be his Dallas Cowboy Mustang and he has already named it "SALLY". Get it? Mustang Sally? Oh well.

I guess I am the supervisor but he does it how he wants it to look. I just show him how to do it. We started from the bottom and are working up from the chassis...brakes, suspension, frame, then bodywork and finally interior. But, as most of us on our first full restoration or custom build, we get a little impatient and want to rush ... as does Tony. It's normal.

Tony does catch-on quickly. Yeah, I am the one with the belly and gravity fed chin on the left ... after welding. Tony is the handsome one sitting. We'll keep you posted on the progress in between trips. Take care and stay safe. God Bless you all.

Turn of the year update

Since our last post, things started moving faster. Our son Tony has gone from hospital, to care home, to hospital, to another care home. Poor guy missed being home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But the family and friends have visited him daily, and even took his Christmas gifts to his room on Christmas Eve. His muscles have sunk so much, he has a really hard time just getting up to stand. But I must say, he is a fighter and is getting stronger, day by day. He is clear of the infection of MRSA after more than 6 weeks of very strong antibiotics. Now to get him home. Other than Tony, our holidays were good. The weekend of January 16th thru the 19th there were 7 car auctions in the Valley. I put my 36 Ford in its third auction trying to sell it, but it did not. So I guess I will be hanging on to it a little longer. As an incentive for Tony to get well, I bought him an inexpensive 1969 Mustang Coupe that we can work on together. That really made him smile. Nancy is still working for our daughter's medical practice as the bookkeeper. The end of the year stuff is a whole new thing for her, as this the first full year of ownership. We are planning a RV trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota going through Illinois, close to Chicago so we can see my son Shawn and his family, and maybe some good friends from that area. No overseas trip at this point, but there is talk about Ireland, Burma or maybe an old Iron Curtain country or two. I would just like to say thanks to you who have read this blog and hope we can see you all soon. We appreciate you following us and our adventures. Take care, stay safe and God bless you all.