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Wee Are Rolling in Rhinelander, WI in Crazy 2020

Hello and Good news!
 
The book sales for Alzheimer's Trippin' with George were real!  It wasn't a toad after all. (See the previous post to understand what I mean by that.)  As a reminder, I can look at how my advertisements are doing on Amazon.  I can see a report that tells me how many shoppers have viewed my ad, how many clicked, and how much was sold. 
 
 

One day I checked and I had only one or two clicks on an ad but over $274 in sales.  Since the paperback book is around $24 each, I thought there was an error.  
 
But it isn't an error.  It appears that one person bought many books!  Thank you, whoever you are, on behalf of the many caregivers who will receive comfort and education and entertainment from the books.  
 
And on behalf of the caregivers that benefit from the education and support provided by Alzheimer's Family Organization where a portion of the proceeds will be donated.  
 
FYI, the book is reduced to $23.25 for August.  August is George and my wedding anniversary month.  A long running supportive relationship full of love and long bike rides is a good reason to celebrate.



 
And now that we are on the topic of Alzheimer's and caregiving, I have two items of interest on the topic.
 
Teepa Snow did a helpful and informative video about swallowing and dementia via Facebook. I looked for it on YouTube for those who are not on Facebook and want to see it.  What I found isn't that particular video, but she has one on feeding in late stage dementia.

Join My Team!


We will call the team... 
 
Wellness Trippin' 
or 
Wellness Trippers 
or 
Susan Straley's Wellness Tripper's

What do you think?  Ed Youngblood fo the Dementia Education will be sending me more information today.  But here is what he and Debbie Selsavage from Coping with Dementia told me.

The fee is $20 for the team (I will pay that.)
Everyone on the team pays $10.
 
So watch for future posts to find out how to sign up!

Now here is the REAL interesting part.  Wellness isn't just walking, running, biking or playing pickle ball.  It is meditating, praise prayer, dancing, singing, reading, doing yoga, eating vegetables and fruits probably.  We will find out more when the information arrives.  So even if you are in a wheelchair you can participate.  Because Wellness is holistic, and involves all the parts of you.

If you want to be on my team, send your name and email to me.  I don't want to put my email out there for spammers to find so here is the trick:  susan underscore trikes at  yahoo dot com.  Let's support Dementia Education.  

Maybe we can be the biggest and best team!

Weeroll Encounters

I am staying a while at this campground near Rhinelander, WI. 
 
But this week I got an email from my Florida biking friend, Ann A.  She is meeting another mutual friend at the Root River Trail in South Eastern Minnesota.  I had planned on going that route when I leave here in September, but wouldn't it be so much more fun to do it with friends???
 
It is 300 miles away.  I booked it.  I am leaving here on the 17th to camp for a few days by Lansborro, MN.  Then I will be trucking it all the way back here to spend more time at my seasonal campsite before heading home.  
 
I love meeting up with folks places!  And the Root River Trail is definitely a great rail trail among hills and following a river it goes through several small towns that have be rejuvenated by the trail tourists.
 
Then I had a conversation with Debra.  She had just returned home from visiting her daughter and was itching to go traveling in her Weeroll, Itsy.  So we arranged for Lilac and Itsy to meet up at Ft. Pickens in the Panhandle of Florida on my way home!  Whoo hoo!  This park is on an island on the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola. We will get sand, beach, and some riding in.  It will be great!
 
My friend Joan will come spend a day or two biking or hanging out with us there.  
 
I am loving it!  Being in one place I get to think about how to fix things, change things to make them more accessible or comfortable.

On of the Facebook groups of newby campers and RV women they have questions about lighting and the best items I have gotten for the trip.

So much could be listed.  Like the rough rug at the bottom of the stairs and the absorbent rug just inside the door.  Even with those, it isn't enough and I am still sweeping up sand, especially after a rain when the sand is wet and clings to my shoes and feet.
 
I love my portable outdoor sink.  I use it so much!  I wash me, wash the veggies, wash the dishes, refill jugs, wash my clothes.   And use the table part of cooking and chopping.



I said I added light with these battery operated lights that attach with sticky velcro.  I can detach them when I travel so they don't fall and break.
 
 
 

My indoor sink is helpful.  I can take a sponge bath, brush my teeth, all in the privacy of my trailer. I use command hooks to hang jackets and my towel.  Of course the counter top that Dave H. made me is wonderful.


I have a little Probreeze space heater that is great for cool mornings/days.

There is a pocket shoe holder next to the door to hold keys, rags, flashlights, masks.  It helps me not lose stuff.  Everything has a place.


My fridge and microwave make it easy for me to eat (as demonstrated by my expanding waistline.  The portable pot that my sister gave me is working out great and is much more comfortable than the bucket.  I try to squat slowly to exercise my squat muscles.

Just behind the portable potty is a tiny waste basked with a lid.  Just the right size and the lid keeps the odors from the food scraps and pee paper from smelling up the trailer.

Speaking of smells.  I thought my trailer was smelling bad when I first walked in because of my shoes, but it turns out I had a rotting sweet potato in my food storage bin just inside the door.  Yay, it's not my feet!


I love my Verizon Jetpack that allows me access to the internet to blog, check email, post on Facebook, even watch YouTube videos when my energy is low.  It is secure so I can do banking and reserve future campground sites.  I love it, love it, love it!  When it starts to rain, no problem, I can spend lots of time indoors in the comfort of Lilac and work or surf.

Adventures in Rhinelander

Mary took me with her to visit her friend, Betina.  Betina is over 100 years old.  This past winter she fell down a flight of stairs and was in rehab a while, but now she is back at home.   As you can see she is quite the gardener, her back yard is full of flowers and bird feeders.

When we arrived she showed us an old doll chair she is re-finishing.  She is making a dress for an old doll she has found and she will put the doll on the chair.  Mary says Betina always has a project or several going.  She is very creative.


The down side of living so long is that none of her siblings or friends have survived.  The friends she has now are fairly new.  She said the friend she has known the longest she has only known for 45 years.  

Yes, that seems like a long time, but when you think of it, Betina was probably retired or close to it, by the time she met this woman who is now her friend of 45 years.

Twice I have driven over to Three Lakes to ride the Three Eagles trail toward Eagle River.  It is only 10 miles long, but a lovely trail.
 





 
One day I rode it with my two-wheel bike.  The next time I rode it with my trike.
 

 
In Eagle River there is a DQ right by the trail.  The lobby is totally closed due to rising numbers of COVID cases in Wisconsin.  So I used the busy drive-through.

 
******* Interlude ********
 
Which reminds me.  Mary and I were out for a bike ride around Rhinelander and we decided to get a coffee at McDonalds.  We rode up to the drive through to order.  
 
"I am sorry, the drive through is reserved for automobiles.  You have to come to the lobby." came a voice over the intercom.
 
"We don't want to go in the lobby, it is safer out here," I responded.
 
"We are especially busy this time of day," she responded.
 
"There are no other cars behind us," I said.  And thought, "What difference does it make what kind of transportation we are using????"  We will be ordering the same thing on our bikes or on foot!
 
"We would prefer you come in," she said.
 
"We are the customers and we prefer to order here," I said.
 
"I will get someone to take your order," she said.  And there was silence.  and silence, and silence.
 
So we went in and ordered.  Hey McDonalds and other fast food places.  What does it matter if we arrive on two wheels, three wheels or four wheels?  Take our order, take our money, give us our food.
 
End of rant. 

***** End of Interlude ********
 
Last time I rode the Three Eagles Trail I decided to do more riding so I drove my trike over to the Big Lake Loop road that I had passed on my drive up to the trail.  It was a lovely rid and I was glad it didn't have a lot of hills.

At one point I came around a corner and encountered a fawn grazing on the other side of the road.  I talked to it as I rode on by.   It's legs stiffened and it kept a watchful eye, but didn't take off. 
 
 
 
Then I thought, hey, I should go back and see if I can get a picture.  So I did a u-turn and rode past it again taking pictures.  Again it's legs stiffened, ready to run.  
 
Well, now I am going the wrong way, so I had to turn around and ride past it a third time.  This time the fawn just looked up and then kept grazing.  No stiff legs, no watchful eye, "Oh ya, it is just that purple clicking object."  No big deal.
 
 
The yoga instructor had to cancel class two weeks in a row as she was feeling ill.  She and her daughter got tested for COVID and the test came back negative.
 
I rode to our out-door yoga spot and did some on my own.  It was lovely weather and no biting bugs bothered me.  A big plus!
 


I like riding to town to run errands. 
 
 
Mary and I drove over to kayak a big lake then portage over to smaller lake north of Woodruff somewhere.  There were not houses on either lake and on the smaller lake there were individual rustic camp sites.  The water was tinted but clear.  It is a pretty cool place!
 
  
 
When we portaged over we found the smaller lake's water level was up.  We had to walk through soggy mud and leaf littered water to get in our boats.  There were lots of frogs jumping out of our way.  No gators in Wisconsin and I didn't see any leeches either.
 


COVID 19 News

Hey! 
 
Are we getting tired of this physical distancing and face-masking stuff?  
 
Are we tired of being afraid?  
 
A trip into a store can be scarey.  Or simply passing someone too closely on the sidewalk or bike trail can have me holding my breath and wondering.  
 
Are we tired of not getting together with our friends indoors, to play cards or eat together?

Well tough!  Because this ain't going away soon.  Some vacation tour organizations are not booking any sooner than spring of 2022.  Arg!  

I think ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.  Tradition is to have 15-25 friends over and we squeeze around tables and we laugh and eat each other's food buffet style.   Sigh.  Not this year.  Some how I hope to do stuff outside with a fewer number of folks.  How do I do that?  maybe every day for a week, small outside gatherings... Everyone byod (bring your own dinner).  Not the same, different for sure.

We will figure it out.  
 
We will have fun anyway.  
 
We will be grateful to be in Florida where we can gather at a physical distance outside.  My heart hurts, my eyes water.

I found out a friend from my old neighborhood (they moved out but revisit the hood regularly) has tested positive for the COVID.  I worry about her.  She showed up for the book signing when I launched the first book in 2019, Alzheimer's Trippin' with George.  I was thrilled and we shared a big hug and lots of smiles.  
 
She already has health and breathing issues.  All the neighbors are in a tizzy, how did she get it?  Who was she in contact with? She said she wore a mask at the clubhouse card parties. (Yes, they were still playing cards at the clubhouse.  When I acted surprised, my sister reminded me that for some that is their life.  They don't bike or hike.  They connect with others through games and gatherings.  This isolation is hard for them.  Whoops, I was caught being judgemental.  Yikes, sorry folks!)  
 
My friend with COVID never used the restroom at the clubhouse and disinfected her hands.  Did she get it at the clubhouse?  I don't know.  I don't know if she was the only one wearing a mask there.  Remember, the mask doesn't protect her.  
 
Which reminds me of a video of how to make your paper mask a better fit.
 
My friend might have got COVID at a store or ????  Hopefully they will be able to trace its origin.  Then I hope she tells the rest of us, because I wanna know if the stuff I am doing is ok.
 
I have been entering my sister's house without us masking up.  We have been sharing a car without masking up.  I figure since we are both being careful... is that enough?  Mary and I even played cards one day.   It is wonderful and comforting to have some folks I can be around.  I just don't want to be stupid or a danger to her and her husband.

The seasonal camper that got it here at Lake George is in the hospital and on a respirator.  They say he has improved, spending more time off the respirator. 

In the meantime, 250,000 people are converging on Sturgis, South Dakota for the annual motorcycle gathering.  In the pictures I have seen, maybe 1 in 20 is wearing a mask.  It looks like they are distanced on the street, but the streets are full.
 
So many people are angry about being required to wear masks.  Store clerks and store guards have been injured, a couple killed, when someone was told they needed to wear a mask and instead they pulled out a gun or a fist.  Nothing new, humans acted the same way in 1918.  Or should I say, those in the USA.  I don't know that this happened in other countries.  I should research that, because I am thinking something went wrong in our educational system to teach science, critical thinking, and non-violent resolutions to differences.
 
On April 6, 2020 I wrote down the COVID-19 numbers in a post entitled Watching the Curve, What Are You Doing?   Today while making some changes to how robots can find my blog, I came across the numbers again.

Citrus County had 43 cases and two deaths.  Florida was still just over 10,000.

April 6, 2020

Each night I sit in my bed and write down the numbers in my diary.

Last night it was:
World Cases  1,272,860
World Deaths   69,424
US Cases  336,673
US Deaths  9,616
Florida Cases  12,350
Florida Deaths  221
Citrus County Cases  43
Citrus County Deaths 2

Growth of this magnitude is hard for my little brain to comprehend.  That is why I write it down and why I watch it.  I am trying to get my mind around it.

Of course now we know to watch those numbers reported each day, since the number of tests are increasing, the number of cases found will increase.  The real telling number is the numbers currently hospitalized and the number of people that die each day or week.

Here are the numbers for today from the dashboard.

World Cases 19.900,000
World Deaths  732,000
US Cases  4,974,959  -- 54,590 New Cases
US Deaths  161,284 -- 1,064 New Deaths
Florida Cases  536,931
Florida Deaths 8,277
Citrus County Cases 1,544
Citrus County Deaths  36

And I will add here the Citrus County Current Hospitalizations: 148
Citrus county is at about 1000 cases per 100,000 population according to the Florida Health Covid 19 surveillance dashboard.

Flowers and My Space


I hate to leave you with COVID stuff.  

A green house in town had some containers they were giving away for free.  So I got a few.


And this is where I wrote to you today.  Or I could say... this is how I roll in my Weeroll.



Comments

  1. Looking forward to visiting soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes! See you and Bill in Lansborro! Love these off-season rendezvouses. Thanks for letting me join in the fun.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for all your updates and lovely photos from your rides. I am glad you finally got a real port a pot. We had one like that for years on our little sail boat. It was really nice when we did overnights on our tiny boat. I would dump it in the marina restrooms as they didn’t have dump stations like campgrounds.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my Lanesboro only 10 miles away. The root River bike trail. Me and my beloved Barb biked it many many times. Not anymore as she is gone. I guess that's life I wish we had gotten acquainted when you are so close Ray

    ReplyDelete

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