On June 8, we stopped a bit in Clarksville, Missouri, and watched some of the artisans working there.

More image are available in our travel journal.

A lost Exit78 post , recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

After we left Springfield, we headed for a Tievoli Hills Resort, near Clarksville, Missouri — one of the campgrounds in our system where we can stay for $8 a night. It’s near the Mississippi River, between St. Louis and Hannibal. While it wasn’t a particularly long drive, it was tiring, as I had to cope with stiff crosswinds almost all day in advance of a cool front that would pass through during the night.

We stayed at that campground for two days and then headed for DeForest, Wisconsin, which is a little north of Madison. The bridge in the picture below is over the Mississippi at Louisiana, Missouri. It’s pretty narrow and, towing our trailer, I didn’t stay fully in my lane, but, thankfully, we didn’t meet any traffic.

For more on the trip and what we’ve been seeing, check out our travel journal on the Haw Creek Out ‘n About blog.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

The last day we were in Springfield, we were going to the waiting room when I saw someone who looked very familiar — and he wasn’t any part of the family. He recognized me about the same time I recognized him. It was Steve S___k.

Steve had taken the last ANO severence package and now lives somewhere on the White River in Arkansas. His wife was in the hospital for surgery to reset a break in her leg that had not healed from a mishap that had occurred last year. We talked for quite a while two different times catching up on various things.

One thing that I learned from Steve is that our insurance is very good, at least in an instance like what his wife had been in. The original mishap had resulted in multiple fractures and she had been med-flighted to St. Johns Hospital in Springfield. Out-of-pocket expenses have been a little over $3,000 of the total expenses, which included a $14,000 helicopter flight! Even though I have to pay more now for my insurance now that I’m retired, it is a fairly good deal when you take into consideration how much I might have to pay otherwise.

It was good to see Steve and it took me away from the waiting room for a while.

More on Toni: She is out of intensive care and into a private room. Karen talked to her for a very short while last night.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

On June 11th, we took Jes and the grandkids to Vilas Park/Lake Wingra and the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin’s capitol city.

In 1904, Col. William F. and Anna M. Vilas donated land “for the uses and purposes of a public park and pleasure ground.” Over the next several years, they also donated $42,000 and public donations of $10,000 were raised to enlarge and improve the park. The park is named for young Henry Vilas, who died from complications related to diabetes. The family stipulated withtheir donation of land and money that the park was always to remain free.

The first animal exhibits were added in 1911, the beginnings of what was to become the Henry Vilas Zoo. Over time, the zoo, as it developed, remained free to the public, including parking.

In 1983, with the recognition that it was a regional resource, the zoo was “separated” from the city park and a county zoo commission was created. The zoo is now operated by Dane County, which provides 80% of the operating funds, with the city of Madison providing the rest.

The zoo currently has several construction and renovations projects in progress, including the Adventure Tree Play Area, which looks like great fun for kids.

The zoo is about 30 acres in size. On average, a visit to the zoo will take about an hour and a half.

The busiest time for the zoo is May, when more than 150 school buses may arrive each day.

Animals at the zoo include: Aldabra Tortoise, Alpacas, American Alligators, Badger, Bats, Bison, Birds(exotic & birds of prey) Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, Bactrian Camels, Capybara, Chimpanzees, Colobus Monkeys, Cotton topped Tamarin, Elk, Emu, Fish, Flamingoes, Frogs, Goats, Golden Lion Tamarins, Hedgehogs, Iguana, Insects, Kangaroos, Lemur, Lions(African), Muntjac, Ostrich, Otters, Penguins, Rhea, Rhinoceros, Seals, Sheep, Snakes, Swans (black), Tapir (Mayalan), Turtles, Wallabies.

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

It’s six days since we left home and it seems like forever. Got a late start on Monday, June 4 and drove to Springfield.

There’s an article about our great-niece’s accident and injuries here.

We stayed at Springfield 3 nights, mostly providing moral support for Karen’s sister, Mary, who has legal custody of Toni and her two sisters. She was staying in the waiting room the first several nights and we took her out to the campground so she could clean up a couple of times.

Of course, it was more than just a little bit emotional for us as well. We had just spent quite a bit of time around Toni and her sisters at a wedding for a niece the day before the accident and I had talked with her for awhile about what she was doing and her plans for the future. She is very sharp and very focused for an 18 year old. Hopefully she will be able to fulfill her plans, even with her disabilities.

(more later… Our daughter is expecting us at her house.)

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

We were going to be camping for three nights at a campground at Lone Jack, near Kansas City.

Instead, we’re going to be at a KOA outside Springfield. A great-niece was in a car accident today and is paralyzed from the waist down. She and her sisters lives with their grandmother, who is their legal guardian — and Karen’s sister.

We spent quite a bit of time yesterday with the girls at the wedding of a niece and the reception and barbecue afterwards. The girl that was injured will be a senior this next year and is one of the kids so very, very full of potential. I just hope that she can overcome the tremendous challenges that this injury will place in her path.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

This move of the blog to a subdirectory was a little more difficult than it needed to be. However, I made it without losing anything, I think.

We’re off to Fayetteville for a family wedding tomorrow — one of the many nieces — and will be spending Sunday getting ready to travel, so the almost blank landing page will stay that way for at least a little while.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

I haven’t used my PDA on a regular basis since a couple of month or so before I retired.

Since I retired, it’s been sitting at the bottom of a box of cables, various sized battery chargers, and miscellaneous office supplies.

I came across it today as I was going through stuff getting ready for our next trip.

Naturally, the battery was dead, so I plugged it to recharge it, just in case I might want to use it, though now that we have laptops and I’m retired, it’s hard to imagine when I would want to.

When I booted it up to check it out, it was like it was starting it up for the very first time.

Once I was past the setup routine, I found that it was so dead that none of the files that had been on it were there any more.

Oh well, it’s just as well. Now I don’t have to waste time deleting them.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

The blog will be “moving” to a subdirectory and there will be a static home page where visitors will land if they just use exit78.com.

There are several reasons for this. The biggest reason is as a barrier to the loss of blog accident that I had several weeks ago. It’s would still be possible to accidentally delete it but it wouldn’t take all of the subdirectories with it like it did last time. I still haven’t recovered them.

The new address for the blog will be something simple, like https://exit78.com/blog and there will be a very prominent link to the blog on the landing page.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011