President's Message: Finding EIU at RAGBRAI
No, I haven’t eaten too much alphabet soup. RAGBRAI stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa and consists of more than 20,000 bicycle riders covering 40 to 70 miles each day as they ride from the Missouri River to the Mississippi in one week. Sponsored by the Des Moines Register, the ride began in 1973 when two editors invited their readers to join them on a bike ride across Iowa. To their surprise, more than 250 people joined them, and the rally has since evolved into a massive annual happening.
Being involved in this event has become our annual July family vacation. In our first year, 2013, we learned of Jersey Day, a race day on which riders proudly wear their collegiate jerseys. We found an alum who had “EIU” written in magic marker across his tank top. After taking his picture and that of riders from other colleges who gladly showed off their jerseys, I asked President Perry if we might design an EIU jersey.
John Looby, who had ridden RAGBRAI in 2012, helped us turn the jersey project into reality. In 2014 my husband, John, was wearing his new EIU jersey, looking for a water connection for our RV, when a lady approached him asking where he had gotten his shirt, as her husband was an EIU alum. We were equipped to provide a jersey to Joe Davis, who at that time held the record for the most yards gained by an EIU quarterback in a single football game. He was so delighted with his jersey that he wore it every day for the remainder of RAGBRAI week. We also sent one to the gentleman who had worn the magic marker EIU on his tank top. Every year we find alumni and friends or relatives of someone who has attended EIU; they always have positive comments about our school and it is always fun to learn who they are, where they work, and what memories they have of our great institution.
I wear my EIU jersey with pride as I represent you and enjoy being with my family as we cross Iowa. Do I ride my bike for the entire four hundred plus miles? I do ride for portions of the journey, but someone has to drive the RV and deliver other riders and bikes to various rendezvous points. I enjoy the one-on-one time with whichever grandson has chosen to be co-pilot for the day, and we often prepare a meal for our 2 B FUN team as they ride in after a long, hot, but rewarding day. Come join us next year! I’ll find an EIU jersey for you!
I have enjoyed serving as your EIUAA President this year. Thanks for the opportunity. You are a wonderful group of people who continue to hold EIU in high esteem.
In appreciation,
Margaret Messer
EIU Annuitants Association President, 2017
Dent and Colvin Talk Money With the Membership
John Kilgore and Audrey Edwards
What’s the biggest mistake people make in retirement planning? Easy. They don’t start early enough.
That was the message from Kaye Dent, of Frisse & Brewster Law Offices, as she addressed the EIUAA Chapter meeting on July 13. A graduate of the University of Illinois and Hofstra Law School, Dent concentrates in elder law and estate planning.
During their working lives, Dent noted, people have a natural tendency to put off thinking about estate planning. They might be more proactive, she believes, if they realized it is mostly “not planning for death, but for what happens while you’re still alive.”
Ideally, said Dent, people should have comprehensive retirement and estate plans from early on in their working lives. Everyone should execute long-form Power of Attorney statements for both medical and property decisions. And of course, everyone should have a will, though the POAs may be even more important.
A difficult fact is that two people in three will require nursing home care at some point in their lives. The annual cost for full care averages $100,000 nationally, though here in the rural Midwest $50,000-$60,000 is more typical. Even so, long-term care insurance is advisable for most people. Policies should cover at least five years of care and include an inflation rider.
For those lacking such insurance, Medicaid is the payer of last resort, but Medicaid recovers expenses by requiring a recipient to spend down such assets as IRAs, bank accounts, and life insurance policies. It will also put a lien on your home and take possession upon your death, unless you do proper planning ahead of time.
One solution is to create a “life estate deed,” which grants your children (or other heirs) ownership interest in your home right away, but guarantees you the right of residence during your lifetime. Such arrangements must be made at least five years before application is made for Medicaid assistance. But it is a bad idea to have joint bank accounts with children or anyone else other than a spouse, as such accounts tend to be troublesome when an estate is settled.
Unlike a trust, Dent noted, a will is a public document — one that must be filed with the court within thirty days of a person’s death. At this stage, also, someone designated by the deceased should be taking steps to secure the deceased person’s property and assets. The deceased’s house should be locked and surviving relatives kept away as much as possible, to avert “misunderstandings” about where property is and who should inherit what.
Another useful estate planning instrument is a revocable living trust, which Dent said can be useful for any estate valued at over $100,000. A good trust will address disability as well as death. If you arrange a trust, be sure to fund the trust. But do remember that a revocable living trust is NOT an asset protection tool.
For those who might like more detailed information, Dent conducts regular workshops on estate planning, free and open to all. Go to frissebrewsterlaw.com for a list of dates and topics. You can also contact her office to arrange for her to speak to a group at no cost.
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In the October 5, 2017 EIUAA meeting, EIU alum Granville Colvin discussed his current work as a financial advisor with Edward Jones Investments of Charleston. He emphasized the highly personal and variable nature of investment counselling. No broad preconceived investment strategy works for everyone, he believes, and he tries hard to create a plan that is based closely on the client’s particular goals and situation. “It’s your decision. My job is to get all the homework done, so that your choices are clear.”
No one should expect miracles from a financial advisor, Colvin noted, but the value added to a portfolio is real and significant. As a rule of thumb, a client should expect good professional advice to add about 3% annually to portfolio returns — a gain that really adds up over the long term.
Part of the advisor’s job is to provide reassurance during market downturns, helping clients to resist the classic pitfalls of over-reaction and in-and-out investing. But often the advice provided is much more technical in nature.
For example, clients sometimes want to sell stocks in order to make a cash gift to children or grandchildren. Often in such cases, said Colvin, his pleasant duty is to advise simply making a gift of the stock itself, to avoid immediate tax liability from the sale. Taxes for the stock’s appreciation over time will be postponed till the recipient decides to sell, and then the rate will be at the recipient’s rate, rather than the client’s usually higher rate.
Many other tax situations are likewise a little tricky at first, but clear enough once explained. For example, most people understand the yearly limit on tax-free cash gifts to be $14,000, but many do not realize that a cash gift from a married parent to a married child can be four times that, as it becomes a gift from two donors to two recipients, so the lower amount is doubled twice.
The key for the advisor, in any case, is to keep track of the client’s overall situation and goals. “Your whole financial picture moves together, synergistically,” and Colvin, unlike some advisors, makes a point of communicating with his clients’ CPAs, to make sure he has a full appreciation of their tax situations. He tries to remember that every situation is unique. “I’m not the fun police,” and sometimes clients need to be encouraged to save less, not more, though granted this is more rare.
As for clients, a key for them is to be proactive and insistent in getting questions answered. “Make your financial advisor serve you. I have new clients coming in all the time because their advisor never called and they simply weren’t getting much advice.”
Calendar
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov. 30, 2017, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, Jan. 25, 2018, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, Feb. 22, 2018, 8:30 a.m. | Chapter Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, March 8, 2018, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Fri, April 27, 2018, 11 a.m. | Chapter Meeting - Luncheon | LifeSpan Center |
| Thu, May 31, 2018, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, July 12, 2018, 8:30 a.m. | Chapter Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, Sept. 6, 2018, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, Oct. 4, 2018, 8:30 a.m. | Chapter Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Thu, Nov. 29, 2018, 9 a.m. | Board of Directors Meeting | Neal Welcome Center |
| Note: Chapter meetings at the Neal Welcome Center begin with an 8:30 a.m. social time and come to order at 9 a.m. | ||
EIUAA People
| EIUAA Officers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Margaret Messer | mkmesser@eiu.edu | President |
| Jeffrey Lynch | jplynch@eiu.edu | President-Elect |
| Mary Anne Hanner | mahanner@eiu.edu | Past President |
| Jill Nilsen | jfnilsen52@hotmail.com | Secretary |
| Robert Whittenbarger | rwhittenbarger@gmail.com | Treasurer |
| Phone Contact: Margaret Messer, 217-354-9579 | ||
| Board Members |
|---|
| Vicki Hampton, Jill Nilsen, Mary Anne Hanner, Henry Davis, John Flynn, Margaret Messer, Jeffrey Lynch, Robert Whittenbarger, Marsha Figgins, John Ryan, Gail Mason, Nancy Dole |
| Committees | |
|---|---|
| Communications | Vicki Hampton (Chair), Audrey Edwards, John Kilgore, Roann Kopel, John Ryan, Robert Whittenbarger |
| Events | Marsha Figgins (Chair), Jody Horn, Marita Metzke, Rosalee Noble, Ernie Secrest |
| Legislative | Jill Nilsen (Chair), Jim Bush, Henry Davis, Sue Kaufman, Jeffrey Lynch, Gail Mason |
| Membership | Mary Anne Hanner (Chair), John Best, Kathryn Bulver, John Flynn, , Norma Taylor, Dale Wolf, Joan Zieren |
| Scholarship | Nancy Dole (Chair), Nancy Curran, Brad Green, Margaret Messer |
Getting to Know You: Dan Carpenter
Audrey Edwards
You remember the guy with the camera. His name is Dan Carpenter; in case you forget, it’s written right there on his camera strap. Dan has some interesting stories to tell about his work at EIU and his service to the Annuitants’ Association.
Dan was born at the Charleston Hospital, in the building that later became Hour House. His family moved to Girard, Ohio, but returned to Illinois when he was six. “I remember the train pulling into Paris, where my grandmother picked us up on a chilly morning,” Dan says. He graduated 12 years later from Kansas High School, then spent 2 1/2 years in the Army, first at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and later at Fort Ritchie, Maryland.
In 1981 Dan started work at EIU. At that time, our more creative students liked to use spoons to catapult pats of butter to the dining hall ceiling. Dan’s job was to clean that ceiling. He also vacuumed, mopped, cleaned windows, and cleared away snow from walkways, working for 27 years to keep EIU dining halls, dorms, classrooms, and offices shipshape.
After his military service and his career at EIU, Dan retired in 2007 and soon joined the Annuitants’ Association. One day he set out for a chapter meeting, only to find that it was actually a board meeting. “Because the board was short a member,” Dan recalls, “Alan Baharlou and Dale Wolf . . . drafted me to fill the spot. . . . I served for about 7 1/2 years.”
Dan also acts as photographer for the Annuitants’ Association. During his teens, his mother gave him a camera with no settings, so he learned to make all the adjustments himself. Dan has since taken a course in photography, focusing on old brick and stone churches. “Nature and wildlife are at the top of the list” of his favorite subjects, but fortunately for our newsletter, he also likes to snap candid photos of people. Besides his service to the Annuitants’ Association, Dan keeps busy with gardening, “fantasy sports,” helping his uncle, and acting as a great-uncle to four children. He also helps to maintain the grounds and sign at his church, the East Harrison Street Church of God. Those who know him best describe Dan as friendly, loyal, and helpful. That sounds just right. He has certainly been a good friend to EIUAA.
News From Our Members
Kandy Baumgardner
Zoology (Biology) faculty (1973-1995) and department chair (1994-95).
I left EIU in 1995, spent 9 years as Associate Dean of the College of Science at Utah State University, retired (SURS) in 2004. Since 1996 I have been married to Nabil Youssef, Emeritus Professor of Biology, Utah State University. Since retirement we have maintained our house in Utah, built a house in Central Illinois, and spend January and February in Florida. From Nabil’s three sons (in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida) we have 7 grandchildren and one great-grandson born this month. I spend my free time working in the yards of both houses, doing genealogy, volunteering at the Eureka Il Historical Society, hanging out with my sisters in the Peoria area, and visiting friends in Charleston. Our major event of the summer was a Youssef family reunion at our Logan, Utah house, with more than 50 family members attending from all over the U.S. I will always treasure my time at EIU, a truly excellent academic experience for students.
John Kilgore
English, ret. 2010
Dollie and I have embraced the hook-up culture and are sleeping around a LOT lately. Logged 9000 miles in April on a trip to Florida, California, Idaho, and Montana, then sold the 2007 Starwood and traded up to this 2014 Aspen. Eight feet longer, a ton heavier, and one more slide, but the towing mileage is really not much worse. Took a shakedown cruise to the Upper Peninsula in June for the solstice, with grandkids in steerage, and have been to Carlyle Lake several times since. Also the garden spots of Elkhart, IN, and Wheeling, W VA. Our palace on wheels!
James and Barbara Krehbiel
The Krehbiels celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary on September 15, 2017. James and the former Barbara Brehm were married on September 15, 1951 at the First Christian Chruch in Pratt, Kansas.
James retired from the Music department of Eastern Illinois University in 1990. He was employed 26 years at Eastern and was chair of the department his last four years. Formerly he taught at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas.
James has inclusion body myositis disease and lives at Lakewood Village in Charleston. Barbara retired in 2009 from the Charleston Carnegie Public Library, where she had been employed over 37 years. She is now a volunteer in the Genealogy and History Department at the Mattoon Public Library. She lives in their home in Charleston.
The Krehbiels have three children: James (Jim) who lives with his partner, Natalie Cunningham, in Delaware, Ohio; Mark, who lives in Maine; and Elizabeth Kutzko, who lives with her husband Kenneth Stabinsky in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
John Schmitt
Office of Development, ret. 2013
Recently I visited London, England for five days and then traveled on for a 17-day tour of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
In London I visited Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Saint Paul's Cathedral (climbing the 528 steps for an outdoor view at the top of the cathedral), Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. A day trip on the train took me to Bath, England, a historic site known for its ancient Roman bath.
In Africa I traveled to Chobe National Park, Okavango Delta/Moremi National Park, Kafue National Park, and Hwange National Park, and Victoria Falls. Animals observed in the wild included cape buffalo, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, varieties of monkeys and baboons, impalas, African wild dogs, a leopard, lions and cubs, many varieties of birds, hyenas, zebras, kudu, warthogs, sables, and many others.
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Editors’ Note: We welcome your retirement news and Snapshot Memories at any time. Send contributions to Vicki Hampton at vhampton2323@gmail.com or John Kilgore at jdkilgore@eiu.edu.
Snapshot Memories
My memory is of sitting in my office in the School of Adult and Continuing Education on the second floor of Blair Hall, northeast corner, in 1993, and realizing that it must have been my 4th grade classroom (or cloakroom) in 1940, when we called it the Training School.
— Janet Fraembs
My first memory of EIU: canna lilies blazing red against dark green foliage on a hot afternoon in August 1988. I was crossing the South Quad to Buzzard Hall to meet Charles Joley, then dean of the College of Education. When I arrived, he greeted me warmly, saying he had a job in mind for me. In fact, he did. The next year, I succeeded Don Rogers as director of the Alternate Secondary Education Program, a position I held until my retirement 21 years later. For all those years, I thought of the canna lilies--and EIU's other gorgeous flower beds--as Chuck Joley's garden, welcoming me to Eastern.
— Audrey Edwards, ret. 2010
Early on, like most new faculty at Eastern, I was living on soup and peanut butter and desperately eager to augment my salary with some summer teaching. My chance finally came in summer 1981, when I was assigned to a seminar in Coleman Hall. Unfortunately, July that year was one of many, many, times that the building’s climate control machinery went on the fritz. My memory is of sitting at the head of the table in the seminar room, staring down through steamy glasses at my notes on British Romanticism, with sweat dripping onto the paper. The temperature indoors and out was in the nineties. In those days I was too gung ho to end class early, though I must have wanted to.
— John Kilgore, ret. 2010
Farewells
Following are brief notices only. To read a full obituary or leave condolences, visit www.jg-tc.com and click on "Obituaries".
Richard Kent Crome, 76, of Charleston, passed away at 8:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 19, 2017 at The Arthur Home. Richard was a language professor at Eastern Illinois University for more than 20 years.
Beverly Ann Ogden, 88, of Charleston, passed away at the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home on Monday, March 20, 2017. Beverly was a secretary in Health Services at Eastern Illinois University.
Larry Wayne Fonner, 77, of Mattoon, passed away on April 18, 2017 at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. He finished his career working for Eastern Illinois University doing roofing maintenance.
Evelyn L. Helton, 96, of Charleston, passed away on April 26, 2017 at Hilltop Nursing Home. She retired from EIU as the Pastry Chef.
Violet M. Pruitt, 94, passed away on Sunday, May 21, 2017. She worked in EIU Food Services.
Michael “Pappy” Allen, 55, of Hutton, IL died in a motorcycle accident on Friday, May 26, 2017. Mike was a retired EIU Police Officer.
Karl McKinley Nielson, 82, of Westfield, Illinois passed away on June 10, 2017. Karl retired from EIU as a Building Service Worker.
Waldo Grigoroff, 95, of Charleston passed away on June 17, 2017. He was an EIU Professor in Speech Communications and served as an official Voice of the Panthers. He is a member of the Illinois Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Tanya Hudson Ferguson (Building Services), 74, passed away on June 19, 2017 at her home in Charleston.
Nelouise Stapp (nee Hodges; Music) passed away at her home in Tucson, Arizona on July 9, 2017.
Janet S. Cornell, 71, of Toledo, passed away on July 1, 2017 at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Janet retired from the EIU Police Department after more than 20 years of service.
Alan Baharlou (Geology/Geography) passed away on August 21 at his summer home in Estes Park, Colorado.
Betty Jane (Hall) Sheridan, 89, of Oblong, IL passed away on September 13, 2017 at Ridgeview Care Center in Oblong.
Robert Strong of Mattoon passed away on October 1, 2017. He was a Building Services Worker at EIU and retired in 1995.
Remembering Alan Baharlou
Audrey Edwards
Alan Baharlou spoke up for what he considered the right thing to do — he could be stubborn that way — but he believed Americans should speak up. And coming from Iran, he was glad he had the opportunity.
In a 2005 interview for the EIU University Newsletter, Alan related that during the 1950’s, Richard Nixon, then vice-president, visited Iran. Nixon’s motorcade passed the University of Tehran. “As I was in a large geology class, three soldiers came in and randomly shot and killed three of my fellow students. . . . We were warned that the same thing would happen to us if any of us demonstrated during [Nixon’s] visit.”
He listened to the Voice of America and dreamed of getting out. In 1960, he completed his B.S. with honors, earning the Shah’s permission to study in the U.S. Once here, he met his future wife, Carlene, earned his doctorate from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, and taught in Oklahoma for 13 years.
Alan joined EIU in 1980, where he remained for the rest of his career. Among his many honors, two stand out: he was Professor Laureate in 2000 and Illinois Professor of the Year in 2003. He retired in 2005 after 25 years at EIU, 20 of them as chair of the Department of Geology/Geography.
Alan then served the Annuitants’ Association as president from 2006-2008 and as newsletter editor from fall 2008-spring 2013, continuing as a contributor through spring 2017. He also created A Step-by-Step Guide for Survivors’ Assistance, expanding on a guide produced by SURS. He faithfully attended EIUAA chapter meetings, greeting his colleagues warmly and remembering their accomplishments.
These few facts do not begin to capture the man. Alan was sociable, full of life, passionate about his beliefs, devoted to EIU and the Annuitants’ Association. It is hard to believe he is gone.
Editors’ Note: Alan Baharlou passed away August 21 while vacationing in Colorado. His wife, Carlene, survives him.
Committee Reports
Legislative - Jill Nilsen
Legislative issues that focused on annuitants and pensions have been relatively few this past spring and summer. The focus on higher education in Illinois, however, has been greater. After a year with no budgetary support from the state, a budget was finally passed this summer. However, the long-term impact of the lack of budgetary support is significant. One of the apparent consequences of the budgetary impasse is a net migration of Illinois college students to out-of-state schools. This fall there are 72,000 fewer higher education students enrolling in Illinois schools than in Fall 2016.
There is increased scrutiny from the legislature on what is happening in higher education in the state of Illinois. Senator Chapin Rose (R-Champaign) and Senator Dan Brady (R — Bloomington) have introduced a bill to consolidate the admission process for all state universities. Although it does not appear that the content of the bill is significant, its introduction does suggest that the legislature may be moving to become more influential in higher education in Illinois. We will continue to monitor the conversation and will inform our members of the direction of the discussions.
Membership - Mary Anne Hanner
The Membership Committee will meet after the EIUAA Board meeting October 5 to plan recruitment activities for 2017-2018. Those are likely to include recruiting at the Flu Shot Clinic, on campus during SURS counseling, and at the EIU retirement dinner.
I will continue to send letters to members whose dues have lapsed. I sent 43 letters in August.
Since the June EIUAA Board meeting, we have gained 11 new members. One was a current employee who selected payroll deduction. One new member selected SURS dues deduction. Two current members switched to SURS dues deduction.
Sadly, we have lost six members since June: June Johnson of Kennewick, WA, Karl Nielson of Westfield, IL, Charles Ramsey of Charleston, Joan Laible of Miramar, FL, Wilbert Homann, and Alan Baharlou of Charleston.
The total membership by EIUAA records is 738. SUAA records show 724. I will continue to work on finding the discrepancies.
Scholarship - Nancy Dole
The application deadline for the 2018 EIU Annuitant Scholarship Scholarship is March 1, 2018. The recipient(s) must be the child or grandchild of a current Eastern Illinois University employee OR retiree with five or more years of service to the University. The EIU Annuitant Scholarship winner for 2017 is Allison Endsley, the daughter of current employee Debbie Endsley.
Over the last year, several annuitants passed away, and the Board voted to honor their memory with a $250 donation to the scholarship fund. We are still trying to increase the EIU Annuitant Scholarship fund to the $25,000 necessary to guarantee an award of $1,000 per year. We are calling for donations to our scholarship fund. Gifts can be made in memory of specific EIU annuitants (or not), and any size gift is appreciated. If we all give a little, it is amazing how the fund will grow. Donate online at https://www.eiu.edu/giving.php, or send checks payable to EIUAA Scholarship Fund to EIU Annuitants Association, Brainard House, 600 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, IL 61920.
Keeping Connected
| EIU Homepage | SUAA Homepage |
| Central Management Services Website Benefits: 800-442-1300 | State Rep. Reggie Phillips 811 W. Lincoln Ave. Charleston, IL 61920 217-348-1110 |
| State Senator Dale Righter 88 Broadway Ave. Suite 1, Mattoon, IL 61938 217-235-6033 |
Office of the Governor http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactus/Pages/default.aspx 217-782-0244 |
| US Senator Dick Durbin 711 Hart Senate Building, Washington, DC 20510 202-224-2152 | US Senator Tammy Duckworth info@tammyduckworth.com 202-224-2152 |
Living the Dream
Roann Kopel
My husband, Bob Dean, and I sold our house in Charleston in June, and now we are full-time RV-ers. (We sold it to Bob and Judy Campbell, whom some of you may know. They lived in Charleston years ago, moved to Oregon, and have now moved back.) We spent five weeks at Camp Lakewood in Effingham before leaving Illinois, but have been travelling since July 23. The RV life is great. The continually changing scenery makes life exciting, and RVers we meet along the way are wonderful people.
We began our travels with a northern trip to visit friends and family. Starting in Southwest Michigan, we went to a great restaurant owned by one of my high school classmates. Then on to Southeast Wisconsin, where we saw a Cubs-Brewers game with friends we met last year in Arizona. (Unfortunately, it was the one game of the series that the Cubs lost.) Next stop was Houghton, Michigan (way up there!) to visit more of our Arizona friends. We were joined in Houghton by the Wisconsin couple. We continued to northeast Iowa, seeing more of our Arizona friends. In Des Moines we spent time with family, including a new great-nephew. A visit with a cousin in Lincoln, Nebraska was next on the tour.
We journeyed to Box Elder, South Dakota, near Rapid City, where we established residency. It seems many RVers do this for economic reasons, such as no state income tax. We have a South Dakota address for mail service and South Dakota license plates, drivers’ licenses, and insurance — all less expensive than they would be in Illinois (I think). We also registered to vote in South Dakota. So we are now officially residents.
From South Dakota, we traveled west to visit Arizona friends in Wyoming and Montana. It was in Wyoming that we started seeing smoke from the Montana fires. We saw the fires in Montana and even had ash falling on our picnic table. It was a blast visiting Arizona pals all across the northern part of the country!
We stopped in Idaho and learned about “The Heart of the Mountain.” Google that! We stopped in Washington to visit Mt. Rainier and Mt. St Helens. Smoke from the fires kept us from getting a clear view of the mountains, but it was still beautiful. We drove along the Oregon Coast — gorgeous. Bob took pictures of one of the “most photographed light houses in the world.” Next stop — Northwest California, where the huge redwoods were the focus of our sightseeing on land and from a boat on the Klamath River.
Our trip continued with more Pacific Coastal viewing and Napa Valley wine tasting. Finally our travels took us into Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. All parks are awesome. On October 1, we arrived in Mesa, Arizona, where all of our Arizona friends will come together for the winter. We call ourselves the “A Street Gang” and we are quite well known in our RV Resort, Apache Wells. Mesa will be our home for 6 months — then on to the East Coast to complete our trip through all 48 states.
Next June, we will see you all in Illinois as we visit our doctors for annual checkups. Meanwhile, we are living the dream!
Bulletin Board
Interested in helping with a Red Cross blood drive in Spring ’18? Please contact Steve Lane at srlane@eiu.edu. Steve will get back to you once dates are finalized.
