Home

Well, we didn't make it to Alaska.  We got home tonight around 4:30 pm.  On May 30th, Ken got out of bed and felt out of breath when he walked to front of trailer.  We brushed it off and drove a half a day to Bismarck, ND, got gas and caught up with the other couple at Walmart.  When he got out of the truck he felt very dizzy and quickly sat down again.  When he came into the trailer, he laid down while I made lunch, he said maybe he should go to a clinic.  When we got to the clinic, a nurse came in and took his blood pressure three times and said the doctor will be right in, the doctor poked her head in and said the hospital is right down the road and we should go to the emergency room right away.  This blood pressure was very low but his heart was racing at 160 beats per minute.  They put an IV in, did an EKG and was ready to give him a drug to lower his heart rate, asked him to sit up and it went back to normal.  Was in hospital over night for observation, in morning he had a stress test done, and ultrasound of the heart, everything came back ok and was discharged.  They sat up an appointment for yesterday with cardiologist and another appointment in Fargo, ND for next Thursday with an Electro Cardiologist.  We had decided to head home instead of waiting around for the appointments.  They did put him on blood thinner and medicine to regulate his heart, until he sees his doctor, which is next Thursday.

The trip was good, maybe later we can try again.

ALASKA BOUND

Monday, May 23

We left home and headed toward Ohio on the turnpike, we went' planning on driving all the way to Jackson Center, but we did arrive around 6:30 pm.  Jackson Center is the only place where they build Airstreams.  We were to meet another couple from NC, they had an appointment for Tuesday for their trailer to be worked on, to take two to three days.  It only took one day to get their work done but they decided to stay another night, they have an old dog and they had talked her to the vet twice while they where there.

Thursday, May 26

We left and headed west on Route 30  to Route 80, southwest of Chicago, Il.  We stopped for the night at Illini State Park, really nice park, camped along the Illinois River next to a lock, saw a barge and tugboat go by, it was also an electric plant.

Friday, May 27

We left the state park and drove toward the Quad cities, and headed north along the Mississippi River on Route 67 to Route 52 on the west side of the river.  Drove through Dubuque, Iowa to see the incline on 4th street, the other couple didn't know what an incline was, couldn't find a place to park, construction everywhere, so we just drove through town.  In the town of McGregor, Iowa, we crossed the river east again over to Wisconsin, we are following the route we had taken back in 2012 when we did The Great River Road Caravan.  Stopped at Pikes Peak lookout to see where the Wisconsin River flows into the Mississippi River.  After crossing the river again into Wisconsin, we stopped for the night at Walmart for the night at Praire du Chein.

Saturday, May 28

Following the river north on Route 35, we crossed back over the river again at LaCrosse into Minnesota on Route 61 to St. Paul/Minneapolis, taking the southern and northern route 495 to route  94.  Stopped in about 40 miles in the town of Clear Lake at an Airsteeam Park.  Staying for two nights, nice, friendly park but expensive at $35 a night.

Monday, May 30

Pulled out later than expected, still taking Route 94 west.  Stopped in Fargo, ND for fuel, paid $2.19 for diesel and stopped at Culver's Restaurant for our fuel, they have good burgers and ice cream.  Stopped for the night at another Walmart in Jamestown, ND.  Weather is cooled down to low 70's after storms and still raining.