Sam and I have stayed pretty busy this past month. Kids are off to college now, so we can do whatever we want when I'm home. We spent most of the time either fishing or camping in the first part of September. The heat finally broke and the days have been beautiful in OK. Took the tent to one of our local lakes on 8 Sep, just to get out of the house. No TV, computer, cell phone, radio, etc. Just us and the dogs. I don't think it gets any better than that. Fired up the grill and had corn, asparagus, and marinated chicken. Had a full moon going and it was so bright I could turn off the lantern and still see. Off in the woods a whip-poor-will was sounding off, and a few minutes later an owl joined in. I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. After all the hassle and running around to get the kids back to school, several Dr appointments, and me being on the road for 12 days, this was like being in heaven. Ended up staying for 2 more days. Sam likes getting out, and it's actually not very difficult to get packed and set up.

Had our 21st anniversary, and asked her what she wanted to do. She decided on the state fair. That's easy enough! It was a weekday so it wasn't crowded and we got there pretty early. Most folks would head out for prime rib and the theatre. We ate "mile-long" hot dogs, Indian tacos, and watched dancing bears and the "Swifty Swine" pig races. We ain't never been the most safistakated kupl, but we had fun. Stayed a lot later than planned to catch all the stuff that was going on. Simple things for simple minds I guess.

The rest of the time we were fishing. There's a covered dock at the lake that is very "wheelchair friendly" so we head out there in the afternoons and stay until @ 9pm. Sam dunks minnows, and has gotten pretty good at catching crappie. One afternoon she caught 23 that were big enough to keep. (10 to 12 inches). They are one of the best tasting fish on the planet, and we had a couple great dinners that week. Met some really nice folks out there, too. There are 2 other ladies that drive their scooters around and fish a couple times a week. All in all it was a pretty stress free couple weeks.

Unfortunately, I didn't hit the powerball, so I'm back at the "salt-mine". A wonderful week of Toledo-LAX,and back. Got to LA yesterday morning and the airport was fogged in, so we diverted to Ontario. About a dozen other planes came in and we spent 3 hours waiting for a fuel truck and ground handlers to service the plane. Another 45 minute delay to get a clearance into LAX and we were off for a 24 minute flight. That caused a problem with our return scheduling, so I'm stuck in LA for a couple days. I was supposed to head back to Ohio to pick up a trip to Madrid and then to Oslo, Norway. It would have been a great time! Two days in Spain, 2 in Oslo, then back home. I hope the guy that gets the trip ENJOYS HIMSELF!!! :ranting: I now get to go to Guadalajara and back. Oh happy day!! The scary part of this is there is an opening for a crew to spend 3 wonderful, fun-filled days in luxurious Lagos, Nigeria. I may buy a few extra lottery tickets to try and avoid that one!