CATCHING UP - DR APPOINTMENTS & BOB COLLEGE REUNION

Currently in Belton MO (Low 74 A Thunderstorm in the Morning High 96)

Since our last posting life has been pretty much normal for living in a Senior Living Community; doctor appointments and occasionally eating out. The highlight though had to be Bob attending his college dormitory house multi-year reunion.

Bob was in Lincoln House in North Friley Hall of the Union Drive Association at Iowa State University. He was there from 1975-1979. 

Some attendees brought photos, here is one we think is the 76-77 members.

See if you can find Bob in the photo!?!

There were 36 of us there along with 6 spouses and 1 daughter at Whatcha Smokin BBQ & Brew in Luther Iowa. Bob spent the weekend with his family in Perry before heading to the reunion. It was great to reminisce with everyone. This is a yearly occurrence for 5 years now, and Bob plans on going every year with this one being his 2nd.

Old habits die hard so we'll end with the food Bob had during the reunion. Ribs, turkey, cheesy potatoes and coleslaw w/cornbread. It was very good so if in the Ames Iowa area this place is recommended.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

FULLTIMING REVIEW: MOST UNIQUE FOOD

Currently in Belton MO (Low 58 Less Humid With Some Sun High 76) 

The aforementioned crab rangoon pizza review posting prompted this entry, the most unique foods we encountered while fulltiming for over 15 years.

Probably the most unique item has to be whitefish livers, rarely available outside of Bayfield County Wisconsin. We had them lightly breaded and pan sauteed. Not everyone likes livers but both of us do like all kinds of liver from beef to chicken and now whitefish. Smaller than chicken livers and a more subtle taste it was a once in a lifetime treat we are extremely glad we had.

Another unique item, also on Lake Superior, is lake herring, mostly only available on the North Shore in Minnesota. Most of the lake herring is for commercial fishing but there is regional demand on the North Shore. While in Grand Marais we had lake herring as fish and chips, in the best puffy tacos we have ever had, smoked, sandwiches, fish of the day platters. To say we like lake herring is not an exaggeration.

Frankie and Lola's in Morro Bay California serves a great breakfast which we had a few times while there. They have a brulee souffle flambe french toast; brulee (soaked in brulee), souffle (baked), flambe (toasted pecan caramel sauce on top) that is incredible. 

Another regional offering available all across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a pasty, meat and vegetables wrapped in a flaky pastry crust. There are a number of varieties including a turkey dinner, chicken broccoli cheese, and green pepper. Muldoon's in Munising offers dessert ones. We blogged about our great Pasty tour here.

We'll end with a dessert, prickly pear bread pudding available at Turquoise Room in La Posada Hotel in Winslow (standing on the corner) Arizona.

For a foodie traveling the country and sampling unique regional foods made fulltiming even more enjoyable.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

FONG'S PIZZA AFTER CYCLONE TAILGATE TOUR

Currently in Belton MO (Low 63 Partly Sunny High 84) 

Yesterdays blog entry on the Cyclone Tailgate Tour was getting too long so we decided to blog separately on Fong's Pizza and their unique crab rangoon pizza.

Fong's Pizza was established in 2009 following the closure of King Ying Low, the city's oldest Chinese restaurant. This restaurant had been a beloved institution for over a century before it shut its doors.

Fong's Pizza is now a unique dining experience by combining Asian and Italian cuisines. They aimed to honor the legacy of King Ying Low while introducing a fresh concept that featured specialty pizzas with Asian-inspired toppings which includes:

Crab Rangoon Pizza: A signature dish that blends traditional flavors with pizza.

Asian-Inspired Pizzas: Options like Orange Chicken pizza and General Tso's Chicken pizza.

Innovative Appetizers: Items such as pizza rolls wrapped in egg roll wrappers.

Last time Bob was in Iowa he heard from friends that the Des Moines location was closed and the only one open was in Ankeny. When Bob was looking where the Cyclone Tailgate tour location was he noticed Fong's was across the street. So he decided to get a pizza there for lunch after after the event for the drive home.

 On a future visit Bob is planning on getting a General Tso's pizza.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB ATTENDS CYCLONE TAILGATE TOUR

Currently in Belton MO (Low 56 Partly Sunny High 83) 

The 2026 Cyclone Tailgate Tour was the 20th annual event. 

For one week in May there is an afternoon and evening session involving the voice of the Cyclones John Walters, coaches and the Athletic Director Jamie Pollard. They travel from event to event in the Cyclone Tailgate Tour bus.

For the previous 19 events Bob was either working or we were fulltiming in our RV far, far away. Since we have hung up our RV keys Bob decided it was time to attend his first event at Curate in Des Moines. It was a must see event this year since there are a lot of new head and assistant coaches this year.

Not sure how the event would go so Bob got there early Monday afternoon after visiting family over the weekend and breakfast at the Waveland Cafe West in Booneville. Getting there early he got a great parking place. He sat at a table and for the most part was a people watcher. Once the event started some of the coaches walked around the room chatting with tables and some held court at a table in the back and the lines formed. Cy also worked the room so Bob took a selfie.

Once the coaches finished interacting with the crowd they collected at the front of the room with the MC John Walters and AD Jamie Pollard.

Each coach gave an update on their teams: an entirely new football coaching staff headed by Jimmy Rogers with mostly a new roster of about 70 new players; a new wrestling organization headed by former head coach Kevin Dresser with both men's and women's wrestling teams with new coaches, Brent Metcalf for the men, Alli St. John for the women; 9 new players (7 transfers and 2 frosh) and 2 new coaches for women's basketball headed by Bill Fennelly; Christy Johnson (volleyball) and TJ (men's basketball) also gave updates; Jamie Pollard (Athletic Director) gave an update on CyTown and the department in general.

Bob had a great time and when he does this again, say next year, he'll probably try to attend an evening session since it is 2 hours long and the 1 hour afternoon session left him wanting more.

Also in attendance was the CyHawk Tropy proving once and for all it's a Cyclone State.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

REVIEW OF FULLTIMING - BLOGGER STATS

Currently in Belton MO (Low 55 Early a.m. Thunderstorms Then Clearing High 77)

Thought it would be a good idea to show stats for this blog as of this publish date.

 

Our blog has 64 followers and has had

1239 Posts

2,567 Comments

Resulting in: 

1,089,315 Views from 20+ countries mostly using Chrome browser on Windows.

We hope to periodically update this blog so these numbers will go up slightly, but not at the rate it had while we were fulltiming.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB FINISHES CARDIAC REHAB

Currently in Belton MO (Low 65 Mostly Cloudy Windy High 79) 

After 36 visits Bob has concluded his post open heart valve replacement surgery cardiac rehab at Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville Missouri.

He has decided to continue the program at Cass Regional using the self pay option.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB CONTINUES CARDIAC REHAB

 Currently in Belton MO (Low 46 Cloudy High 70) 

Just a quick update that Bob is about half way through the 12 weeks of cardiac rehab. Every Monday-Wednesday-Friday Bob goes to Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville Missouri. He is slowly building up stamina.

He has a follow-up with his cardiologist in a couple weeks and we'll report on that visit.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB HAD FOLLOWUP WITH CARDIAC SURGEON

Currently in Belton MO (Low -4 Partly Cloudy High 21)

Bob had a 8 week follow-up with the Cardiac Surgeon at St. Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute.

Bob had a great visit w/Dr. Alexander Pak who was pleased with his progress. The sternum restrictions were lifted so no longer wearing the harness. Bob did feel that the harness was better than the cardiac pillow that he used after his 2012 open heart aortic valve replacement surgery to keep the sternum stable during coughing, sneezing, etc.

Also lifted was the 5 pound and 10 pound weight restrictions. Bob was told to not overdo it and keep track of how the sternum reacts.

What the future holds is that Bob will continue cardiac rehab until the end of March. Bob can also begin to resume the stretching routine and chiropractor visits that he was doing prior to the surgery. This is good news because Bob's knee is reacting poorly to the pause that he had to do on stretching/chiropractor.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB BEGINS CARDIAC REHAB

Currently in Belton MO (Low 30 Patchy Fog then Mostly Cloudy High 36)

Bob's continued recovery for open heart aortic valve replacement surgery moves on to cardiac rehab. It will be Monday-Wednesday-Friday for 12 weeks at Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville Missouri.

It is a reunion of sorts as this is the place Bob had cardiac rehab after his 2012 surgery. Although the recovery at age 70 is a little different than at age 57. Bob hopes to build up his stamina while strengthening the heart muscle. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

BOB 2 WEEK FOLLOW-UP

Currently in Belton MO (Low 30 Partly Sunny High 55)

Almost immediately after being discharged from the hospital Bob was setup with Home Healthcare visits. There were a lot of different visits for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Nurses. All of that was similar to what Bob experienced in 2012. An additional feature for Home Healthcare was a Telehealth visit where Bob got bluetooth scale, blood pressure and Pulse oximeter devices for daily monitoring automatically reported.

Bob was working on improving his stamina after his departure from the hospital and it's slow going. Two weeks after his departure from the hospital Bob had a follow-up appointment at the Mid-America Heart Institute.

Bob had a really good visit. It was the first time he was outside since he was brought home form the hospital. We were a little worried that since it was a long walk how Bob would handle it. Bob did remarkably well. Once in the office all the vitals  taken were really good. The best advice Bob has gotten throughout was from the Nurse Practitioner who said to try and measure progress weekly, not daily.

Progress is being made and the Home Healthcare visits are coming to an end and Cardiac Rehab is beginning the end of the month. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

AVR SURGERY RECOVERY WAS ALL ABOUT "ALMOST"

Currently in Belton MO (Low 15 Low Clouds and Sun High 38)

Bob is home now after a second successful aortic valve replacement surgery. His surgery was at St. Luke's Hospital near the Plaza in Kansas City Missouri

 

Bob's recovery started out a little rough. He doesn't tolerate anesthesia well and this was a very long surgery, approaching 6 hours. What started out as the expected grogginess and confusion with dry mouth and sore throat evolved into a what is technically called Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD): Some patients may experience memory problems or cognitive impairment, which is more common in older individuals [cue jokes here]. Luckily POCD only lasted a couple days but there were a lot of tests to make sure it wasn't anything more serious. After a couple of days normal mental functions returned [cue more jokes here].

Bob then attacked his recovery hard hoping for an early departure. He was "ALMOST" ready to ask when he could leave but when he walked to his first bathroom break on Friday morning his heart monitor started beeping as he went into AFIB (atrial fibrillation). His heart raced to 202 and  blood pressure fluctuated causing fatigue and lightheartedness. Because of the seriousness of AFIB the nursing staff immediately jumped into action with IVs and meds all day.

Friday was then a relaxing day instead of a recovery day. What we learned Friday is that AFIB is a common reaction to the trauma experienced by the heart. Saturday was a much better day and Bob went from relaxing to recovery filled with walking and breathing exercises. Sunday morning Bob asked the Nurse Practitioner (NP) and got the OK to depart. They began the process that one of the last steps is making sure the new prescriptions were sent to right Pharmacy. As the NP and Head Nurse were finalizing departure info Bob's heart monitor went off again.

Bob's heart had an VTach-ish episode (Ventricular tachycardia) and he was told he wasn't leaving today. Luckily Bob had no symptoms so he continued the walking and breathing exercises with approval. Unfortunately Bob's heart monitor went off again Monday morning so it was decided that Bob needed to stay another day.

Finally the day arrived and Bob left the hospital on Tuesday after a stay of 8 nights 9 days. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo 

ANOTHER VALVE REPLACEMENT!

 Currently in Belton MO (Low 51 Overcast High 53) 

Bob needs another valve replacement surgery. We knew this day was coming, however, it was long past the original estimate. Let me explain, in 2012 Bob needed a new aortic valve. He was born with a bicuspid (two flaps) valve instead of a normal tricuspid (three flaps) one as shown here.

Over time the bicuspid valve becomes less efficient and must be replaced. In October 2012 Bob had open heart valve replacement surgery. He chose a tissue valve (cow) since with a cow valve Bob wouldn't need blood thinners as he would need with an artificial valve. We figured managing the blood thinner dosage while traveling might be troublesome. We were told then to expect 7-10 years before it would have to be replaced. Bob got 13 years out of that valve but it's time to replace.

Bob's open heart valve replacement surgery is scheduled for Monday November 24th.

In a future blog posting we will discuss the surgical options and why we chose open heart. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

REVIEW OF FULLTIMING - RV PARKS REVIEWS STATS

Currently in Belton MO (Low 45 Wind Advisory Clear High 51)

While we were planning our full-timing life we found a great website: "RV Park Reviews" that was a valuable asset as we planned our first travels. Because it was an incredible website we decided to review all the parks that we stayed at, including those we stayed at multiple times. 

Over the years:

144 Campgrounds visited in 23 States 

159 reviews

To date our reviews have been viewed 18,889 times 

Obviously the number of parks will remain constant but the viewing numbers will increase as this resource will still be available. 

Sometime during our travels "RV Park Reviews" was acquired by the RVLife app and became RV LIFE Campground Reviews and continues the great service to all RV travelers to this day.

 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

 

REVIEW OF BONNY BAY CAMP ON LAKE WABIGOON NEAR DRYDEN ONTARIO CANADA

Currently in Belton MO (Low 62 Clouds and Breaks of Sun High 83)

As previously mentioned in earlier blog postings about Bob's recent postings he has been going to Canada off and on since 1982, the last one before this trip was 2009. Bonny Bay Camp(link) is probably the best fishing camp that Bob has been too.

Admittedly his perspective was 1980/1990s cabins but he was amazed at the 2020s amenities. From electricity with no limits and running water in the cabins for daily showers if desired, and a microwave. Add to that wifi, yeah wifi, in a cabin 205km (127.4 miles) from the border. Completing the great experience is that T-Mobile is everywhere. Getting texts and phone calls on a remote lake in Canada was amazing to say the least.

Here is our cabin, #6. 

Cabin #6 is one of their larger cabins and while Cabins #7 and #8 have satellite TV #6 has the much better view from the deck.

We really didn't miss the TV as the trip was all about fishing. The kitchen was equipped nicely including the aforementioned microwave (yeah a microwave!)

It is a 3 bedroom cabin that sleeps 8.

Every Tuesday night Bonny Bay Camp serves a meal to all visitors. It was really good with a dessert table to be envied.

The best equipped dock that Bob has ever seen.

Lake Wabigoon is a very scenic lake.

You cannot do wrong visiting Bonny Bay Camp, great cabins, great owners, great dock hands on a lake that has a great number of species to catch with trophy Muskie, Northern, Walleye possible.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

CANADA FISH PICTURES

Currently in Belton MO (Low 65 Partly Sunny and Warmer High 83)

Highlights of Bob's recent trip to Canada:

Species caught by all: Crappie, Northern, Perch, Rockfish, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye 

First fish caught: Bob

Largest crappie: Gerry 

Largest Northern (aka largest fish of trip): Bob 

Largest Smallmouth: Gerry

Largest Walleye: Mark 

Last fish caught: Bob 

It was a great time! 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

WILL THIS BE BOB'S CANADA FISHING 'LAST HURRAH'

Currently in Belton MO (Low 45 Sunny and Pleasant High 77)

Bob began going to fish in Canada in 1982. His dad's friend had a cabin on Eagle Lake in Ontario that we were able to use for Bob's first trip fishing ever to Canada. Bob's wife at the time Pat joined friends Mark and Margaret and Bob's friend from college Mike (aka QB).

On the drive up we had to stop and take pictures at the only gas station every designed by Frank Lloyd Wright located in Cloquet Minnesota. Bob met Pat at Iowa State where she was an architecture student. After our marriage she transferred to KU in architecture engineering. Pat was really interested in this stop and took a lot of pictures. Here's one from the web (notice the cantilevered structure over the pumps):

Bob's dad was at the cabin fishing with his friends (aka "The Boys) from WWII the week before our trip. So after our stop in Cloquet we drove to the border in International Falls. His dad's friends had drove him to our side of the border and we picked him up at gas station where we filled our tanks before crossing the border. We had a great time at Eagle Lake, so much that Bob tried to get to Canada fishing every year, sometimes twice, including one flyin trip, for a number of years.  

Forty-three years later we have gotten a lot older and life has intervened such that we may not be taking any more trips. Bob has not been fishing in Canada since 2009, just before we began fulltiming in our RV and traveling the country. Bob was joined by his friends Mark, yes the Mark from 1982, and Gerry whose first trip was Bob's 2009 trip. He has been going with Mark since 2009, Bob's last trip before this and Gerry's first trip. We drove by the Frank Lloyd Wright's gas station and it is still standing completing the circle of trips that started in 1982.

We are staying at Bonny Bay Camp and we've got a great cabin in a great location overlooking the lake. The cabins are better built than most of the cabins Bob stayed at during his previous visits. The cabins have electricity, indoor plumbing, wifi, heck this one even has a microwave, albeit no TV. Here is a sunset that we saw from our cabin.

The first fish pic we took was of a smallmouth bass caught by Gerry, his personal best.

We will do a future blog with just fish pictures in the future and a Bonny Bay Camp review but here are a couple fishing pictures. First one is the biggest Northern Bob caught this trip.

 Mark's personal best walleye caught in Canada.

This may or may not be Bob's 'Last Hurrah' as it will be decided on a yearly basis, but every trip is always a great time.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo