Turkey Run in Pictures: Miscellaneous

Rock Run Cafe and Bakery, Rosedale, Indiana
This was a neat little cafe we read about in info we got at the park.  The food was very good.  Our waitress called  Carol "Dad" and it was obvious she was not from the US.  We asked her where she was from and she said the Philippines.  Dely, Carol's sister-in-law, is from the Philippines and always called his parents Dad and Mom.  She said that in the Philippines your elders were called that as a matter of respect.  We are officially elderly!  She was very sweet, a lot like Dely. 

Above and below:  the same covered bridge from two angles.

Turkey Hill Farm Antiques.

We enjoyed looking at both antiques and the old house. 

Just a one of the several parking lots at Mansfield.

Carol and Sandy enjoy a funny moment in the camper.

The new suspension bridge over Sugar River.  The old one was damaged in a flood in April and was just reopened in October.

Four state police cars.  The officers are directing traffic coming and going to the Festival.

Turkey Run in Pictures: Indiana Amish

Laundry day.  They use a tall telephone pole with a pulley to hoist laundry to the top.

This is a paradox:  an Amish team of horses and wagon and a large fifth wheeler sharing a field

Not all the traffic on the road was gas powered.

A team of horses waiting patiently.

Turkey Run in Pictures: Autumn's Glory

Turkey Run Wrap Up

We got back to Decatur about 12:30 and unpacked.  I managed to get everything into the house but some of it is still stacked on the floor or table where I left it.  Tomorrow I have two weeks of laundry to do.  It will be costly but much faster to take the laundry to the laundry mat so off to the laundry mat I go!  On the agenda for tomorrow:  laundry, put away stacks, and cleaning the camper.  I doubt I get that all done so it will most likely spill over to Friday.  So much for that, I must get trip info on the record, so here goes.

The last two weeks have been very much needed after the last two months Carol and I have had.  August was wrapped up with my foot surgery.  I sat for five weeks with my foot elevated and Carol performing household chores,  cooking, dog walking, laundry, and nursing duties.  September was focused on mom and her physical needs and ultimate passing.  October was a time to rest and get renewed.  Camping at Turkey Run for two weeks accomplished that.

The weather was cooler than we had experienced in previous trips to Turkey Run but we think cooler is better when camping.    Temperatures ranged from 75 during the day to 32 at night.  The last two days temps ranged from 50 day to 32 at night.  We had to use our furnace at night.  We had rain a couple of nights but nothing during the day to cause problems.  The first weekend, Hunter camped with us and we visited a corn maze, canoed on the Sugar River, carved pumpkins, and he and Carol hiked (I was not able to hike...doctors orders).  Wednesday through the second weekend, we visited the Covered Bridge Festival. The last two days we relaxed around the campsite and drove some of the backroads in this part of Indiana.   That is really what we enjoy the most.  The trees had finally begun to turn and some the roads are through very rural areas.  It was a time to reflect on the beauty of God's creation and to quote God, "It is good."

We plan to return next year and may even change our site from under the trees to a more open spot.  We will have to see what is a available when I make the reservations in April.  I am posting several pictures that will represent some of the sights we saw this year.

Taken at the corn maze.

Sitting around the campsite enjoying a fire and I-Pad time.

Canadian geese we shared the canoe trip with.

One of the two covered bridges under which we canoed.

Hunter showing his paddling skills. 

A Slow, Slow Internet Connection... But a Connection

I am not sure if I can get any pictures to download because this connection is very slow.  I discovered that I have SOME service in the parking lot of the visitor's center in another part of the park so we are sitting in that parking lot.  I won't spent the time it would take me to caption each picture.  They just show some of the things that have happened while we are here.  The weather has been great..really just perfect.

Hunter playing with fire under the watchful eyes of papaw.

This pair loves to walk the campground.

This is a scary trio of heads!

Carved pumpkins ready for Halloween.

A new slide at Hobson's Family Farm.

Turkey Run Down Time

We arrived at Turkey Run around 2:00 pm EDT.   We are in Site 204 (same as last year).  Not many here yet but I am sure that will change by Friday.  It is perfect camping weather...70's in the daytime, sunny, and 50's at night.  The leaves haven't started changing yet.  The last four weeks must have worn us out because the first night we went to bed at 9:00 and didn't get up until 8:00!!

Thursday we relaxed around the campsite and took several walks with Sandy.  Sandy loves to camp and take walks.  She will be spending time in the camper when we go to the festival but that won't be until next week.  If the weather holds, the festival will be packed so we don't plan to go any this weekend.

We drove to Decatur because I had a hair appointment and we picked up Hunter who will stay until Monday.  Because I have Internet service in Decatur, I wanted to get this post up.  Who knows when I will find a connection in the next two weeks!   John may bring Katie and Aidan and camp with us Sunday and Monday.  In all the times we have camped there in the last four years, John had never been there.  It will be fun to have three of our four grand kids camping with.  Linda will stay in Flat Rock to pack for their move to Colorado.  I see trips to Colorado in our future.

I will end this blog.  Hunter wants the I-pad to play Mindcraft.

In Memory of Mom

Virginia Rose McPeak Freeman
August 8, 1920-October 5, 2013

Tomorrow, October 9, 2013, Carol and I will take our annual two-week trip to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana.  Today, at her funeral,  we celebrated the life of my mom who loved to travel and passed on that love to me.  Four
times I have been to Turkey Run with mom.  The first time I was a kid and my family had been on a camping trip and spent a night there.  The second time as an adult Carol, me and the kids camped a few days in our new pop-up camper with mom and dad. The third and final time mom and I camped there for a few days in the fall after my father died in 1994.  Things have come full circle as Carol and I return to Turkey Run.

The last four weeks of her life mom was very, very sick and the family could see that soon mom would be reunited in heaven with my dad and a baby sister who had died.  On Wednesday before she died on Saturday, mom and I returned to Turkey Run for the fourth time through pictures that had been taken the previous year.  She had two hours of being clear and focused and we enjoyed Turkey Run again.  Following those two sweet hours, mom took a nap and when she woke, she was back to being disoriented, unfocused and remained that way until her death.

I will miss her physical presence but memories are a blessing from The Lord and, thanks to mom, I have so many, many memories of Turkey Run and other trips Carol and I have taken.  That love of traveling has its roots in my mom, "Miss Rose."  Thanks, mom.