(Widower 5) 2007 and 2008.

2007. Year 1
Jackie passed away on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 2007. Honestly I was so surprised and shocked. Even after pushing her in a wheel chair for months and waiting five hours for dialysis three times a week, I had not conception that she was going to pass away. Her poor old heart just gave way.

I made a six week trip to California and Washington. This was my first Farewell Tour of the West Coast. I have made four Farewell Tours of the West Coat now. I do not know if I will make another. I might make a visit, do not know about another Farewell Tour.

In review I noticed that after Jackie passed away I put on 30 to 40 pounds. I weighed around 210 to 215 pounds, but by the end of the year I weighed 245 to 255, I have been fighting this weight for 7 years without permanent success. My pants have been tight for a long time. I am determined to get back down.

2008. Year 2.
This was a busy year. In May I drove to Virginia to place Jackie's ashes in my gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery. I stayed in Potomac with my nephew Daryl. He and his wife Jane  went with me to the graveside ceremony for Jackie. I appreciated their company. I was grateful to the Army for their trouble.

On the way to the West Coast I visited Stirling, Kansas. Wyatt Earp country and where my Dad woo'd my Mon.

Then to the Devils Tower

and to the Black Hills and then to surprise a friend at  an Escapee Escapade in Gillette, Wyoming. He was manning a booth there for the Escapee Park in Chimacum. He did not know I was coming. It was a fun surprise. I spent several days visiting with him and his wife. We went to the Fourth of July parade in Gillette and watched the fireworks show from the Escapade campground.

From Gillette I went to Custer's Last Stand. After some study I figured out what Custer did wrong.

After a nights rest I drove to the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. I spent the day driving across the park north to south. Altho it was July there was snow along the road near the South Entrance.  I drove to Teton Village

where two of my grand children were living. I was following my GPS to Teton Village when it diverted my onto a smaller road. Soon the road turned into a small dirt road and I was seeing Elk in a nearby river. I pulled over and called my grandson. He said that I was on the right road to keep going. Soon I was in Teton Village. It is near Jackson Hole.