36th State: Illinois - Lake Shelbyville (9/23/2011).

Leaving Illinois today, I crossed to the Western side of the mighty Mississippi River.  Yahoo… I’m in the West again… sort of.

Had a really great visit in Indiana with my sister’s three sons, Paul, Kris and Rob and their families.  Talked a lot of genealogy.  Some of all that was great, except for the five smokers, seven dogs and three cats I had to do battle with to stay healthy.  Sure would have been more enjoyable without the battle.
Paul – Freeland and Associates, Arcadia, IN. (Paul’s family)

Kris – Freeland Paint and Drywall, Cicero, IN. (Kris’ family)

Rob – Works for Menards near Gosport, IN. (Rob’s family)

From there I headed to Illinois to find some water to kayak… and found Lake Shelbyville.  Nice four hour paddle, lots of birds.  Unremarkable otherwise.

I’m feeling particularly unattractive and tired with that tooth missing and mouth hurting.

Ahhh… much better view… nice little marina.

I found a fossil along the shoreline.

Then I headed up to the Chicago area and met and visited with my third cousin Kathy and her husband, Curt.  Our grandmothers were sisters (Olive and Laura Carlton).  We talked genealogy and compared notes.

Cousin Kathy

 

the grands – add photo later.

My grandmother and one of our great aunts both worked in the photography business.  Kathy had a stack of negatives which I was able to scan and digitize.  Some wonderful ones of our grandmothers when they were kids.

When I arrived at Kathy’s it was with tooth-in-hand, the second time this crown had broken off in three months.  I had to see a dentist and found one in Schaumburg, IL.  I knew the news would not be good and learned I needed an emergency root canal and a temporary crown just to get by and continue my trip.  Did that yesterday morning and it was really hard on me.  But he was a great dentist… especially to work me in that way.

Ahhh, my holey smile has been fixed… still hurts though.

This morning Kathy and I said our goodbyes and I headed west, and in some ways feeling glad I had “family genealogy visits” behind me.  Really getting sick of genealogy… something I NEVER ever thought would happen.  When I crossed the Mississippi there was a feeling of freedom that overcame me.  I enjoyed the drive through Western Illinois and saw some wonderful old houses… but I was happy to cross that river… like a real milestone.

Tonight I’m in DeWitt, IA where I had hoped to visit with a Vandweller but have been unable to make contact yet.  Tomorrow I’m heading out early to meet a couple more vandwellers not far from here… and where I might get a little work painting at a house.  That will be nice, as the co-pay portion of the root canal work has eaten up my month’s gas money… and there will be no more until Oct. 21.  Tooth falling out on payday… what a bummer. 

I will also be picking up some more portrait work in South Dakota when I get there, so that will help, but I need to get to AZ a.s.a.p… the plan was Oct. 1, but lack of gas money may prevent that from happening.  But there is family in SD, in NE, and others along the way… thank goodness.

O.K. now, tooth, you got not root so stop hurting now.

Recent Art Work…. sketches for gasoline money!

Here is the recent work I have gotten… and I want to share it here in hopes of getting more jobs.  I can’t make the kayaking adventure work otherwise.

If you would like to order a sketch as a Christmas gift, please email me a high resolution photo of the subject and I will give you a quote.  Prices begin at $40 plus $7 shipping and handling (or one or more sketches-one price for shipping).  I prefer to do portraits only, but will consider other subjects.  Charlene.Swankie@gmail.com . 

Whose There? In Hoosierville (Carmel, IN)

Below is an email I just sent out to my high school classmates, asking for help.  Thought I might as well share it here as well.

Sept. 2, 2011

Classmates,
 
My computer hard drive has crashed.  Updates that were in progress to this page - http://www.1962arsenaltechtitans.com/index_page2_20110804.htm - might have been lost.  About 10 hrs of very intense updating.
 
I am trying to get someone in Carmel Indiana (I'm passing through the area and spending a few days visiting cousins, nephews, great-this and great-thats...)  to fix the computer so I can save all the massive work I was doing on the class website.  I am unable to local my disks for the Macromedia program Dreamweaver which I use to edit the website.  All the travelling and downsizing, who knows what became of the disk.  If I have to repeat all that work, I won't be doing it in html code alone and will need that program or one that works like it does, allowing me to edit while in a WYSIWYG view.  If you have the Dreamweaver program and will allow me to load it to my new hard drive, I would be appreciative. 
 
I am also hoping to find a copy of Photoshop 6 to load, I have ALL my other Adobe programs and disks, but where is the Photoshop disk?  I have Photoshop Elements and it isn’t adequate to do the photo editing and retouching I do (which does bring in a little gas money). I don't care about anything else on that hard drive except the copy of the web page with all our photos and all the new updated information I was in the process of adding.
 
Also if anyone is in the Carmel area and you want to "do coffee" or visit a bit, let me know as soon as possible.  I will be continuing on my Kayaking adventure as soon as I resolve the computer issue, one way or the other, and as soon as funds come in for more gas.  I have kayaked 35 states now and need to be in AZ by Oct. for classes I will be taking this winter.  I need to keep moving and want to kayak four or five more states on the way to AZ.
 
One thing I am doing to come up with income is doing sketches for people.  Have a look.
 
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.163916167012061.37025.100001810370863&l=29ed04a793&type=1
 
These make great xmas gifts.  If you want a sketch, just think, you can be part of making this Adventure become reality.
 
If you find this email offensive, let me know and I will remove your email address from any future notifications.
 
Charlene Beaty Swankie
http://swankiewheels.blogspot.com/

Also, I went by and found my mother’s old house today and then up the road and found her grave.

35 5th Ave, Carmel

 

I drove around a bit and found my mothers old house at 35 5th Ave and her grave up the road on Rangeline at a little Cemetery on the left side of the road right before Rt.31. This time there was no poison ivy all over it, which I was grateful for. Hot/heat index is very high. Anyone in the Carmel, IN area???

Why or why is the month so long and the dollar so short???

Alright, I’m fessing up.  Here is my budget.  What can I do to make my money go farther, other than NOT buying gas for the van?

Monthly Expenses:

Car and Trailer Insurance	$  70
Dental Insurance	$  34
Hospitalization Insurance	$  38
Verizon Internet Service	$  64 (essential)
Ancestry.Com	$  30 (generates some income)
TOTAL	$236.00
One time only:
New Hard Drive	$  65
New checks	14
TOTAL	$  79

Income:
Social Security	$853
Sketches	90
TOTAL	$943
Expenses (8/22 until today):
Gas	$105
Food and misc.	$100
TOTAL	$284
Balance today	$194

Out of that balance will come September’s bills due prior to 9/21 totaling $72, leaving me with $122 for gasoline and food and emergencies between now and 9/21.  A tank of gas will cost about $90 or more as prices go up again… leaving me less than $30  or so for food and emergencies.  So, I’m stuck at a nephew’s house in Indiana (rather his yard) until I can get more income from sketches or my social security check arrives.

If anyone can think of ways to trim the budget or generate more income, I’d appreciate the ideas.  Internet access is my life line… can’t cut that.  Ancestry.com is my hobby and sometimes generates a little income from doing genealogical research for others… so I SHOULD NOT cut that.   Insurance… I don’t think I should cut… I usually get the value for my $ there… and besides, I do have military health coverage which covers any other medical expenses.

I spend little on fast foods, just an occasional sandwich from a dollar menu, seldom eat out, carry a supply of ham, cheese and bread in my 12v fridge, have a supply of canned meats on hand, keep some cereal on hand and buy soy milk about 1/2 gal a week.  Don’t buy candy or ice cream often… maybe once a month.

So, HOW can I have more money for gas so I can keep on going down the road.  I plan to pretty much just “park” from Oct – Mar… so things should be a little better then.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for any ideas (or photos to draw).  I am also available for photo retouching and genealogical research.

I feel like a caged wild animal when I can not keep going, driving, reaching my goal… and I scare myself.