We stopped in St. Anthony, Idaho to visit Jess' grandma. It was so good to see her. She will be 90 next month. We spent the night, took her for a ride and then kissed her goodbye. We headed for Yellowstone Park but there was a bridge out in Mammoth so we took a detour around Earthquake Lake in Montana. It was beautiful. We knew John (Jess’ OT therapist and our dear friend) and his wife Wanda were traveling home from MN so we gave him a call and strangely enough he was very close to us. So, we made a plan and met him in a small town in Montana for a great cup of coffee. Of course, he had to give Jess a little range of motion for the road.
We headed to Minneapolis to visit 
Jess’ brother, Joey, his wife Angela and our grandson, little Breck. It was so good to see them all. The weather was questionable with a lot of rain but we did get Jess out for a nice long walk in his new all terrain trike/stroller. We stayed in MN for 4 days, got caught up on our laundry and enjoyed every minute of our visit with Joey.Next we headed to Elkhart, IN to visit the manufacturer of the foreclosed motorhome we bought but they said we would have to wait until January for an appointment. Go figure that one!! We turned north to Battle Creek, MI where we picked up our accessible Honda Element.
We sold the big van and the toy hauler camper so we were able to get Jess a more economical car with easier access. The floor is lowered and has a ramp that folds down. He can ride next to the driver now and we can keep a better eye on him. So, we hooked it up behind the motorhome, slept in the Honda dealership parking lot and the next morning headed for Cleveland, OH.
Jess’ other grandma, Juliann, his two aunts, Jenn and Joy and
numerous cousins live in Cleveland. We first stopped in Greenwich, OH to visit Jenn. 
She lives in a beautiful house that Chris actually built 20 years ago. Chris, Jess and I stayed out on her beautiful farm when Jess was only 2 for a summer while Chris built her a timber frame house. It was fun to see it all again. Jess loved swimming in the lake when he got older so we took him for a walk all around the lake.We stayed for two days and then headed for Cleveland to Chris’ mom. Of course, we got a very warm welcome and a pot of her famous cabbage rolls. The Catholic church’s priest let us park in the church parking lot behind Grandma Juliann’s house. It was pretty cold so we didn’t get out much but we had lots of visitors. Chris got to see a couple of old friends, he helped his mom and sister with a few fix-it items. Chris' sister, Jenn, is joining us on our adventure to the east coast. It is always such a pleasure to have her company.
We went back on the road and headed to Niagra Falls. 
It is really something to see and amazinig how powerful the water is going over the falls. We were able to get Jess out and walk along the edge. The weather has been very cold and storms have been chasing us.We are headed to the east coast and plan on stopping to see Daniel Hays, he was one of Jess' caregivers in our beginning days on this journey. And oh, it has been a journey! After 5 years we are trying to accept where we are and find some peace and enjoyment in life. We have two choices. Being sad and depressed is such a waste so we decided it was time to make the best of it and find a way to enjoy some of this life. We are giving it our best.
I will try to update you on our travels again soon. Happy Fall to all!
P.S. I want to ask everyone to please put Denise deLisser (our good friend and cranial sacral therapist for Jess) and her husband Greg in your prayers. Her husband was in a terrible motorcycle accident on July 31st and suffered a brain injury like Jess. He is fighting a courageous battle and needs us all to pray for his recovery.
