Kansas Senior Press Service Weekly Newsletters Kansas Senior Press Service Weekly Newsletters By Joann Williams
April Fool’s Day—that’s the day we bought it. That might have been an omen to some, but not to us. This RV was precisely what we had been looking for.
You see, my husband’s retirement has left him with entirely too much time on his hands. Easily bored, he sits around thinking of new ideas. Two years ago, he decided that an RV would be a good investment so that we can tour the country when I join him in the ranks of the no-longer-employed.
I love to travel, and what better place than this beautiful country? But my idea of roughing it is looking for a Motel 6 instead of a Marriott—not driving an oversize gas hog cross-country. We looked at some RVs, but couldn’t justify the cost.
A year later, he saw the ad: An older RV was being sold at an estate auction. It was old, all right, so old it was trimmed in avocado. (Remember that color scheme from the ’60s, when everything was avocado, copper, or harvest gold?) The vehicle appeared to be in excellent condition, slept six, and would be ideal for family outings. We were the lucky bidders, and paid $10,000 less than the price of the RV we’d looked at the previous year. So we began preparations for a summer trip, deciding we would take half our children and grandchildren one year and the second half the next.
People naturally assumed we were crazy, trekking across country with five kids (ages 2 to 16) and three adults—eight people in an RV that sleeps six. But it was only for three weeks! It would be fun, as well as educational for the kids. We bought games and books to occupy them en route, and journals so the older ones could record their experiences. We found a perfect-size U.S. map to hang on the wall so they could visualize where we’d been and where we were going. Everyone was excited.
The plan was to take a southern route to the West Coast, visit my brother-in-law, and return via the north. We’d been on the road approximately two hours when the motor began to miss. Another omen?
We replaced a fuel filter in Kingman, Kan., but were told that the gas tank had “gunk” in it, so that was a temporary fix, the first of several. It somehow affected the cruise control and air conditioner; we couldn’t use either. Can you imagine riding through the desert heat with the windows down? Driving up mountains, we would lose speed. Trucks pulling triple loads passed us. It gave new meaning to bumper stickers that say, “I’m pedaling as fast as I can.”
Nevertheless, we managed to visit Old Town Albuquerque in New Mexico, the Continental Divide, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and the glitzy Vegas strip. In Southern California we spent a day each at the beach, Universal Studios, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and Tijuana, Mexico, where we lost our grown son.
That’s right! We had walked across the border, as we always do, became separated, and nearly panicked. When our son didn’t show up at the RV, his 16-year-old son, my brother-in-law, and I went back to Tijuana, where we walked around looking and then visited the police station. The police were concerned, too, and checked with hospitals, but no David. We learned that Tijuana at night is a whole different world from its daytime tourist facade.
We reluctantly headed back to the motor home, only to learn that the border had been closed because of a bomb threat. It was reopened an hour later, and there was David, waiting for us. He had arrived back at the RV within minutes after we left to look for him. We were so happy to see him that we forgot to be mad.
Then it was on to San Francisco, the Redwood Forest, Yellowstone in Wyoming, Mt. Rushmore, the Chief Crazy Horse monument, the Bear Country wildlife park, and the Corn Palace in South Dakota before heading home. All told, we toured 15 states.
Our only other major mishap was leaving our 10-year-old grandson at a gas station. Yes, that really happens! Fortunately, we’d only gone down the street for lunch when we realized he was missing. He learned a valuable lesson, as did we all. He still intrigues listeners when he tells the tale about when his grandparents abandoned him in Idaho.
It was a trip we’ll never forget. This year, the other half of the family gets a turn. My husband thinks he might stay home and let the rest of us go.
Joann Williams is a paralegal in Overland Park and a former health care lobbyist.
By Don Carter
Segment one of this series itemized conditions necessary for an existing home to qualify for accessibility upgrades. Assuming your home meets those requirements, the first issue to be addressed is mobility and transportation.
A homeowner with disabilities will want to go from bed to bath, inside to outside, and into the various rooms of the house. Wheelchair access provides much of this, but bathing and out-of-chair transfer can present physical and logistical challenges. Although there are varying degrees of immobility, items below address solutions for high and low limitations.
Monorail transport
This feature can be pivotal to staying at home, because it allows a single caregiver to lift and transport a fully immobile patient of any size, anywhere in the house. The system uses an overhead rail installed at ceiling level. Rails can be added to as many rooms as desired and, since they are well-finished, they do not appreciably change the look of a home. The rail comes with a small electric trolley hoist to service each room and all designated transfer points. Hand controls on the end of a drop line are intuitive and easy to use.
Let’s say a wheelchair patient is in the living room and wishes to retire for the evening. He uses the chair to go to the bedside, then uses the overhead hoist to transfer out of the chair and into bed via a harness or sling-type seat. All lifting and rotation is done by the hoist. In a similar manner, the hoist can move him from the bed to the toilet, toilet to shower, etc.
Since all doors have header beams at the top, each room must use a separate rail and trolley hoist. Ceiling joists will need to be upgraded for unplanned loads, but this is typically not an insurmountable issue.
Curbless showers
Many existing homes have a bathroom tub/shower combination that permits standing for a shower or sitting for a tub bath. Climbing in and out of this type of enclosure requires stepping over a 15-inch high barrier, a potentially difficult or impossible task for a mobility-limited occupant.
Even homes with stand-alone showers have a curb height of about 6 inches, and generally no place to sit in the shower. A curbless shower offers easy access to safe and independent bathing. Features include a low-threshold or no-threshold entry, permitting easy access with a walker or chair. Showers include a built-in seat, hose-end shower head, and strategically placed grab bars. These showers don’t need much more room than a conventional unit, but required minimum dimensions must be met.
For additional information on curbless showers, contact the Center for Universal Design, College of Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. (www.design.ncsu.edu/cud).
Don Carter is a licensed structural engineer and managing general partner of Foundation Engineering Specialists LLC, a company specializing in residential design and assessments: don@fdnengineering.com.
By Matt Bunch
Many gardeners know the joy of propagating plants from seed. Vegetables, for example, are great for reproducing from tiny seeds sown earlier in the year. Marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, and Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia sp.) are all excellent annuals that do well from seed. But what about the plants that don’t seem to go to seed or germinate well from seed, or those that take many years to reach maturity? Many of these can be propagated by division or by cuttings.
For the past three years, my wife and I have had wonderful hanging baskets that adorn our front porch. They feature lantana, geranium, and nierembergia, and are true hummingbird magnets. Each winter we take them to the basement, supply minimal light, and leave them to over-winter. By early spring, the plants are lanky and in need of a trim. These trimmings will provide new plants for other hanging baskets and window boxes for the summer.
Geraniums are perhaps one of the easier plants to root; just cut off a stem and stick it in soil. The others need the aid of a rooting hormone (a liquid or powder that provides essential nutrients) and a fungicide. Willow water (stem cuttings of willow soaked in water) works as a rooting hormone but not a fungicide.
Once the plants are cut and dipped in the hormone, they are placed in a potting mix or perlite and covered with a plastic dome to increase humidity. Within a couple of weeks, the new cuttings should have roots, and by May they will be ready to plant.
The same technique can be used for many perennial species. Lots of mint species (Lamiacea) root easily from cuttings; lavender, rosemary, mint, mountain mint, and bee balm are just a few.
When it comes to perennials, many people are familiar with division—probably the best way to fill the yard with plants and share with neighbors. Many perennials divide easily and should be divided in the fall or early spring. Those include hostas, echinacea, liatris, rudbeckia, goldenrod, asters, Solomon’s seal, and phlox.
There are exceptions, however. Daylilies, which are flowering now, should be divided after they are through blooming to ensure a good bloom for next season. And ornamental grasses should not be divided in the fall. Even planting ornamental grasses in the fall is not recommended, as they need time to establish roots before winter. And don’t try dividing baptisia; it won’t work.
As far as trees and shrubs are concerned, a few species root well from cuttings. Hydrangeas, especially the wild hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens, root easily from cuttings with rooting hormone. The cultivar “Annabelle” was discovered in the wild, cuttings were taken by a nursery employee, and now it is an old standby in many shade gardens.
Other species will root, but with certain caveats—softwood cuttings, new growth that is still soft; hardwood cuttings, new growth that is starting to get woody; and constant misting. This kind of propagation is normally left to the professionals, much like grafting (an art and science, and the way many commercial trees are raised).
Another way to root some woody species is by layering, a process of putting soil over a branch and waiting for roots to establish where the branch is in contact with the soil. Once the roots are established, the branch is cut off, dug out, and planted.
While all this may seem like too much trouble for a tree or shrub, it may be the quickest and only way to propagate some species, especially one with desired traits or historical or emotional significance.
And don’t forget the old jar-of-water trick that has spawned many a sweet potato ivy and philodendron. So save your seeds, pull your weeds, root your cuttings, and keep on growing. For more information on woody plant propagation, consult Michael Dirr’s Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
Matt Bunch is a Kansas-certified arborist employed by PowellGardens as a horticulturist for the DiscoveryCenter.