Rick, Ross, Brandy, Hershey, Lucky, & Anastasia's 2007, IL. TRIP

Well, considering there is a very, very, very long history about this particular trip, I feel the first post should describe all that that entails, so the following is just that...

This is a trip that Rick and I have been planning ever since 2004!  We made those plans a reality when we bought our first RV in March, 2006!  We first planned to drive back to IL., to visit my side of the family/friends, for June, 2006.  However, due to many changes and situations with Rick's job, we could not go back then.  Well, Rick got a new job, so the next dates available were August, 2006, but that was too soon for Rick, with his new responsibilities & whatnot, so we then just decided to create new-new "tentative/flexible" travel dates, which were between the months of:  February, 2007 -to- June, 2007.  Feb., March, and April of 2007 didn't work out too well for either of us, mostly because I was auditioning a lot, and Rick was just getting settled into his new job, therefore, we finally settled on May 5, 2007.  Grandma Burton had had Heart-Failure in late April, so she was hospitalized, and because of that, I almost had to fly back to visit, which would have cancelled the May trip!  However, something else took care of that when we took our cat, Anastasia, in to see the Vet. for some kitty-Valium.  Upon her yearly routine check-up, the Dr. found a lump in her breast, and so she ran tests, & etc.  Well, right when we're packed and all organized to go, we found out that Anastasia had life-threatening breast-cancer.  Obviously, we could not leave on May 5th, because we had to get Anastasia treated.  Anastasia had surgery on May 8th, and that did seem to help her a little bit, but my poor baby just wasn't the same after her diagnosis.  The cancer hit her hard, and acted FAST!-(which is a good in a certain way, I guess?)...Anyway, at that point, Rick and I weren't 100% sure what to reschedule our travel dates for next, because of Anastasia, so we just went with the flow from there, with very losely based travel dates of "late June to mid-July, 2007".  I nursed Anastasia all throughout May, and could NOT even think about "celebrating" my 30th B-Day!!!-(& I LUV celebrating!)  However, one could say that I DID celebrate my B-Day by spending every single day with Anastasia during her last days left on this Earth, in physical form that is?...It was grand.  Then, the "black day" came on May 31st, 2007, when Anastasia died.  My baby died at 3:33am, & I held her close to me & cried & cried & cried & cried, as did Rick, and the whole family for that matter!  So, :sigh:, yeah, that was pretty tragick...to type the least! :*(  I miss her greatly, but I'm getting a little better.  ANYWAY, back to the trip, ...Um, after Anastasia's death, we rescheduled, repacked, and reorganized, etc.etc.etc., and made these solid Travel Dates for:  June 23, 2007 to July 8, 2007.  We finally made it, & it was worth every second!  I'm already looking forward to our next RV adventure, and all other future traveling, including a return trip to IL. too!-(& AZ., NM., OK., etc., as well!) Thanks for driving us on this trip Rick!  I will be able to drive more in the future! Thanks to all who helped make this trip even more enjoyable!  Love to ALL! *muahs* - r.xs

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"...& I don't need the light on, to guide me through this; I just go to her...".....

Love, Love, Love,

-r.xs