Ok, ok..I am givning in! I am on the prowl for either those birds or a couple of green singing finches. Jojo, you just made me realize how much I miss hearing the singing of birds in my home.lol It made winetr go by so much better than the dead silience in my home. I think I know who named those birds..lol. Such cute names that only a kid or two can come up with. I would love for you to raise them along side of us, all the way to the brood, hatchlings, and babies. I would love that Jojo since I have a thing for birds. Just love them and you have yourself such a beauty of a pair! Hi Al, Jodi, Josh, Jodik, and Laura! I missed all while I was sick.;-) Laura. I have been sooooooo sick and now that I have got better nergy, it's time to catch up onmy e-mail. I am sorry about the delay bust just know that I appreciate you and the rest of the bunch here. I am SO BLESSED to have such great friends as you all. Love you all! Mom, says to send a group hug to you all! Mike

All my gardenia plants have died after I moved to the mid-West. The soil seems to be poisonous to gardenia - possibly loaded with fatal fungus. My water is commercially softened - it is soft and alkaline - possibly loaded with unusual salts. All my gardenia screamed and dropped died within 1 year. One last branch tried to survive by clinging to a cool wall. But when I repotted it, it died. My fuchsia survived 2 years but it did not make it through the extreme hot summer. I also think there are something, salt or fungus, that helped the death of the beautiful fuchsia plant. People in South-east claim they are rough necks. Gee, they need to come to mid-West to see real rough necks. Are there success gardenia stories from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota? Or, is this a formidable land that Gardenia could not survive?

Good one Moni. I think I lived through them all. And the crinolines were so stiff they rubbed my legs raw. Leslie

Dear Kat_Wa: I am in agreement for the most part for the route that you have picked. The most unpredictable part is I-80 through Wyoming. This is an easy route when the roads are clear, and it is a main trucker's route between Chicago and the west coast. A major snowstorm can close this highway for several days. When a snowfall overwhelms Wyoming's plowing equipment, they close major highways. I-80 across Nebraska is flat and boring. If you pick up a stiff tail wind, you could coast all the way across. LOL. The remainder of the route from Lincoln, NE to Rio Grande, OH has no mountains or significat hills. major grades are caused by rolling landscape and dips into large river basins. You can handily avoid I-80 in the south side of Chicago and I advise you do so. I-80 south of Chicago and across the top Indiana is crowded with trucks and speeders. it can be a fast trip under good conditions, but can turn into a parking lot on short order. A jack-knifed truck 30 miles north of I-80 in Chicago can create a traffic backup that extends all the way back to the Illinois-Indiana border. The route that I would try is: 1. From Wasington State, take I-84 to Salt Lake City, UT. 2. At Salt Lake City, check the road conditions of I-80 through Wyoming. If open, ok, but if closed, either wait it out or find an alternate route across the Rockies. 3. I-80 east through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa crossing the Mississippi River at Davenport/Bettendorf. 4. Immediately after crossing the Mississippi river, take I-74 south to Galesburg, IL. 5. I-74 turns east at Galesburg. Continue on I-74 to Indianapolis, IN. 6. Change to I-70 east at Indianapolis to Dayton, OH. 7. At Dayton, change to US-36 / I-36 and follow this to Rio Grande, OH. About 50% of this part is interstate. Get a detailed map of Dayton and plan a route either around or through Dayton whichever is your preference. Without a navigator at your side, the non-thinking and easiest route is to stay on I-70, then South on I-675 to US-35. This route is east of Dayton and totally avoids the city, but adds about a 5 mile backtrack. More about Wyoming: Wyoming is a high plains state with part of the the rocky mountains passing through it. The lowest elevation in the state is about 3600 ft at its SE corner. The last time I was along I-80 (several years ago) I found motels at Rock Srings and Cheyenne. When you first enter the state, you may see a set of huge gate arms beside the road akin to a railroad crossing. These are for closing the road. Its too bad this is not a pleasure trip. You are passing nearby a number of historical locations. Rock Island Arsenal, IL - site of a Civil War prison. There is a cemetery on the Island holding a large number of Confederate Soldiers. Many soldiers died at this camp from disease. Small pox ran rampant. Prisoners were taken upstream to a limestone quarry and there they cut stone used to construct some of the early permanent buildings at the arsenal. At my last count, some of these building were still standing and in use. Galesburg, IL - Home of Robert Frost. He was born in a garage sized house. Monmouth, IL - Birthplace of Wyatt Erp. Dixon, IL - Boyhood home of Nixon. Black Hawk War 1832 - Many sites and many of these forgotten. This war began in Northern IL, then into Wisconsin and westward through WI to the Mississippi river at the confluence of the Bad Axe river where the final masacre of Black Hawk's band occured. President Lincoln mania - Although Abe Lincoln was not born in Illinois, he grew up in Illinois and spent his early adulthood in IL, and was largely self taught. he was a 23 yr old store clerk when the Black Hawk war broke out. Lincoln was a Captain for 1 month in that war. He was elected Captain by winning a wrestling match. However, he voluntered for more terms serving in a position similar to assistant quartermaster. Vincennes, IN The site of Fort Sackville, the place where the French surrendered to a tired, rag tag group of US explorers. The leader of the group produced a sham to trick the French into surrendering. He knew that he had little chance of winning an outright battle and had to cross the Big Wabash River to engage the enemy. So waht did he do? at nightfall, he spread out his men into a number of groups, possibly as many as ten. There were only a few men per group, but the opponent did not know this. Each group kept a campfire buring all night giving an impression that an army was encamped on the river. Early, the next morning before his ruse could be discovered, he crossed the river under a white flag and demanded the French to surrender. The French's main object was fur trade, not make battle so they complied. After the surrender, the French leader asked to see a show of the troops hidden on the other side of the river, and when he saw how few it were, he became angry, but he was already under guard. Illinois and Indiana high schools are noted for basketball, not football. Dayton, OH - Wright Brothers. Parke County, IN - has 30 covered bridges. These are not as picturesque as those in Vermont and New Hampshire, but this is a lagre collection for one county. Ohio has covered bridges also. Battelle Memorial Institute at Columbus, OH. This institute helped to develop the Xerox process and accepted shares in the fledging company for payment. Nauvoo, IL - The site of an early Mormon town. They were attacked and then decided to leave. This was the beginning of their mass migration to Salt Lake City, UT. When they left their homes, some did a complete abandonment by leaving their houses unlocked and the front doors open. Because of this persucation, there are two Oregon trails in Nebraska: the main trail on the south side of the Platte River and the Mormon trail on the north side of the river. They took the less traveled side of the river to avoid fights and unpleasant encounters.