The Day The Good Guys Won!

Rochester, Indiana

Methamphetamine (Meth) shatters the lives of everything it touches; the addict, meth cook, and  the children living in the homes where this is made. Eighty percent of  children in the state of Indiana in protective services such as foster care are there because a parent or parents is involved with meth.  It's alarming to know Indiana has the highest incidences of meth labs in the U.S. In this small town 32 labs were found in 2013  and it has cost  the tax payers at least  $40,000 to clean up each of these sites and that is just the beginning. Some citizens of Fulton County in Rochester Indiana had seen enough and decided to take action.

Pharmacists and legislators join together  implement a bill to reduce meth labs in Indiana

Click Here for the bill signing video of Governor Pence's visit to Webb's Family Pharmacy 

My brother introducing Governor Pence

A concerned citizen in Rochester (population 6100) named Val Pemberton approached my brother Harry, a local pharmacy owner, about a year ago.  He asked him to do something about it NOW!  My brother was well aware how Sudafed was being used as one of the key components in the manufacture of meth and was careful about the sales of this product. Unfortunately, the other pharmacies in this town were not. Something needed to be done to have all pharmacies unite to stop the sale of Sudafed to smurfs. Val was sure my brother could figure out a way to make this happen.

The concerned citizen who started the process - Val Pemberton

Smurfs are people who are hired by meth cookers to obtain Sudafed at pharmacies. It is one of the key ingredients needed to make a batch. The sales are tracked in a federal database, however, this was not deterring the sales very much. Once a smurf was able to purchase some of this product, news would quickly be passed onto others. My brother said a pharmacy could then expect a steady stream of smurfs purchasing it until the supply ran out. In Rochester it was not unusual in the past to see monthly sales of 700 boxes. My brothers pharmacy only sold 15 of them. Think about this for a moment - pharmacies were profiting off the backs of their citizens. Shame on them. It is thought that only about 20% these sales were being used for legitimate purposes such has a sinus headaches or colds. 

Media

A Fulton County Citizen Action Committee was formed and with a lot of persistence an ordinance was passed in Fulton County to restrict sales of Sudafed to smurfs. This initiative successfully reduced the sales by 50%. With these promising statistics of how it could work the committee approached Randy Head an Indiana Senator.  They gained his key support for a bill modeling what was being done in Rochester. My brother and others testified in the House and Senate and it later was passed and became a law in Indiana. There certainly was a lot of resistance from drug companies and chain stores. But the "good guys" won and it will be implemented in July 2016. Amazing!

Governor Pence signing the bill 

Yesterday Governor Pence came to my brothers pharmacy and ceremoniously signed the bill. There was lots of excitement in the air with legislators, committee members, pharmacists, media, police, and towns people present. It was a really great accomplishment for this small town to have made such a difference and everyone was so elated the bill had became a law..This little town had helped draft a bill which will hopefully curb a big problem. Words cannot express adequately how proud I am of my brother! It's been quite a journey. 

Fulton County Citizen Action Committee

Senator Randy Head and Representative Ben Smaltz received special recognition from the Fulton County Action Committee

Local elected officials and the Governor Pence

John and I have been following this effort almost from the beginning. We came here today to be a part of something really special. It was a great moment!  Congratulations to all on a job well done and for stepping up and making a difference.

If you are interested in this process and the action plan click here  Feel free to share with your legislators and pharmacies.  

Cruising the Caribbean on the Vision of the Seas

Caribbean (76 degrees, blue skies, slight trade winds)

Sit back and relax as you read this blog today. Maybe fix yourself a cocktail and if you listen really closely you might even hear the steel drums playing. Come along and visit four ports of call and even go scuba diving. Bon Voyage!

We spent seven wonderful days cruising the Caribbean on Vision of the Seas with  Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. John's daughter, Jen, joined us along with our friends Debbie and Dave from Indiana. Debbie and I used to work together in the fiance department for a hospital in Indianapolis. 

We had such a great time and it even exceeded our expectations. It is such a worry free vacation and the ports of call and excursions we took were outstanding. 

Vision of the Seas

Our ship was a medium size one with about 2100 passengers. Our cruise director and assistant really added to the fun and the pool side games and comedy shows in the evening were very entertaining. They even had acrobat acts in the main lounge. Our Captain was very present throughout the cruise and sang in one of the varsity shows and played competed  water volleyball. 

Our ship left out of Tampa and it made for a very picturesque beginning. Jen lives in St. Petersburg now and loves being in this area. It sure beats the cold and gray skies of Indiana. 

Tampa (leaving the port)

Vision of the Seas

Royal Caribbean

Cruise Ship Photos

Our first port of call was a pretty island called Roatan off the coast of Honduras. Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle by the pool on the first day and did not go on the island. However, the rest of our group did a fun and exhilarating zip line tour. They flew high above the tree tops with 19 stops along the way. 

Honduras

Honduras

The next port of call was Belize City. Belize is a beautiful country filled with very friendly people. Be sure to take a tour at this port. Belize City is really not a place to hang out but there is much to see once leaving the port. We decided to go on a trip to see Lamanai Mayan Ruins. It's an all day excursion but instead of being in a bus forever you are taken on a delightful river cruise to the ruins. This was our favorite tour and we saw some really cool birds and howler monkeys too. The guide who took us on a two mile walk around the extensive site was very knowledgeable. I was surprise how very little of this vast site has been excavated. It may be just too expensive to accomplish. 

Belize

Lamanai Mayan Ruins

Our third port was in a village recently developed for the cruise industry. It once was a sleepy fishing village but now has a very modern port with large swimming pools, dolphins, and restaurants once you get off the ship.

We planned a Segway tour and really had a great time. We have tried this before in Florida but were impressed with how long we got to use the Segways. Our guides were  also  very safety oriented. It is really easy to use a Segway and the streets were in good shape and easy to navigate. Eventually we drove along the prettiest stretch of beach and stopped for lunch. Our tour included a cab ride back to the ship and the use of a beach area.

Costa Maya

Segway tour

Cozumel was our last stop. This is no longer the sleepy little island I remember from visiting many years ago. It is now very bustling with lots of restaurants, duty free shops, and lots of hotels. We went on a boat ride called the Twister and it really lived up to its name. The boat travels at a high rate of speed along the coast and suddenly the driver will turn the boat through a sudden 180 degree turn which end up spraying you with water...large amounts. Wow!  We all loved it and begged the driver to repeat it again and again. This tour also stopped at a large private island for several hours. We enjoyed a nice lunch and open bar and then returned to ship by the Twister again which made one last spin right beside our ship. Cool Beans!

Cozumel

Twister Boat Ride and Private Island

There were two formal nights on our cruise. John rented a tuxedo from the cruise line and looked so handsome in it. There are photographers all over the ship and we choose a few pictures to remember the very special evenings. 

Formal Night

Recently Jen was certified for scuba diving. At two ports she went diving and loved every mintue of it. She used a go pro camera to capture these images. What a wonderful underwater world lucks below the surface.

Scuba Diving

Walking Plant

Sea Turtle

I hoped you enjoyed going along with us at least vicariously. This last picture is of beautiful beach in Costa Maya. It was a wonderful cruise made more special by sharing it with Jen and our friends Debbie and Dave. We hope to go again soon.

Costa May

Fun In The Florida Sun

Tampa,Florida (72 degrees, clear blue ski, perfect)

Crystal Springs 

We have been having the best of time in Florida over the past few weeks. There is a mass exodus of RVers now heading north, but in our opinion this is the one of the best times to visit. The weather is beautiful and everything is less crowed. We were able to confirm last minute reservations at several of our favorite campgrounds too.

Mermaids

We even saw Mermaids (at Weeki Wachee State Park). It is a delightful show which is offered about five times a day. This underwater show is held in a large fresh water spring and the it takes about a year before a mermaid can perform in the show. It was a little piece of Americana. The first show was held in 1946.

Weeki Watchee Mermai

Kayaking

Rainbow Springs (Diana and John)

Rainbow Springs (Pat and John)

We met up with our friends Diana and Pat at Rainbow Springs. It is a beautiful State Park campground with full hook up and an easy kayak launch out to the pretty springs. The weather did not cooperate very well but we managed to get in two nice paddle trips watching the weather closely. The campground is also close to Crystal River and Homosassa  for more kayak opportunities where you can meander through crystal clear water and maybe see a manatee. We saw two!

Crystal River - 

Interesting house boat on Crystal River

We also made a visit to see John's daughter who lives in St. Petersburg and it's great to be so nearby at MacDill AFB campground. It's a military campground in Tampa where we have stayed several times. It had a big renovation, mostly electrical this winter. We like it here a lot and seeing Jen is priceless.

She took us with her friend Kari on a magical paddle trip which went through several mangrove tunnels. There is a water trail at Weedom Island Preserve.which weaves  four miles around islands in Tampa Bay. Be sure to look at a tide chart before going because most of the trail is very shallow. It's a gem. We saw lots of birds and the launch site is very nice with an area to wash off your kayaks afterwards. Sweet!

Weaving through a mangrove tunnel in Weedom Preserve 

Jen loves looking for shells 

Kari paddling through a tunnel

Birding

Fran, Randy, and John checking out a mud flat to see who might be hanging out

Birding is always fun and we had a nice visit with our friends Fran and Randy at Myakka State Park. They are the best birders and it always amazes me to see how well they spot and identify birds. They introduced us to this hobby a few years ago. 

Loggerhead Shrike

Indigo Bunting

Camping

We liked staying at Myakka State Park. However, be sure to confirm a site in the new area. The sites are large and nicely landscaped with full hook ups. The older sites can be very muddy and difficult to navigate in a big rig. We especially liked the Canopy Walkway and Tower and the ranger led air boat tour. Cell signal is minimal at best.

Beautiful canopy trail

We also stayed at two Corp of Engineer Parks (W.P. Franklin and Ortona South) and spent an evening talking to some "lock hoppers". These campgrounds are very reasonable with a senior or access pass and cost only $15/night for water and electric. Most of the sites overlook the water, well spaced, and nicely maintained. The lock hoppers spend the winter moving back and forth every 14 days between the parks. Reservations need to be made well in advance  but it is a super deal for southern Florida. We like watching the boats go through the locks and so appreciate the peace and quiet. Being able to have a fire at night with stars overhead is nice indeed. 

Paddle boat going through the lock

Our site at W.P Franklin

Friends

Randy and Fran with John

Over the past few weeks we met up  with many of our friends  and the time together was great. Until we meet again...happy trails to you!

We will be here for a couple more weeks and will soon be going on a cruise with John's daughter. Life is good!

Karen and Al and Diana and Pat and friends