Balloon Fest

Sunset over Lake Havasu

 Angry Birds Balloon

 Mike inside a balloon

Humpty Dumpty at night 'glowing'

More from Lake Havasu City!

January 2014

1st ....On our drive back from Quartzsite we stopped to check out 2 state parks out of Parker. We also made a Walmart stop in Parker.

Fat and MaryLou Dugan arrived on the 1^st. We had them over to Dad's for dinner on the 2^nd and again for pizza on the 4^th.
We to church on the 5^th with the Dugan's and then out to breakfast at Papa Bears.
Also that evening Jack and Carla arrived. We all went to Dugans for a sandwich and a visit.
6^th ...I took Dad to Dr. Wintory, the ortho guy. He thought that the problems was a torn rotator cuff. Since that shoulder was replaced 5 years ago they are unable to do an MRI. They will inject it with dye and then do an arthroscope on the 10^th.
7th ...Doug & Fran came and overnighted with us. They left one of their motorcycles at Jack and Carla's. We all visited with them that evening. Doug & Fran took the trailer with the other motorcycle to Yuma on the 8^th.
9th ...Dad went with us for a drive to Parker where we met Doug & Fran for lunch. They are headed home for 3 weeks and will bring the RV back with them the end of Jan.
10^th ...I took Dad back for the test and then we saw the surgeon. Best he could tell from the arthroscope the shoulder tendons/muscles are torn. The options he gave was to 1) do nothing and live with not using the shoulder and 2) have surgery to try and repair it. If he wanted the surgery it needed to be done as soon as possible which left out the option for doing it back home. He opted to try the surgery. The doc said he would scope it to see the damage and then determine while in there if it can be repaired. Fortunately he had a cancellation for Jan 20^th. From there we went to the lab for his surgery blood work. He has not been a 'happy camper'. He has pain in the shoulder and is not happy about having additional help. ….very hard to please at times! Lord give me patience!!!! We will made some plan adjustments to be here during and after surgery.
12^th ...we attended church with the 'group'. Dad went to breakfast with the others but we came home. That evening I made dinner at Dads. Sonja, a friend of Dads that lives in the park also came to dinner. She does volunteer Home Health Care. We talked about hiring her to help Dad get to /from therapy and to check in on him for the month of Feb. while we are in the Phoenix area with Doug & Fran.
13^th ...we went to the movie “Saving Mr. Banks”. Dad went as well. It was also time for grocery shopping.
14^th ...Dad's pre-0p appointment.
15^th ...move day.....First we had to get propane and make a stop to get the oil changed in our generator. We moved to Lake Havasu Resort on London Bridge road...a Coast to Coast Park. We can stay here for a week. In the afternoon I took Dad to see another doctor to have an EKG for surgery clearance.

The Balloon Fest was in town the 17th-20th. We went out the first morning and watch several balloons inflate and go up. It was a beautiful site. This was a first for us and we really enjoyed it. That afternoon we went to the movie 'Lone Survivor'. Mike had read the book and really wanted to see the movie...it was hard to watch but very well done. After the movie we met Dad/Sonya, Jack/Carla & Fat/MaryLou at the Eagles for dinner. While there we ran into Elaine and visited for a short time.

18^th ...Dad called and seemed to be having some kind of spell...he wasn't making a lot of sense and wasn't understanding what I was saying. We rushed over there and he was still having problems...said he couldn't run the microwave and that really bothered him. He knew something was going on. A similar thing happened the Thur. before when he was at Sonja's. When discussing it with the surgeon prior to his surgery, he felt it could have been a TIA (a mini stroke).
19^Th ...we went to Church and then brunch with Van Voasts and Dugans. We took some dinner to Dad and that evening we went back to the Balloon Fest to watch the 'night glow'. That was sooo cool. The balloons were all on the field and when they would give it propane the fire would light up the balloon. They did several routines where they all 'glowed' at the same time. 
20^th ...we were scheduled to arrive for Dad's surgery at 1245p. Well when all was said and done he was not taken into surgery until after 430p. The doctor found that is was NOT a torn rotator cuff. He did remove some bone spur and arthritis but felt the problem of not raising his arm was most likely neurological. Also that the muscles in the arm had deteriorated. We finally got back home at 9pm. I stayed overnight with Dad.
21^st ...(my birthday) I spent the day with Dad. I made a pecan pie and rolls for him and did laundry. Also did charges for Fran. That evening Mike & I went to Angelina's Italian restaurant for my Birthday dinner.
22^nd.... Dad had an appointment to have the dressing changed and then his initial physical therapy appointment. After all that we headed to Quartzsite with the RV. We parked in the desert about 3 miles north of town at the 'High Jolly' BLM area.
23^rd ...we went to the RV show and then that evening visited with our friends from CA, Glenn & Henrietta. I also cut Henrietta's hair. We decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Winegard HD satellite dish for the roof of the motorhome. It works similar to the King Dome in that you just push and button and the dish comes up and finds the satellite automatically....it just isn't in a dome as they are too big. The KEY is we now will get HD programing The company is Satellite Advantage out of Quartzsite and they told us if we paid cash we could get out of paying sales tax, which saved us $180.
24^th ...I went to the 'Gem Show' and wondered around a bit. In the afternoon we went to Bob & Cheryl's for dinner and a couple of games of cards.
25^th ...we wondered around the other vendors in Quartzite and back through the RV show. Had a beer at Beer Belly's near the RV show and listened to the music.
Sunday the 26^th ...we had to have the motorhome in for the sat dish installation at 8am. We went across the street to LaMesa and looked at some used motorhomes to kill time. Finally around 1pm we were on the road headed back to Quartzite, this time to Campbell Cove Rv. Our spot this year was very tight (did I say TIGHT)....the smallest space we have ever parked in. You pull straight in and are about 2feet from the RV in front of you and our slide was about 18in away from the neighbors slide. Kinda felt like being in a sardine can! Won't do that again...most storage spaces have more room than that. Oh well it is only for 6 nights. We went to Dad's that night and cooked some fish that the neighbor gave him.
27^th ...I took Dad to therapy and also did some grocery shopping. Later we took dinner over and Sonja joined us. Prior to dinner we all stopped and visited with Jack & Carla.
28^th ... we stayed home and go caught up on computer/paper work. I also did charges for Fran.
29^th ...I went early to Dad's to do his and our laundry. Therapy today was at 4p. afterwards we went to Denny's for dinner.
30^th …. therapy was canceled. We had a Happy Hour gathering at Dad's with Roger & Val Golden, Jack & Carla and Sonja.   
31st ...was a trip to Walmart and then Dad's Post Op doctor appointment at 145p. All is good at the doctor but he told Dad's that he needed to exercise that arm every day for the rest of his life. He will continue to have therapy for 6 weeks. After the appointment we went to Lake Havasu State Park to pick up Doug & Fran. They are overnighting there in the overflow area. We went to the Beachcomber where they picked up the motorcycle. We went to the Eagles for dinner. It was quite busy! Tomorrow we leave Lake Havasu and head to Gold Canyon which is east of Mesa.