Bailey & Nic



A busy February 2014

February ….Sat., the 1st - Doug and I made a quick trip to Dad's to say goodbye & a stop at the Italian place. We left for our trip to Gold Canyon around 10am. We had an uneventful 2.... mile drive to Gold Canyon. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there, Canyon Vista RV resort is a very nice park with very large sites. We had a beautiful view of the Superstition Mtns. While there we drove to north Phoenix with Doug/Fran to pick up Angie Hebblemen's motorcycle, spent a portion of a couple of days working on 'work stuff', used the exercise facility and toured the modular homes (Superstition Views) area that was attached to the park. Most of the homes had a very large deck on the rooftop. They were very nice – only downside is that you don't own the land and have to pay a pretty good monthly fee. You do get the use of very nice facilities however! We took a drive to Tortilla Flats, north and east of us. We enjoyed the scenery on the way and ended up in the touristy little town (actually a few buildings). We did enjoyed some live music while there. On the return trip we stopped at Goldfield, an old mining town. From there it was a stop at Filly's Roadhouse for a beer and App. Doug/Fran went to Yuma on Wed. and then a bike trip with friends to Mexico and back on Fri. We drove to Bill/Gloria's park (Mesa Spirit) on Wed. We had dinner with them. On Thur. we drove back into Mesa to the WinCo. Friday Bill/Gloria visited our park and we toured the modular homes again!

Sat., the 8^th we took 75 miles of back roads with the RV's to Casa Grande RV Resort. This was one of our membership parks that was sold and fixed up. It's nice but we decided we like the park in Gold Canyon better! Sat. evening we got a call from Carla telling us that Dad had fallen twice and they called the ambulance. When it was all said in done they determined nothing was really wrong, he scrapped and bruised his arm and face pretty good. He was released around 11pm. Doug and I drove to Lake Havasu to see him on Sunday. We overnighted and came back on Monday. I think Dad now realizes that he just can't drink much alcohol anymore. It affects him much more after the stoke and with the medications. He seemed to be doing much better. He continues to go to physical therapy 3 times a week.

Doug had some issues with this bike on the trip back from Mexico so he had the wheel bearing replaced while in Casa Grande. Fran and I shopped the Goodwill/Salvation Army one day and tried out a Zumba class at the park. I also attended a couple of other exercise classes. Mike used the exercise room.

Friday the 14^th we flew out of Phoenix to Houston to meet up with Brandon, Micheala and families (the first time we have all been together at once since all grandkids were born. Last gathering was 14 yrs ago). We attended a memorial service for their Mom, Claudia who passed away suddenly in January. We stayed with Mike & Hope Enriquez (Kat's parents). We had a wonderful time visiting. Roger & Karen and their families also attended to the service so we were able to visit with them as well. We even got a bunch of family pictures taken!!!!

Sunday we flew back to Phoenix. The 1230p flight was full but we made the next one. We got back to the Motorhome around 530p.

The last week of Feb...Dixie worked on Mon/Tue, we went to the gym, did laundry, shopping and packed. On Thur afternoon we packed up our frig/freezer stuff and took it to the office for storage in their coolers. Friday at 700a we put the MH in storage at the park and headed to the PHX airport. We left on a flight to Fayetteville via Washington Dulles. The flight to IAD was pretty open but the flight out of IAD filled up. We almost got left behind, there was a weight restriction and when we asked about our bags we realized the agent forgot about us. We got on at the last minute and arrived at FAY at 645p. We had a wonderful Spaghetti dinner with Brandon, Kat and Nic.

On Sat. the 22^nd we got our temp. ID for Ft. Bragg, groceries and set up for our week stay with Nic (a freshman). On Sun. Brandon and Kat left for RDU where they flew to Kansas to Ft. Leavenworth for Army training classes. Kat will be back on Sat and Brandon 3 weeks later.

Our week with Nic went very well. He is pretty much self sufficient.... he gets himself up at 530a , leaves the house at 615a and doesn't return home until 7pm - I just had dinner ready for him when he got home and helped a bit with studying for tests. Monday we did a little shopping, Tuesday Nic was sick so he stayed home from school. Wednesday & Friday we picked Nic up from school and took him to track practice – he had to take a test after school due to his sick day. Thursday we drove to Southern Pines where we walked around the historic district and had lunch at the Downtown Grill. We then drove to Pinehurst and then back home. Friday Bailey came home from college in Charlotte. The four of us went to dinner that evening at their favorite restaurant, Miyabi's.

March 1 - Nic had school on Sat. due to all the snow days they have had this year. Bailey took us to the airport at 830a, which turned out to be the start of a very long day. The afternoon flight to IAD was full so we opted for the 10am one. We arrived at IAD around 1130 and our scheduled departure flight to PHX wasn't scheduled until 530p so we knew we had a wait. However, once we arrived we found that it was delayed until 7p due to late equipment from SFO (caused from the rain in CA). We hung out in the club – we checked flights, read, checked flights, watched a TV show on the computer and checked flights some more. It was overbooked and kept fluctuating. We went to get a Subway around 6p and then headed to the gate. The delay kept growing, then we did a gate change and waited some more. Finally around 8p we got the last 2 seats and boarded. Once on board and ready to go at 845p, the Capt announced we had a maintenance problem. We finally pushed back from the gate around 915p with a 5 hours flight ahead of us – separated and in middle seats of course! We arrived in PHX at 1215a local time. It was almost 'same day air service'! We then had to wait for our bags that were checked at the gate. We lucked out and didn't have to wait for the shuttle to the parking lot – it was there when we walked out the door. We were on the road at 1am and arrived back to the motorhome at 2am. It was in storage so we just snuck in quietly and crawled into bed – 22 hrs after we got up!

 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.

 

Christmas Eve 2013 ~ Lexi, Doug and Fran in the background

Merry Christmas 2013!

December 16 – 31...We went to dinner with Dad a Shagrue's on the water the first nigh we were here. The next day the park maint. checked out the power and didn't see anything wrong. Our power cord is pulling away from the connector so that may be causing a problem. We bought a replacement end and Doug replaced it while they were here. Dixie worked off and on the medical billing. We attended the movie American Hustle...it was ok but wouldn't recommend it.   Dixie cooked several meals at Dad or here for the 3 of us.

Bill & Gloria arrived in the park on the 16^th and stayed until the 27^th. Doug & Fran arrived on the 20^th for a quick overnight before heading to La Quinta to stay in Ross's condo for 2 ½ weeks. That night we all went to the Eagles for shrimp/fish.

Dad, Mike & I attended church at the Islander on the 22^nd, went to IHop and then to the swap meet. 
 

On the 24^th Doug, Fran, Danny & Lexi came for Christmas. Bill & Gloria bought broasted chicken from Scotty's for our dinner. I made potato salad and dessert....mummmm good! Christmas dinner was a combo....I cooked the Ham, rolls, salad, pie, Gloria brought Turkey, potatoes, stuffing & gravy and Fran rounded it off with brussel sprouts,deviled eggs, a pie and wine! We had a grand time eating and visiting. Some of us were even able to eat outside! Danny & Lexi had to go back but Doug & Fran stayed until Friday. They were having a motorcycle seat recovered and bike pinstriped so they had to meet with the workers. 
 

On the 29^th we were ready to go to church but Dad called and said he was unable to raise his right arm. He had complained that his shoulder was hurting a couple of days before but now he could not raise it. It is the side of the stroke so we went over and checked him out and decided we should go to the emergency room instead. We were there for 2 hrs where they did a head CT Scan and right shoulder xray. Process of elimination they felt he may have a torn rotator cuff. We are to follow up with the ortho doctor. He had the rotator cuff on the left shoulder repaired in March! Of course we were unable to get an appointment to see the ortho doctor until Jan 6^th.
 

On the 30^th we went with Dad to Cafe Serrano for a Mexican dinner.
 

On New Years Eve day we drove to Quartzsite and stayed overnight with Bob & Cheryl. We had a party with them and another two couples we know (Rick/Judy & Jim/Linda). We had fun and were in bed by 1030p....we made it to New Years in New York!!!

Kinda glad this year is over. We are praying for a better year in 2014.