Today's posting is brought to you from beautiful Barstow, California ... located in the high desert country of Southern California at the intersection of I-15 and I-40. We had an uneventful travel day yesterday as we completed our trip down California 99 to Bakersfield and then turned East on California 58.
The trip down to Bakersfield was through the San Joaquin Valley at about elevation 100 feet or so through thousands of acres of grapes, almonds, pistachios, oranges, and all other kinds of produce.
Once we turned East we quickly climbed to over 4,000 feet through the Tehachapi Mountains and then settled out at about 2,500 for the remainder of the trip across the desert to here in Barstow.
We plan on another long travel day today along I-40 to Williams, Arizona - the gateway to the Grand Canyon. We will have to climb to over 7,000 feet today - but I'm sure Winne is up to the task.
Since I don't have too much exciting to report in this mornings' posting I thought I would include a potpourri of pictures that have gone unposted these past several weeks as we completed our busy lives.
Like more pictures of those 2 young bucks that kept hanging around the Quiring RV Resort in Yreka ...
and how about Ernie's '55 Cameo! ...
and then there was Miss Scarlet Ohara showing off her new birthday Barbie ....
and playing with Aunt Terri's phone.
We even got to visit with niece Samantha at lunch.
Our time with Nan (on the right) and my Aunt Vallie were precious indeed and worth ever mile of the trip.
Good morning from Southern California ... See ya'll from Arizona tomorrow!
Peggy and I hitched up Winne yesterday and made the relatively short drive down CA Route 99 from Sacramento to Merced. We managed to navigate the maze of freeway interchanges in Sacramento without error and bumped and rattled our way down. Parts of CA 99 are newly paved but other parts are in real need of some investment. I wonder where all the California gas tax money goes these days?
We have traveled down to Merced and stayed nearby on a couple of other trips. On the first trip we stayed in Mariposa near Yosemite National Park since we wanted to visit there as well as visit with Peggy's sister Carol and her family. Last trip through here we stayed at the Merced River RV Park which was "OK" but certainly not a "wow" experience. There really aren't many options in this area but I did find one that sounded worth a try.
Atwater, CA is just north of Merced and was home to the Castle AFB which was a booming SAC base up until about 15 years ago when it was closed down. Although the locals have been trying to redevelop the base over these years it doesn't appear to me that they have had much success. There is a Castle Air Museum on a small plot of land near the old base which is run by a bunch of volunteers and it has a small RV park - so we thought we would give it a try. The RV Park consists of about 8 full hookup sites and several other sites where you can dry camp if you wish. We were able to pull in to one of the full hookup sites which offers water, sewer, and 50 Amp power for $25 a night. Oh yeah - the $25 also includes one free pass to the air museum! Not a bad deal for California! I think we are going to be hitting the road relatively early this morning - so I think the pass is going to go unused this time - but I think we might have to try and take advantage of the deal in the future. I believe they have a B-29 Superfortress, a B-52 Stratofortress, and a SR-71 Blackbird over there. Three pretty awesome airplanes!
Well it looks like our relative visiting is over. We spent a few hours visiting with Peggy's sister Carol and her family yesterday afternoon/evening and that finished our list of sisters. We have certainly had an interesting several weeks here on the left coast visiting with everybody - but it's time to start heading home. We love 'em all and part of us wishes we lived closer so we could visit more often. But then there is the part of us that wants to head back east and spend some time with our gang. California is a diverse place with some really pretty places to see and visit ... and we are blessed to have great sisters with fun families ... but there is no place like home.
So ... we plan on heading south this morning and we will probably settle for the evening near Barstow and then head East to Arizona tomorrow.
Only about 3,400 miles to go!
Our last day or so has been filled with food and fun visits. Dinner with Peggy's sister Vick on Wednesday night, Lunch with sister Terry on Thursday afternoon, lunch with sisters Terry and Robyn and their daughters (respectively) Samantha and Scarlet today and then a dinner out planned for this evening with Marcie's daughter Carin, her son Zach, and Carin's dad Pat. Fill that in with a couple of meals out on our own at Jimboys Tacos (my favorite tacos of all time) and we have pretty much been out for every afternoon and evening meal for 3 days! That Peggy really knows how to have a birthday celebration week!
We did take a few hours yesterday to go play tourist. We drove into downtown Sacramento, parked in a parking garage near the Capital, and then walked through the capital grounds to the "Golden State Museum." Neither of us had ever been to this museum before so we thought we would give it a try. The museum had a few interesting exhibits but all-in-all I would rate it pretty low on my fun museum list. I suppose if I were more supportive of left wing progressive politics I would have enjoyed it more ... but then again ... this is California after all.
We did enjoy our walks through the Capital grounds. California does have a very beautiful Capital building and the grounds are very nice as well. The last time I visited here was in 1968 when I was a bystander in the "Peoples Park" Protest Rally. Now that was a wild scene! Anybody out there know what/where the "Peoples Park" was? How about who was governor of California in those days?
We did have a special treat this morning. It seems that the Space Shuttle Endeavor is about to be put on display somewhere down in southern California and is in the process of being delivered. As a PR stunt NASA decided to waste some fuel and fly the Shuttle around the state first so lots of people could take a look at the shuttle mounted on top of its 747 mother ship. This morning around 10:00 AM the Endeavor, its mother ship, and a fighter escort made a couple of low passes over the Capital building and we got a pretty good view from here at the RV Park.
It was nice to see the sight ... but I can't help but wonder how many traffic accidents happened as folks pulled over on the freeways to get out their cell phones to snap a few pictures!?
Tomorrow we plan on hitting the road again with a planned destination of near Merced, CA. We still have one more of Peggy's sisters to look up and she happens to live down there.
And I suppose there will be one more "birthday" meal as well. This truly is a tough job - but I'm up to the challenge.
Peggy and I had a relatively quiet day yesterday. We had a nice slow start to the morning and enjoyed a nice breakfast of french toast and bacon right here inside Winne. After some long showers (We had to conserve grey tank space while in Minden) we jumped in the Vue and did something we had never done in 42 years of marriage ... we both got a haircut at the same place and at the same time! The "firsts" just keep on coming!
After that exciting experience we drove back up I-80 to Rocklin to visit Camping World and do a bit of shopping for Winne. We picked up a replacement filter for the drinking water spigot and also purchased a replacement cartridge for the outside "sediment" filter. I like to keep our fresh water system as "clean" as possible. It is also time to drain what water is in our fresh water holding tank and replace it with some "new" stuff. The city water supplied here isn't too bad so we'll put back in a few gallons for use while we're traveling.
Speaking of "firsts" ... yesterday was the BIG DAY. Yessiree ... my very first Old Age Insurance (Social Security) payment arrived in my checking account -- right on time. I'll have to give the Federal Government some credit. They may be paying me back with borrowed money -- but they pay on-time!
So - does this new status make me one of the 47% that Mitt Romney was talking about? You know - the 47% of the population that says they are going to vote for the incumbent president no matter what - because he supports their continued government payments? Nope - not me - my payment is simply a return of the $$ I (and my various employers) let the government use all these years while I was waiting to get "old." I believe there are a lot of folks who have become way too dependent on the various government agencies and programs to fund their lives and lifestyles - and yes, many of these folks will fight real hard to keep those "benefits" rolling in -- but I consider myself one of the 47% that simply want to live my life in peace and quiet with minimal interference from my government.
As for those "other" folks? I sure hope they don't vote!
Happy Birthday to Peggy! The love of my life turns early social security today ... yippee!
She started her birthday celebration last week when she got her new Nexus 7 and continued it last night when we had an early birthday celebration with Marcie, Don, and Nan. Peggy decided on Pizza for dinner so we topped off a Papa Murphy's pizza with some cupcakes and Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks Ice Cream. Yum-Yum.
We said our goodbyes in Minden this morning and set sail for points West. We have been with Marcie and Nan for over 6 weeks so it was certainly a sad goodbye ... but they need to move on to figure out their "new normal" and it was time for us to move on as well.
We left Minden around 10:00 or so driving north to Reno and I-80 ... and then turned West to make the trip up and over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Up to 7,000 feet and then down to just about sea level here in Sacramento. We settled in here at the Cal Expo RV Park and then we continued Peggy's birthday celebration with a trip to Red Lobster for dinner. It certainly wasn't as good as Captain Mike's in Brunswick, ME ... but it was pretty good nonetheless!
We plan on staying here in Sacto for at least 4 nights and we are hoping to visit, at least for a few hours, with 3 of Peggy's 4 sisters and families. We'll have to head further south here in the Golden State to visit with Carol ... the fourth sister. We also hope to be able to visit some more with Carin and Zach - Marcie's daughter and grandson who also live nearby.
So far we have arranged a dinner tomorrow night with sister Vickie ... so it looks like Peggy's birthday celebration will continue for at least one more night.
Yes indeed ... these Maineiacs are definitely back in Motion.
Well ... here it is Sunday night and we are still in Minden, NV. We have spent most of the last few days hanging around the Carson-Tahoe Hospital as we needed to take Nan in early Saturday morning when she awoke very disoriented and confused. Nan has a history of having had a few TIAs, more commonly referred to as mini strokes and we feared she was having another one. After spending most of the day yesterday in the emergency room undergoing a bunch of tests and more tests throughout today, it appears that she probably did not have another TIA but rather was having a very bad reaction to a Urinary Tract Infection. I learned that this type of reaction can be common in persons of Nan's age. Regardless ... she is doing much better now and she is back home resting comfortably.
We plan on staying here at least one more day to see how Nan is doing and then we may head on to California (again) on Tuesday.
We have been sorta dry camping this past week here at my sisters place near Minden. Winne has had a water hookup and a 15 Amp electrical connection but we have not dumped our grey tank in about a week and the black tank has gone several weeks. One priority for tomorrow is to travel down the road a-ways to the Silver City RV Resort to fill up on fuel and propane and dump Winne's tanks. The folks at Silver City will waive their normal $10 dump fee if you fill up on gas and propane ... so that deal sounds pretty good to me ... even if gasoline is right near $4.00 per gallon on credit and about $3.90 if we pay in cash. We might as well get our provisions here for the big trip over Donner Pass .... you all remember what happened to the Donner Party in the winter of 1846-47 ... right?
Our work here is just about done. We have spent the past several days helping Marcie and Don get their house better set up to help Nan and all of that seems to be well in place. Nan is continuing to improve slowly and is walking around the house with her walker (and support from others) more and more each day. She must be feeling better since she decided that she was taking us all out to a Chinese Buffet lunch the other day. So we got her in the car and off we went. I can't say it was the best buffet I ever had but it wasn't bad. We all ate our fill and Nan got out of the house for a couple hours ... all-in-all a very good thing!
Peggy and I traveled out to the local mall yesterday to pick up a few things that were needed around here and then stopped by Staples where we purchased her birthday present (although her birthday isn't until Tuesday). As we all know - Peggy claims to be technologically challenged. But I think it's all a ruse. She has been dropping hints all over the place that she wants techno stuff with apps. She's not quite sure what all the apps are, or what they do ... but she wants 'em anyway. Her new toy is a Nexus 7 tablet PC. The Nexus is a full function tablet with a 7" screen and uses the latest "Jelly Bean" Android operating system. If all that sounds strange to you ... well it should. What happened to simple concepts like version 3.0? Not those Android folks - they like names like "Jelly Bean" and "Ice Cream Sandwich." So now we have a new gadget to figure out. We have only played with it for a few hours and it mostly works like my iPad .. only different.
My sister Marcie's daughter Carin showed up last night having driven over from Sacramento for a weekend visit. We are looking forward to visiting with her here in Minden today and then again in Sacramento next week. Our plan is to leave Minden tomorrow and drive over the Sierras to Sacramento tomorrow for a few days of visiting with Peggy's sisters and families ... and with Carin and her son Zach.
After that? ..... well it looks like we will be heading south out of Sacramento to around the Yosemite National Park Area, then east to New Mexico, then maybe north to Colorado and Mesa Verde National Park, and then make our way over to I-70 east of Denver for the trip back east.
Our caregiver and caregiver support work here in the west appears to be winding down for the time being so it's time to be getting back home ... hopefully with a bit slower pace than the westward leg of this adventure.
The Maineiacs are on the road again! On Sunday we loaded up the Vue with a bunch of Nan's stuff, put some more of Nan's stuff in Winne, filled Nan's CRV with even more of Nan's stuff, said our goodbyes to Jamie and Ernie - proprietors of the Quiring RV Resort and Rehab Center, and hit the road back to the Silver State. My sister Marcie and Nan made the trip in Nan's CRV and Peggy and I led the way in Winne - towing the Vue behind us. We made the trip down I-5 and then across State Route 89 from Mt. Shasta, through my old hometown of McCloud, and then across State Route 44 and US 395 to Reno and then here south of Carson City to Minden, NV. We had a nice day weather wise for our travel day but we certainly noticed a lot of smoke in McCloud from a nearby fire.
Upon arrival here in Minden we moved in Nan - and all her stuff ... and then got Winne set up in Marcie and Don's dooryard. For all you folks "from away" (non Mainers) a "dooryard" is that area near the door you use most often to enter the house. Some folks "from away" might refer to the "driveway" as a dooryard ... and it could be ... but then again ... maybe not!
We spent most of the day today moving around a bunch of furniture to set up one of the bedrooms as "Nan's Room." We also received a hospital bed from a Medical Supply Company and got that set up. We have more to do tomorrow to finish setting up Nan's bedroom and I also have a ramp to build to make it easier to get Nan from one part of Marcie and Don's split level house to the other.
Peggy and my role here in Minden will be more of a moving and construction crew and less direct "caregiving." Getting a home ready to safely deal with an elderly patient with some physical disabilities is no easy task so there are plenty of opportunities to lend a helping hand.
Assuming all goes well these next few days - we are targeting continuing our trip sometime this weekend ... or maybe Monday. Hopefully by then we will have some clue what direction we will be heading!
By the way ... I noted today that we spent some 36 days in California and I never saw a drop of rain. In fact I don't think we have seen a drop of rain since we left Michigan back on July 26th! On the one hand - the weather has been great if you're a sun worshiper ... on the other hand I'm sure these folks would like to see at least a bit of rain pretty soon.
It looks like it's getting time to move on.
Sister Jamie had her knee doctor appointment on Tuesday and she appears to be progressing well. She still has a considerable ways to go before she will be back to normal but she continues to heal. She is becoming more and more self sufficient around the house and is getting pretty antsy ... wanting to do more than she is able with that big leg brace getting in her way. Just to complicate her life a bit more - she had cataract surgery yesterday on one eye and will have the other one done later this month.
Nan had her Doc visit yesterday. She also appears to be healing well and has been cleared for travel. Soooo ... it looks like we will be leaving the Quiring RV Resort and Rehab Center sometime this weekend to make the trek over to my sister Marcie's place in Minden, NV. Nan also still has a ways to go to be back to a new "normal" but I think we are all ready to get on with the transition to her new Rehab Center. I doubt anyone is really ready for such a lifestyle change but Marcie and her husband Don seem to be ready to accept the challenge and Mom appears ready to move on as well.
Don left here today to take care of some items that need to be taken care of in Minden prior to our arrival and we are planning on leaving here on Sunday but that could be pulled up to Saturday. We are starting to gather all of Mom's "stuff" that will be going to Minden and I have been getting Winne ready for travel as well. The generator oil and filter got changed earlier this week and the coach engine got the same treatment today.
We toyed with the idea of having Nan travel in Winne but decided that the six large steps in and out combined with the rather tight bathroom quarters might pose too large of a challenge - so she will be traveling in her CRV driven by Marcie while Peggy and I travel in Winne - dragging the Vue behind us.
Peggy and I plan on staying in Minden as long as it takes to get things "settled" there before moving on. As to our plans after that ...? Well a lot depends on a lot.
We hope to make it to back to the Golden State to Sacramento to visit with Peggy's sisters and families before starting our trip home. And then we need to decide on a timetable and a route back to the Pine Tree State.
Option 1: "The Scenic Route" ... Back through northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana and then across I-90.
Option 2: "The Direct Route" ... Directly back along I-80.
Option 3: "The kinda Scenic and more Direct Route" ... Across Nevada along US 50 to Utah and then find a way to I-70 or I-40 for the trip east.
I'm sure the actual route will turn out to be some combination of the above ... or some new route that suggests itself along the way.
But first things first - On to Minden.
Almost a week has passed since my last post ... and not much has changed ... yet a lot is different.
First the stuff that is pretty much the same:
1. We are still parked in Yreka, California
2. The sun shines all day
3. Smoke from the nearby fires comes and goes as the wind shifts.
Stuff that is different:
1. My sister Jamie is getting around pretty well with her walker now. She even made it out to her "Sewing Room" to work on a few projects a couple of times. She is becoming more independent daily but still needs help from time-to-time.
2. Nan also continues to improve. She has received some Physical and Occupational Home Therapy sessions that have given both her and Marcie some pointers on getting into and out of bed/chairs and how to accomplish some everyday chores that are still tough for her to do herself. We also obtained some equipment to help her out ... like a new wheelchair and a bathtub bench that will make taking a shower a lot easier.
In the time I have not been directly involved in caregiving I have kept busy by helping out on a few chores here at the Quiring RV Resort, helped my BIL Don replace one axle shaft on his car (we still have one more to replace), and taken care of a few minor maintenance items on Winne.
Peggy has been busy with direct caregiving and caregiver support duties. Thank goodness that gal is a great cook - otherwise we all might starve around here! Not really ... I doubt we would actually starve ... but we certainly wouldn't be eating as well!!!
We are looking forward to a really busy week next week. Jamie has a doctor appointment for her knee on Tuesday, is getting cataract surgery on one eye on Wednesday, and then has a followup eye appointment on Thursday. Nan will be receiving more therapy on Tuesday and Thursday and sees her hip doctor on Wednesday.
After the various doctor appointments next week we hope to know more relative to our next steps. Assuming Jamie is able to take care of herself and assuming Nan is well enough to transition to a different location ... our plan is to move her to Marcie and Don's place in Minden, NV. Peggy and I plan on going along to help through the transition to yet another new "normal" ... whatever that may be!
Until all that happens we will remain here in Yreka.
Winne may not be moving much but I guarantee these two Maineiacs are still in Motion!
We had another busy week here in Northern California.
Our two patients had doctor checkups on Wednesday with great results. Jamie is now mobile with aid of a walker and is getting stronger each day. They have adjusted her leg brace to allow a little more movement of her knee so she is progressing very well. The doc felt Nan was healing well and gave her the go-ahead to leave the rehab center to continue her therapy at home.
So ... after taking Nan back to the rehab center in Medford we informed them that she would be leaving on Friday to continue her rehab at home. It's quite a long story that I'll not go into here - but we ended up bringing her home on Thursday afternoon instead. I will say that I have learned a lot over these past three weeks about elder care in rehab/convalescent type facilities under Medicare. Enough to know that 1) They should be avoided if at all possible; and 2) The healthcare industry is ripe for fraud and it's no wonder we waste billions each year on Medicare. I'm not saying that this particular facility did anything fraudulent. In fact - they may be one of the better ones - but we definitely need to get the government out of the healthcare business!
Anyway ... we are all back here in Yreka now at the Quiring RV Resort and Rehab Center. Nan will receive her first visit from the home nursing outfit today and is scheduled for her first home rehab visit on Monday. She (and Jamie) are scheduled for follow-up doctor visits on the 5th of September. We are hopeful that Nan will have progressed to the point where we can transition her to my sister Marcie's home in Minden, NV at that point. Depending on how everything turns out - we may be driving her over in Winne. One of the keys will be her (and our) ability to get her up the steps and inside. I'm sure she would be more comfortable in Winne for the 5 hour ride - but we'll have to see how it all works out.
Meanwhile we continue to help take care of our patients while enjoying the warm sunny days here. There are a few forest fires in the general area (within 50 miles or so) that are putting a smoky haze in the air but nothing of any immediate threat to this area. Forest fires in this country this time of year are a pretty common occurrence - but still nothing to ignore. So far the local fires are not threatening many homes so I think they are just letting them burn themselves out.
That's about the extent of our story here in the Golden State. We are getting closer to figuring out when we might head back home ... but we still have "stuff" to take care of.
Take Good Care Ya'all!
Those of you who have followed this blog for some time know that Peggy and I are originally "from" California. Peggy was actually born in Nebraska, but we both lived near each other in a suburb of Sacramento when we were youngsters. My family moved to extreme northern California in the summer of 1965 between my Freshman and Sophomore years in high school. We moved to a very small logging community named McCloud - located at the base of Mt. Shasta - about 11 miles east of the city of Mt. Shasta and I-5. For a 15 year old kid - moving to this small community in the mountains from the "big city" was FANTASTIC. Lots of places to explore, big trees, abundant wildlife, new kids to meet ... exciting times! Oh the stories I can tell!
My mom continued to live in McCloud until about 2004 as did my sister Jamie and BIL Ernie. They sold their homes at about the same time and moved together to a very nice spot in Yreka - about 40 or so miles up I-5 from Mt. Shasta. You've probably heard me affectionately refer to this spot as the "Quiring RV Resort" and other such similar names, adding additional descriptors as the situation has warranted. This trip the official title is "The Quiring RV Resort and Rehab Center." Not only does this RV Resort offer great company, a nice place to park Winne,
beautiful views,
Cable TV, and 50 Amp Electrical Service (new amenities added this year!)
... we are frequently treated to visits from local wildlife.
Although Peggy and I have been more than busy these past two weeks playing care-givers we have enjoyed visiting the area here in Yreka and the views up I-5 through the peaks and canyons of the Siskiyou mountains here in California and the Ashland Range in southern Oregon on our frequent trips up to Medford to visit with Nan and Marcie. Here are a few pictures from the very nice rest stop just up the canyon on the Klamath River.
The city of Yreka is located at about 2,500 feet and has a population of around 7,500 folks. Believe it or not - Yreka is the "big city" around here and is the County Seat for Siskiyou County. Yes indeed California is a diverse place and still has beautiful wilderness areas including the mountains up here!
Peggy and I took an afternoon drive on Sunday to visit my old hometown of McCloud. We did get a few pictures as we entered town - but then the camera battery died and we had failed to re-charge the backup battery when it died several days ago. Peggy was not a happy camper!!
Imagine this "hill" with 5 to 10 feet of snow, a hard packed tubing trail, a few inner tubes from logging truck tires (fit three easily), a cold starry night, and a big bonfire at the bottom!
We cruised around town a bit (it doesn't take all that long to cruise the streets of McCloud), checked out the McCloud Dance Country RV Park near the downtown (it certainly wasn't there when I lived there but it looks like a very nice park in a beautiful grove of large pines - we want to stay there for a few weeks - one-of-these-days), and then we drove out to the town cemetery to say hi to my Dad and my step-Dad (Ron and Ron). Since it was a beautiful day we continued out Squaw Valley Road and drove about 10 miles out to the McCloud Resevoir. A very nice and pretty large lake on the McCloud River which ultimately leads to Shasta Lake.
We hope to get a few more chances to do some more sightseeing in between our care-giving while we are here. I'm sure we'll fit some in our busy schedule.
Tomorrow will be a big day around here as both of our patients have Dr. appointments ... with the same doctor ... one right after the other. I wonder if we get a family discount?
Take Care Ya'all.
Wow - it has been a whole week since my last post! Shows you how busy we've been. It is pretty amazing how tired you can feel around 9:00 PM after a day of care-giving!
Peggy and I have continued splitting our time between helping to care for Jamie here in Yreka and supporting mom and Marcie in Medford. Mom continues to progress well in her rehab and walked about 90 feet yesterday in her walker in 3 30 foot increments. She was pretty tuckered out after all that work but she did it and we're proud of her effort! Jamie has had a few therapy sessions here at home and is starting to regain some motion with her leg and knee. From what I've seen so far I think I'd rather have a hip replacement than a repaired kneecap. Regardless -- we are thankful each day for progress.
It has continued to be hot in northern California. It has hovered around 100 degrees each day for a high and right around 60 degrees for the low. We are supposed to start a bit of a cooling trend today - but I'm not holding my breath - or planning many outside activities in the afternoon!
We haven't had time for taking many pictures but I did get a couple at sunrise the other day so I thought I would share them.
I'll try and get some more today of our parking spot here at the Quiring RV Resort and Rehab Center.
Both our patients have Dr. appointments next Wednesday so perhaps we will find out more on their healing prognosis then. Until then we'll just keep keepin' on.
Sorry for the delay in providing an update from here in the Golden State but we have been pretty busy dealing with our two hospitalized family members out here. My sister Jamie had her surgery to repair her kneecap yesterday which the surgeon thought went "very well" ... I wonder what that means? Anyway -- she should be released from the hospital tomorrow to come home and start her rehabilitation process. My mom remains in the rehab facility up in Medford, OR ... about 50 miles north from here, and is continuing to improve in small but noticeable measures daily as she works to rehabilitate her hip replacement.
I think our short term goal is to get both mom and Jamie home here in Yreka where we can help them both continue their rehab. The drive up to Medford through the Siskiyou Range is pretty but it's getting pretty old real fast! I really shouldn't whine too much ... my sister Marcie has been living in the same room with my mom for over a week - sleeping on a couch -- and she plans to stay there as long as mom is there. I'm fortunate to have two pretty great sisters!
As for us ... we are doing our best to support both invalids as well as their primary caregivers. We certainly haven't been bored!
There is not a lot of new news here from the Golden State. Nan is still up in Medford, OR doing her rehab thing and making progress and my sister Jamie is here in Yreka awaiting her surgery on Thursday. She had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and has some pre-op stuff she has to do at the hospital this afternoon so it looks like Peggy and I will be in Yreka today supporting Jamie's needs.
In between visits to hospitals/rehab centers the next few days I hope to get a little cleaning done on Winne as she still has 3,700 miles of road grime collected in several states to wash off.
The weather here has been pretty nice ... if you like mostly sunny days with highs in the mid to upper 90s and lows in the high 50s. The lack of humidity does make those 90 degree temps much more bearable for me - but that sun is still pretty intense in the afternoon! It was close to 107 degrees in Medford when we there on Saturday!
Here are a couple of shots from the "Vista Point" coming south on I-5 just north of Yreka. A nice spot to view the valley and Mt. Shasta in the distance - about 40 miles away.
So here we remain at the Quiring RV Park, Bed & Breakfast, Day Spa, and Rehab Center ... providing support where support is needed.
First - all the good news.
Peggy and I made it safe and sound to here in Yreka yesterday - arriving about 2:00 PM. We were glad to leave I-80 behind and travel north and west along I-395 from Reno to Susanville
and then California routes 44 and 89 over to Interstate 5 for the final leg up to Yreka. The drive along Route 89 offered some nice views of Mt. Shasta it was great to see all the beautiful Cedars and Douglass Fir trees through this part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
This morning Peggy, I, my sister Jamie, and BIL Ernie drove north up to Medford, OR to visit with my mom and my other sister Marcie and to see how Nan was coming with her post hip surgery rehabilitation. The really great news is that Nan is feeling much better and although she still has a long way to go - things are looking much better than the last few weeks.
The really bad news is that my sister Jamie slipped on a wet floor in the hallway of the rehab center and broke her kneecap. So after dealing with the paramedics and the emergency room in Medford we brought Jamie home with her right leg immobilized. She will be scheduled for surgery sometime in the next few days to have her patella repaired and then she will be in a mending process for several weeks.
So it looks like our trip here to California to assist in care-giving to Nan may need to be spread around to Jamie as well. Our original plan was to take Winne up north to near Medford to be closer to Nan but we may need to rethink that plan a bit as things unfold here in Yreka.
Oh well - we're here and we will be helping where we are needed most.
But nobody else is allowed to get hurt! Nobody!!!
